Jeffery armored car

Jeffery armored car
A Jeffery armored car of later serial model, likely of the Eaton Motor Machine Gun Battery, seen in Toronto, Ontario.
Type	Armored car
Place of origin	United States
Service history
Used by	British India Command United States Army
Wars	Pancho Villa Expedition
Production history
Manufacturer	Thomas B. Jeffery Company
Produced	1915
Specifications
Length	18 ft (5.48 m)
Width	6.4 ft (1.95 m)
Height	8 ft (2.44 m)
Crew	4
Main armament	4 x Benet-Mercier or 1 x .303 Vickers machine guns
Engine	4-cylinder petrol
Suspension	4x4 wheel
Speed	20 miles per hour (32 km/h) maximum

The Jeffery Armored Car No.1 was developed by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1915.

The armored car No.1 was used in by General John Pershing’s 1916 Pancho Villa Expedition in Columbus, New Mexico for training. Pancho Villa was far into Mexico at that time and there are no records on its use in fighting.

A number of armoured cars were also built on the Jeffery truck chassis in 1916 for use in British India. Forty were added to the "Field Force" that was operating to contain the Mohmand rising of Haji Mullah on the North West Frontier. The "Mohmand blockade" involved British armoured cars patrolling unpaved tracks between blockhouses. Maintenance of the cars was difficult as the ship carrying spares had been torpedoed. They were armed with a single Vickers machine gun. Although the four-wheel drive with independent transmission and wide range of gears should have been an advantage, the narrow solid tyres negated that and running at more than 12 mph caused problems with engine bearings.

Another model of armoured car built on the Jeffery Quad chassis was built in Russia by Ukrainian officer Volodymyr Poplavko who was the Odessa city commandant (1917-18), and was known as Jeffery-Poplavko.

No. 1 circa 1916 in Mexico

Ditto