Mystery Armoured Car

[Jakko Westerbeke]

My first thought was also it might be a Fordson, but a lot of details are wrong, I think, even ignoring the wheels. But to get to the bottom of this probably needs someone who knows more about these armoured cars than I do

[Richard Coutts-Smith]

No expert in this field, so I checked out my copy of British Armoured Cars 1914 to 1945 by BT White which showed that the Turret is an "Admiralty Pattern", possibly fitted to a Rolls Royce 1920 Pattern Armoured car. I note the lack of a side door as on the 1924 model
An internet search came up with this one which appears to be the same, with smaller wheel/tyre combo. (pic from the Shutterstock site). Only info was it's listing as Israel British Troops.
HMAC Capetown on the bonnet
The left hand drive shown in the original post threw me, but I believe the image maybe reversed due to the pioneer tool layout being opposite to this one.
I think the huge tyres and wheel arches are hiding the true length of the vehicle?
Rich.

[MarkV]

Thanks for the photo Rich, but these are Rolls Royce Armoured Cars equipped with the later War Department wheels. The car in my first posting is on a different chassis and has a modified body.

I noticed that the turret on the mystery car seems to have come from a Rolls Royce Armoured Car Mk 1A. These had a ball mount for the mg. The mystery car has the opening shaped to take a ball mount, but the ball is missing. Makes me think this is assembled unofficially from salvaged bits..

MarkV

Originally Posted by Richard Coutts-Smith

No expert in this field, so I checked out my copy of British Armoured Cars 1914 to 1945 by BT White which showed that the Turret is an "Admiralty Pattern", possibly fitted to a Rolls Royce 1920 Pattern Armoured car. I note the lack of a side door as on the 1924 model
An internet search came up with this one which appears to be the same, with smaller wheel/tyre combo. (pic from the Shutterstock site). Only info was it's listing as Israel British Troops.
HMAC Capetown on the bonnet
The left hand drive shown in the original post threw me, but I believe the image maybe reversed due to the pioneer tool layout being opposite to this one.
I think the huge tyres and wheel arches are hiding the true length of the vehicle?
Rich.

[Lynn Eades]

Would the possibly be aircraft tyres?

[Paul Singleton]

I am curious as to how the front wheels are mounted. I see empty wheel stud holes in the front wheels, whereas the rear wheel nuts are clearly visible.

[MarkV]

I've seen a similar tread pattern on a truck, so I suspect it is a truck wheel. Would an aircraft tire have tread like this?

That's a very good question about the attachment of the front wheels! As the back ones fit the lug pattern but the front do not, this seems to support the idea that this car was constructed from bits of other vehicles.

MarkV

[Lynn Eades]

I found this image googling aircraft tyres. The guys were working on a plane. Maybe they had access to a stock of tyres. Yes they are a sand tread. Maybe these were used on something like a C47 doing desert work? No knowledge.