Austin Armoured Car

Austin Armoured Car, 3rd series
Austin 3rd series used by the Don Cossack forces, 1919.
Type	Armoured car
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Specifications
Weight	5.3 t
Length	16 ft (4.9 m)
Width	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Height	9 ft 4 in (2.84 m)
Crew	4 or 5
Armour	3-6 mm
Main armament	2 x machine guns (Maxim or Hotchkiss)
Engine	Austin 4-cylinder inline, 4 stroke, water cooled gasoline engine 50 hp (37 kW)
Power/weight	9.5 hp/ton
Transmission	4 speed, 1 reverse gearbox
Suspension	4x2 wheel
Operational range	125 mi (201 km) radius of action
Speed	35 mph (56 km/h)

Austin Armoured Car was a British armoured car produced during the First World War. The vehicle is best known for its employment by the Russian Army in the First World War and by different forces in the Russian Civil War.

In addition to the British-built Austins, a few dozens of vehicles were manufactured in Russia in 1918-20. These are usually referred to as Austin-Putilov or - if fitted with a Kégresse halftrack chassis - Austin-Kégresse.

In August 1914, just after the beginning of the First World War, the army of the Russian Empire started to form armoured car units. Due to limited production capabilities of the country's automotive industry it was decided to order a number of vehicles abroad. A committee was sent to the United Kingdom, but didn't find an armoured car which met their requirements for overhead protection and two machine gun turrets.

To meet these requirements, the Austin Motor Company designed a new armoured car. The vehicle, known as Austin 1st series, was based on a passenger car chassis with rear axle drive. Wheels were wooden, spoked, with pneumatic tyres and an additional set of wheels with full rubber tyres for use in combat was carried. Two Maxim machine guns were mounted in separate turrets placed on both sides of the hull behind the driver's cab. The vehicle was protected by armour plates 3.5–4 mm thick screwed to a body frame. The crew of four - commander, driver and two gunners - could enter or leave the vehicle via a door on the left side of the cab or via big two-leaf rear door. On 29 September 1914, 48 armoured cars were ordered. One car cost 1,150 pounds. After arrival in Russia the front and turret armour was replaced with 7 mm plates. First combat experience, however, revealed that the protection was still too weak and the vehicles were fully rearmoured at Izhorski Works, Izhorsk. The improved armour made the Austins much heavier, resulting in limited mobility and occasionally in chassis damage. However, the car was still considered more successful than alternative designs by, among others, Armstrong Whitworth, Renault and Sheffield-Simplex.