"What was the best combat/armored car of WWII?" Topic

just that

What was the best combat/armored car of WWII?

SdKfz 234/2

Best in terms of what?

If combat power, then the heavy AEC armoured cars with 6pdr or 75mm, or the Puma with long 50mm. However both were outclassed by contemporary tanks and AT guns.

If recon in close country, then I think the small turretless scout cars like the Daimler Dingo and Humber Scout had the advantage that they were light, maneuverable and easily hidden, with no turret poking above the hedgerows.

Generally the Daimler armoured car was well-regarded, and the M8 Greyhound is reliable and still in service.

Humber MkIII. Small, agile, reliable with a decent punch.

Of course the big brawling sdkfz 234 series have an appeal too!

Agreed, SdKfz 234/2 Puma. I like the Humber, too.

Rolls Royce gets marks for old fashioned charm and style.

I like the SDKFZ 222 & 231.Just me.
John

Panhard 178. Especially when one considers how far ahead of the competition it was for its time.

Thought the M8 was supposed to have very poor cross country capability?

I too liked the 'Skidfizz' 222. Or the 221 with the 28/20 guerlich cannon. Or a M8 with a quad '50 Maxon turret.

german my favorite was the 222 . The American M8 Greyhound is my favorite . it looks cool

For wargaming purposes, the AECs or the Puma, since you get a decent gun onh a fast vehicle. For looks, I like the M8 Greyhound and the Staghound. For actual recon, the JEEP with an M2 HMG mounted on it!

Rob

M-8 Greyhound best all around

T17E2 Staghound or other of the series.

Not an overblown recon car like everything else, but nearer a wheeled tank able and willing to get in the mix.

I especially like the 75mm gun variant using the Crusader III turret or the Canadian modified version with the multiple 60mm rocket launchers.

Though I think the 222 and Humber Mk. II are possibly the most beautiful.

The Puma

The Puma wins my favorite.

Brian

Daimler 'Dingo' ,just seemed to do an all round good job where ever it was used.

BA-64b, it's just sooo cute! Like a lil' Ivan clown car :-)

The Soviets never get any love on these polls…..

Seriously though, for most effective would have to say probably the Staghound or 234/2 & 4. For personal aesthetics like the Marmon-Herrington mk.III, and the BA-6/10.

The Daimler Mk 2 is easily the best. I know this because one of my first military vehicles was a Dinky die-cast Daimler. It stayed ins ervice until 1960, so it must have had something going for it.

Had you extended the question to cover the modern period, the answer would have been the Saladin, because I had a die-cast Matchbox Saladin even before I had the Dinky Daimler.

All the best,

John.

The Panhard 178 was apparently quite good, and the Italians had a 4x4 with a good reputation.

Coolest definitely went to the German 8-rads, though.
-Kle.

SdKfz 222 and the Humber AC for the "Small and Good looking" category, and the Puma for being the most bad-ass.

So…they made like 100 Pumas? I would think the REALLY low production run would mitigate against it being the best armored car.
I vote M-8 or Staghound.

SdKfz 222 for me. Early war it could take on most Allied tanks.

Staghound

So…they made like 100 Pumas? I would think the REALLY low production run would mitigate against it being the best armored car.
I vote M-8 or Staghound.

4000 was less for the U.S. than 100 was for Germany.
-Kle.

I always liked the French Panard.

M-8, sharp looking as well.

Still the Italian Autoblinda AB/40.
Set the standard for all that followed in terms of innovation and utility, often mitted, never really surpassed.

AB40/41/42 series.

The Sahariana recon cars were built off that chassis, and were excellent in the desert.

For recon work in Europe? Gimme a Jeep or a Schwimmwagen.

The M8, Marmon Herrington Mk IV and Daimler all served well into the cold war, the first 2 mentioned pretty much until the cars rotted in the 1990's– in fact the Brazilians built a "new, improved" M8.

My personal favourite is the Autoblinda, and BA-6, they are just beautiful.

From a wargames pov the 50mm Puma is a useful one to have.

Nothing says "pre-war land battleship on wheels" quite like a BA-6

I rather like Armoured Cars and once had a very exciting game which featured Pumas and Hanomags versus Humbers and M3 Halftracks racing to capture bridges…..loads of fun!
I now have Daimlers and Humbers for my British, Pumas and other 8-wheel German AC's plus 231 6-wheelers, and 222's. I also have a couple of the Pegasus Ba-6 to build and the excellent Corgi M-8's repainted for US forces…….I must admit to a soft spot for the Puma and Daimler, although my 8-year old daughter loves the M-8, and the Ba-6 is just cool!

SdKfz 234/4. PaK40, 8 wheels. What's not to like?

What's not to like? The Airfix model of it, of course. Stupid mudguards.

All the best,

John.

There is this beauty too… the South African Puma. Marmon Herringtom MK VI – 8 wheels, 6 pounder – sadly only 2 were made:

link

@ JDS

LOL, yeah they gave it SdKfz 231/2(?) mudguards. Intelligent guess, but wrong.

Still, it looks nice with the later Airfix PaK40 retrofitted to it, apparently, and what would 1960s wargamers have used as a PaK40 had the Airfix armoured car not been around to donate its gun?

When it comes to longevity in service, you cannot go wrong with the Airfix SdKfz 234. Today I passed by the toy section of a local hypermarket, they have a small model section there and had several boxes of the Airfix SdKfz 234 in stock – proudly supported by the Airfix Afrika Korps boxes a little higher up.

A vote for the Panhard here.

Way ahead of the competition during it's era.

When it comes to looks, I think the Csaba is hard to beat:

link

"What's not to like? The Airfix model of it, of course. Stupid mudguards.

All the best,

John."

Ahh, but if you get an Airfix 234/4 and a Matchbox Pz II you can make a really neat Marder II and a 231/1 (8 rad). 'Course now they're easily available in resin…

Panhard P178 for being so far ahead of the competition in 1940.

The Italian AB 41 for much the same reason.

The Puma for all 'round balance of mobility, ballistic defense, and firepower.

The M8 Grayhound for all 'round reliability, ruggedness, and practical utility.

The BA 10 for firepower in its day.

The Daimler Dingo for speed and low target profile – handy lil' scout machine.

Leland R. Erickson

"I also have a couple of the Pegasus Ba-6 to build and the excellent Corgi M-8's repainted for US forces…….I must admit to a soft spot for the Puma and Daimler, although my 8-year old daughter loves the M-8, and the Ba-6 is just cool!"

Build that Pegasus kit! You won't be sorry…

Leland R. Erickson

When I was a kid someone gave me a scale model of the Staghound. It was hollow, cast metal (probably aluminum), and c. 1:32 scale. I think it was a model made for the manufacturers of the real things (Chevrolet). How it came to be in the possession of whoever gave it to me, I have no idea, nor do I remember who gave it to me -- some friend of my parents. This would have been shortly after the war, probably. Unfortunately, a few years later we moved from Indiana to Detroit and my mother made me dispose of most of my "toys" rather than move them.

I vote for the Beaverette, just 'cuz I like the name :)

In terms of what was achieved by any one armoured car unit in the war, hard to best the Rolls-Royces and Morrises of the 11th Hussars, 1940 – arguably a contender for the title of "single most effective battalion sized unit of WW2". (Doubtless I am going to regret opening that can of worms.)

In terms of vehicle effectiveness – the Daimler Scout Car. Did what recce vehicles should do, supremely well, rather than having any pretensions to being a baby tank.

Well if the Rolls served in WW2 I'd be torn it is beautifully proportioned.

Daimler for ability to scoot – big guns mean they try to fight, which is not what recon is about Rolls for its classic lines – Id buy one to commute if I could
True, some of the most effective raiding of the war was the Hussars in 1940, the Morris must have been a bit of a let down after the Rolls.

Yeah those classless hun monsters can take on a tank, but they reek of neo gothic.

Dingo
Daimler MKII
Humber MKII/III

And here is how you use them -

YouTube link

If you are looking at recon (primarily along roads) of course.

If you are looking for a wheeled tank that is another story. Puma looks sexy but one presumes there is a reason so few were made. Possibly it was to big for the gun carried. Easier to spot/harder to sneak in and not enough gun by then to fight it out in the open. Late war units were taking the turrets off of the M5 Stuarts in recon units on the Allied side.

234/4 is a support weapon (fast SPAT attached to the recon unit). 234/3 is SP ART.

The Puma's weakness was thin armor. It's gun could defeat any Allied (including Russian) AC or light tank, but it's arm could also be penetrated by their smaller guns.

Not real life, of course, but we had an interesting confrontation between Pumas and Greyhounds in a recent online game:

link

I always thought the sdkfz 250/9 was a clever idea -- a half-tracked AC, giving better off-road maneuverability.