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Beaverette Mark 1

Light Reconnaissance Car

Specifications

Country of Origin/Used by:	Great Britain
First Produced/Service Dates:	1940
Manufactured by:	Standard Motor Company
Crew:	2 or 3?
Armament:	(1) Bren .303 or (1) .55 Boys Anti-Tank Rifle
Engine:	4 Cylinder Gasoline
Miscellaneous Info:	The Beaverette series was designed as a stop-gap measure by the British to replace the armored vehicles lost during the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940. These vehicles were intended to be used by the Home Guard or to defend Royal Air Force (RAF) air fields, which they did throughout the war. The Beaverette Mark 1 was the first in a series of four (4) Beaverette Light Reconnaissance Car versions produced.  They used the chassis and automotive components from the civilian Standard Flying 14 Saloon Cars, which the company had about 500 left over after production ended.  The Beaverette Mark 2 cars also used those same chassis and automotive components as well.  The Mark 1 vehicles were armored with an outside layer of steel plate and an inside layer of oak planks.  The Mark 1 and Mark 2 cars are very similar in appearance, but can be differentiated by the front engine grill armor (vertical on the Mark 1 & horizontal on the Mark 2) and by the presence of rear armor plating.  No rear armor was fitted on the Mark 1, while with the Mark 2 it was present.  Finally, the Mark 3 and Mark 4 Beaverettes were built on monocoque chassis, although they did use the same automotive components, most notably the engine, axles and drive train.
Data Sheet Available:	None Available

Photos

Reference	Source/Provider
Beaverette Mark 1 Light Recon Car Photo	The British War Office

References Available

Online

Printed

Reference	Author
A Photo History of Armoured Cars In Two World Wars	George Forty
Armoured Cars: 1900-1963	The Royal Armoured Corps
"Beaverette, The" (July 2021 Issue of Classic Military Vehicle Magazine)	Phil Homer
British Armoured Cars: 1914-1945	B.T. White
Encyclopedia of Armoured Cars	Duncan Crow and Robert J. Icks
"Standard Beaverette" (September 2014 Issue of Military Machines International Magazine)	Phil Homer
"Vehicles of the Reconnaissance Corps" (March 2022 Issue of Classic Military Vehicle Magazine)	David Garden

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