BRITISH ARMOURED CAR ROLLS ROYCE - Pattern 1914

Description

A commander of Air Division (Sueter), made requisition all the Rolls-Royce chassis available so to study the possibility; to install a hull entirely armoured with revolving turret for Vickers-Maxim machine-gun of 7.7 mm. This new vehicle was baptized " Armoured Car" and in March 1915, 78 specimens had already been distributed. The chassis was nearly identical to that of Silver Ghost, if not that the aft wheels were double and the suspension more solid to support a more consequent weight. Steel sheeting had 8.5 mm of thickness and protected until half of the chassis; the engine (equipped with opening panels for maintenance). The radiator was protected by two shutters opening towards interior. The driver took seat in a casemate right in lower part of the turret and his vision towards front was ensured by a shutter bored of two horizontal slits and his lateral vision by two small port-holes. The remainder of crew: both gunners of the Vickers machine-gun, took seat in the turret. The revolving turret was equipped with two shutters for observation, a slit of shooting for the machine-gun (protected later by an internal shield) and a shutter of ventilation. An armoured box is present at the back. The Rolls 6 cylinders 50 hp engine (in truth developing 90-110 hp) actuated the aft wheels via a gear box and a transmission with dials. (Scale : 1/35e)