Panhard 178

Panhard 178
Preserved AMD Panhard 35 at the Musée des Blindés
Type	Armoured car
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	April 1937–1964
Used by	France Nazi Germany
Wars	World War II First Indochina War Vietnam War
Production history
Designer	Panhard
Designed	1933–1937
Manufacturer	Panhard
Unit cost	₣ 275,000 hull
Produced	February 1937 — ~October 1940
No. built	729 "A" versions, 414 B version
Variants	Panhard 178B
Specifications
Weight	8.2 metric tonnes
Length	4.79 m with gun
Width	2.01 m
Height	2.31 m
Crew	4
Armor	20 mm
Main armament	25 mm SA 35 cannon
Secondary armament	7.5 mm Reibel machine gun
Engine	Panhard SK 105 hp
Suspension	leaf spring
Ground clearance	0.35 m
Operational range	300 km
Speed	72 km/h

The Panhard 178 (officially designated as Automitrailleuse de Découverte Panhard modèle 1935, 178 being the internal project number at Panhard) or "Pan-Pan" was an advanced French reconnaissance 4x4 armoured car that was designed for the French Cavalry before World War II. It had a crew of four and was equipped with an effective 25 mm main armament and a 7.5 mm coaxial machine gun.

A number of these vehicles were in 1940 taken over by the Germans after the Fall of France and employed as the Panzerspähwagen P204 (f); for some months after the armistice of June production continued for the benefit of Germany. After the war a derived version, the Panhard 178B, was again taken into production by France.

In December 1931, the French Cavalry conceived a plan for the future production of armoured fighting vehicles. One of the classes foreseen was that of an Automitrailleuse de Découverte or AMD, a specialised long range reconnaissance vehicle. The specifications were formulated on 22 December 1931, changed on 18 November 1932 and approved on 9 December 1932. They called for a weight of 4 metric tons (4.0 t), a range of 400 kilometres (250 mi), a speed of 70 km/h, a cruising speed of 40 km/h, a turning circle of 12 metres (39 ft), 5–8 mm armour, a 20 mm gun and a 7.5 mm machine gun.

In 1933, one of the competing companies — the others being Renault, Berliet and Latil — that had put forward proposals, Panhard, was allowed to build a prototype. The other companies also were ordered to build prototypes: Renault constructed two vehicles of a Renault VZ, including an armoured personnel carrier variant, Berliet constructed a single Berliet VUB and Latil belatedly presented a design in April 1934. The Panhard vehicle was ready in October 1933 and presented to the Commission de Vincennes in January 1934 under the name Panhard voiture spéciale type 178. It carried a Vincennes workshop (Avis) 13.2 mm machine gun turret, as the intended one was not ready yet. After testing between 9 January and 2 February 1934 the type, despite having larger dimensions than prescribed and thus being a lot heavier than four tons, was accepted by the commission on 15 February under the condition some small modifications were carried out. Of all the competing projects it was considered the best: the Berliet VUB e.g. was reliable but too heavy and traditional; the Latil version had no all-terrain capacity. In the autumn the improved prototype, now lacking the bottom tracks of the original type, was tested by the Cavalry. In late 1934 the type was accepted under the name AMD Panhard Modèle 1935. The type was now fitted with the APX3B turret.