According to John Wallace in his book "Dragoms of Steel" page 131 it eventually ended up at Borden. I would imagine the statement "armoured from stern to stern with welded armour plate provided by a local steel mill" is an exaggeration. The plating would almost certainly be of mild steel as armour plate production in Canada did not get going until the fall of 1940 and was not being produced in anything like sufficinet quantity even in July 1941 (see Clive Law's book Making Tracks, page 11.
While we are on the subject of one-off Canadian armoured cars, in the fall of 1940 the Dept of Munitions and Supply commissioned two "Wheeled Tanks" using Ford chassis and bodies made by Hamilton Bridge.
One was on a 4x4 Ford rear engined 101 inch wheelbase chassis. It had a slope sided mild steel body and a two man turret similar to that of a British cruiser tank, with a Browning .30 calibre machine gun and a dummy 2-pounder. It weighed 6.6 tonnes and was powered by a Ford V8. It had two floating wheels on stub axles so sometine sis referred to as a 6 wheeler. It was tested at Borden in early 1941. The front axle and suspension turned out to be very fragile. DM&S wanted to make some improved versions but DND overruled them and opted for a Humber type body on a GM chassis - the future Fox.
DM&S also built a pilot Ford 8x8. It weighed 32,000 lbs needed three Mercury engines to power it and was fitted with a Ram I turret. When tested in llate 1941 the steering and suspension proved unsatisfactory and needed a complete redesign. Ford planned to replace its three V8 engines with a Continental engine, and it would seem a Ram II turret with a 6-pdr was planned. In April 1942 DND estimated it was 18 months away from production, and was quite happy to cancel the project when the British Tank Purchasing Commission ordered the T18E2 Boarhound. At the same time the Fox, Lynx and Otter received their names in early 1942, the 8x8 was christened the Wolf I.
I would be most interested if anyone has any pictures, drawings or more detailed specs of the Wolf. Here is a picture of the 4x4 "Wheeled Tank"
Roger Lucy
|