Daimler Dingo

Alvis had been in partnership with Nicholas Straussler and provided armoured cars to the Royal Air Force, Morris had participated in trials and production of armoured cars and BSA Cycles – whose parent Birmingham Small Arms (BSA) was involved in armaments – had a small front wheel drive vehicle in production.

An ingenious feature of the Dingo's design was the transmission, which included a preselector gearbox and fluid flywheel that gave five speeds in both directions, another was a four-wheel steering system made possible by the H-drive drive train, giving a tight turning circle of 23 ft (7.0 m).

Inexperienced drivers found it difficult to control so rear steering was deleted in later production at the cost of increasing the turning circle by 65 per cent to 38 ft (12 m).

The layout of the H-drive drive train contributed greatly to its low silhouette, agility and - an important consideration in any vehicle used for reconnaissance, an exceptionally quiet engine and running gear.

No spare wheel was carried, considered unnecessary because of the use of run-flat (nearly solid) rubber tyres rather than pneumatic types vulnerable to punctures.

The vehicle superficially resembled the Dingo in general arrangement and body shape, was approximately a foot longer, wider and taller, a ton and a half heavier, less nimble (the turning circle was 47 ft (14 m)) and was louder.

The Dingo was first used by the British Expeditionary Force (1st Armoured Division and 4th Royal Northumberland Fusiliers) during the Battle of France.

With one being given to the 1st Cavalry Division who experimented with it by adding a turret to it for convoy support purposes as the Gun Trucks were just being put into use.

Smith said that all Dingoes had now been withdrawn from British service - except for one used as a runabout at an armoured establishment - but some might have remained in Territorial Army storage at that date.

[3] Many were also purchased from Canada by the Union Defence Force after the Second World War, though few South African examples have survived to the present day,[4] and were also procured in large numbers for Commonwealth patrols during the Malayan Emergency.

The Lynx design grafted a Dingo hull onto a chassis fitted with a conventional four-wheel drive and running gear.

German soldiers inspect an abandoned Canadian Army Dingo during Dieppe Raid in August 1942.
A Dingo with a Bren gun , followed by a Daimler Armoured Car and a Humber Armoured Car in 1942
Daimler Scout Car of the Dutch Princess Irene Brigade in 1943.
Ford Lynx Mk I scout car in the Yad La-Shiryon Museum, Israel
Lancia Astura Lince.