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Car, Armoured, Canadian,
G.M. Mk. I, Fox I
Canadian Army projections in 1941 called for a requirement of some 400 armoured cars for use in armoured formations. Each armoured car regiment alone could be expected to utilize some 75 vehicles. A decision was ultimately made to produce a Canadian version of a current British armoured car, and as a result, the Fox was developed by General Motors. It was essentially the equivilent of the British Humber III armoured car. After comparing the Humber, Ford and GM chassis', it was determined that the Humber armoured body could be successfully married to an existing GM 4X4 chassis and engine. The Fox design was not universally accepted as the best armoured car that the Canadian Army could procure, as some believed that the Daimler armoured car would be a better design to build. Basically, the conflict arose between the proponents of the Fox design who viewed armoured cars as reconnaissance vehicles, as opposed to those who saw the armoured car as a "fighting vehicle" and therefore favoured the 2pdr armed Daimler design. Ultimately the view of the "pure" reconnaissance vehicle won out, and the Fox entered production. General Motors ran into chassis difficulties very soon into the design process when a decision was made to incorporate a more powerful engine. Further problems arose related to the absence of engineering drawings from the United Kingdom. While the decision to go ahead with the Fox hybrid was made in February 1941, it was thirteen months before the first vehicle rolled off the assembly line and only 50 units were completed from then until September 1942. Production ceased in June 1943 after some 1,500 vehicles had been produced. Of this number, Canada retained 537 and the remainder went to foriegn armies including that of India. It was armed with a .50 calibre and .30 calibre MG. It had maximum armour protection of 15mm, and a speed of 44 mph. The Fox was 8' 1'' high, and some 1,300 lbs over-weight which by anyones standards was excessive for a "pure" reconnaissance vehicle. The Fox eventually equipped Canadian armoured car regiments in the United Kingdom for a short period of time where a litany of defects and faults were reported. Visibility was poor, the armour plate was defective, and it was found to be impossible to keep the guns on target while firing. It was a fighting vehicle that left much to be desired. The Princess Louise Dragoon Guards took numbers of the Fox to Sicily with them in July 1943. Shortly thereafter, it was relegated to training use only, by order of the AFV User Committee (Canadian) in August 1943. Interestingly enough, while the Fox never found favour in Canadian useage, British troops who used it in India reported that they were much enamoured with it.
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Fox I
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© Chris Johnson, 1997