Daimler Dingo

Daimler Scout Car
Type	Armoured car
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Production history
Designer	BSA
Manufacturer	Daimler
Number built	6,626
Specifications
Weight	3 tonnes
Length	3.2 m
Width	1.7 m
Height	1.5 m
Crew	2
Armour	up to 30 mm
Primary armament	.303 in Bren gun / .55 in Boys Anti-tank Rifle, rarely a Vickers K
Engine	2.5 litre 6-cyl Daimler petrol 55 hp (41 kW)
Power/weight	18.3 hp/tonne
Transmission	pre-selector gearbox, five gears forward and 5 gears reverse
Suspension	Wheel 4x4
Operational range	320 km
Speed	88.5 km/h

For the Australian vehicle, see Dingo (scout car)

The Daimler Scout Car, known in service as the "Dingo" (after the Australian wild dogs), was a British light fast 4WD reconnaissance vehicle also used in the liaison role during the Second World War.

History

German soldiers inspect a British Dingo, in Canadian Army service, abandoned during the August 1942 Dieppe Raid.

In 1938 the British War Office issued a specification for a scouting vehicle. Out of three designs submitted by Alvis, BSA and Morris, the one by BSA was selected. The actual production was passed to Daimler, which was a vehicle manufacturer in the BSA group of companies. The vehicle was officially designated Daimler Scout Car, but became widely known as Dingo, which was the name of the competing Alvis prototype.

Arguably one of the finest armoured fighting vehicles built in Britain during the war, the Dingo was a small two-man armoured car. It was well protected for its size with 30 mm of armour at the front. The engine was located at the rear of the vehicle. One of the ingenious features of Dingo was the transmission; a pre-selector gearbox and fluid flywheel that gave five speeds in both directions. Original version had four-wheel steering; however this feature was dropped in Mk II because inexperienced drivers found the vehicle hard to control.

Although the Dingo featured a flat plate beneath the chassis to slide across uneven ground, it was extremely vulnerable to mines. No spare wheel was carried, but it was not really necessary because of the use of run-flat (nearly solid) rubber tyres instead of pneumatic. Despite the hard tyres, the independent suspension gave it a very comfortable ride. A swivelling seat next to the driver allowed the other crew member to attend to the No. 19 wireless set or Bren gun when required. It had the ideal quiet engine and a low siloutte

The Dingo was first used by the British Expeditionary Force (1st Armoured Division and 4th Northumberland Fusiliers) during the Battle of France. It turned out to be so successful that no replacement was sought until 1952 with the production of the Daimler Ferret. In mid-70s the Dingo was still used by Cyprus, Portugal and Sri Lanka.

Variants

Production went through 5 variants which were mostly minor improvements. 6,626 vehicles were produced from 1939 to 1945.

• Mk I - original model with four-wheel steering and sliding roof.
  • Mk IA - folding roof.
  • Mk IB - reversed engine cooling fan.
• Mk II - front-wheel steering.
• Mk III - waterproofed engine, no roof.

A closely related vehicle, the Lynx Scout Car, was produced by Ford Canada in Windsor, Ontario. 3255 units were built.

• Mk I.
• Mk II - strengthened chassis, no roof.

Another Dingo clone, the Autoblinda Lince was developed by Lancia, Italy. In 1943-1944, 129 cars were built. They were employed by both German and RSI forces.

Daimler Dingo at a rally.

Ford Lynx Mk I scout car in the Yad La-Shiryon Museum, Israel

Dingo of the 12th Lancers

Dingo at the Bovington Tank Museum

References and external links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Daimler Scout Car

• Forty, George (1996). World War Two Armoured Fighting Vehicles and Self-Propelled Artillery. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1-85532-582-9. 
• The Dingo on exhibit at the Tank Museum
• Ford Lynx Scout Car at mapleleafup.org
• Dutch Cavalry Museum has a Daimler Dingo in its exposition.
• Daimler Scout Car 'Dingo' wwiivehicles.com
• Comprehensive research project regarding Daimler Dingo's & Armoured cars

v • d • e	British Commonwealth armoured fighting vehicles of World War II

v • d • e Tanks Light tanks Vickers 6-Ton · Mk II, Mk III, Mk IV, Mk V · Mk VI · Mk VII Tetrarch Cruiser tanks Mk I · Mk II · Mk III · Mk IV · Mk V Covenanter · Mk VI Crusader · Mk VII Cavalier · Mk VIII Centaur · Mk VIII Cromwell · Challenger · Comet · Sherman Firefly · Ram (Canada) · Grizzly I (Canada) · Sentinel (Australia) Infantry tanks Mk I Matilda · Mk II Matilda · Mk III Valentine · Mk IV Churchill

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v • d • e Armoured personnel carriers Universal Carrier • Loyd Carrier • Kangaroo (Canada) • Terrapin

v • d • e Scout Cars and Armoured cars Scout Cars Daimler Dingo • Dingo Scout Car (Australia) • Humber Scout Car • Lynx Scout Car (Canada) • S1 Scout Car (Australia) Light Reconnaissance Cars Humber LRC • Morris LRC • Otter LRC (Canada) Armoured Cars AEC Armoured Car • Coventry Armoured Car • Daimler Armoured Car • Fox Armoured Car (Canada) • Guy Armoured Car • Humber Armoured Car • Lanchester Armoured Car • Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car (South Africa) • Morris CS9 • Rhino Heavy Armoured Car (Australia) • Rolls-Royce Armoured Car • Rover Light Armoured Car (Australia) • Standard Beaverette • Armoured Carrier Wheeled Indian Pattern (India) Armoured Trucks Bedford OXA • Bedford Armadillo • Bison • C15TA Armoured Truck (Canada) Armoured Command Vehicles AEC ACV • Guy Lizard ACV

v • d • e Experimental vehicles Avenger • Black Prince • Centurion • Excelsior • TOG 1 • TOG 2 • Tortoise • Valiant • Harry Hopkins • Alecto

v • d • e Unarmoured vehicles Artillery tractors AEC Matador • Morris C8 Quad • Scammell Pioneer • Canadian Military Pattern Trucks and lorries Bedford QLD • Austin K2 • Morris 15 cwt • Austin K5 • Bedford OYD • Bedford OXD • Morris C9 • Guy Ant • Leyland Retriever (3-ton) • Leyland Lynx (30-cwt) • Leyland Hippo (10-ton) • Thornycroft Nubian • Thornycroft Tartar Tank transporters Diamond T tank transporter • Scammell Pioneer Semi-trailer Utility and cars Car, Heavy Utility 4x2 Ford C11 • Car, Light Utility ("Tilly") • Car, 4-Seater 4x2

British armoured fighting vehicle production during World War II