Daimler Dingo

Daimler Dingo of the 53rd, Highland Division, WW2. Airbrush illustration © Les Still

Daimler Dingo

 Daimler Dingo

Specifications

Crew:- 2

Armament:- One .303in Bren Machine Gun

Dimensions:- Length 10'5" (3.175m), Width 5'8" (1.714m), height 4'11" (1.498m), combat weight 6,720lbs (3,048kgs)

Engine:- Six cylinder petrol engine developing 60bhp.

Performance:- Maximum road speed 55mph (88.5km/h), range 200 miles (322km).

History:- Entered service with the British army in 1940 and phased out of front line service in 1950s, when it was replaced by the Ferret. Used post war by many armies. In mid-70s Dingo was still used by Cyprus and Portugal.

Development:- In the late 1930s the Alvis company of Coventry built the prototype of a 4x4 scout car called the Dingo to meet a Mechanisation Board specification. This had a crew of two and was armed with a standard .303in Bren light machine gun. In 1937 the BSA company also designed a scout car with a crew of two. This was also armed with a Bren but was slightly heavier than the Alvis. Comparative trials between these vehicles were carried out in 1938 and the BSA vehicle was accepted for service with some ,modifications. In fact there was not a great deal to choose between these vehicles as far as performance was concerned. By this time Daimler had taken over BSA and the car entered production in 1939 as the Car, Scout, Daimler Mark I, but it was commonly known as the Dingo. Production of all marks amounted to 6,626. The Mark I was followed by the Mark Ia which had a folding rather then a sliding roof. The Mark Ib had the fan draught reversed. All Mark I vehicles had steering on all four wheels, but this feature was dropped from the Mark II onwards. The Mark II had different radiator grills, whilst the Mark III had no overhead armour at all. ( In service most of the earlier models had their overhead armour removed) For operations in the desert two sand channels were normally carried on the front of the hull. Communications equipment consisted of Numbers 11 and 19 sets. Daimler could not meet the production needs of the British Army, so from 1942 the Humber company also built scout cars producing about 4,300 vehicles by the end of the war. The Daimler Dingo was also manufactured in Canada. The chassis was supplied by the Canadian Ford Motor Company, while the hulls were supplied by the International Harvester Company. The Canadians built two models, the Scout car Marks III and IV (Lynx I) and the Scout Car Mark II (Lynx II). These were heavier than the British vehicles, but fitted with more powerful engines. Total production in Canada amounted to 3,255 vehicles of all types.

Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, C. Foss, Salamander Books.