1954 Daimler Ferret armoured car
Discussion
Eeeeeh, that takes me back!
The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
I used to work with a guy who occasionally came to work in one of these.
He used to park it in the car park with a tarpaulin sat on top of it.
He was a slightly curious fella.
Come to think of it he had a bit of a finger missing too but for a completely different reason.
Perhaps they attract them as well as cause them.
He used to park it in the car park with a tarpaulin sat on top of it.
He was a slightly curious fella.
Come to think of it he had a bit of a finger missing too but for a completely different reason.
Perhaps they attract them as well as cause them.
yellowjack said:
Eeeeeh, that takes me back!
The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
Brilliant The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
almost amazed it still had a Browning that late! I've got the Bren gun ready to go back on top of ours. Did you see many of them in action or were they all but gone by then? Thanks! I managed to get all the hub oils changed tonight and taxed it online. A good pressure wash tomorrow and I'll take it for a few gentle test runs up some local country lanes to make sure all is well.
They're lovely things Champs, people put them down far more than they deserve. Obviously they were expensive and far more complex than was really needed but they were far better than Landies etc.
I've never really looked at one in detail but I would say that sounds about right, I believe they can also do their top speed in reverse much like a Ferret? Has your dad ever thought of selling it? I think they've really started to shoot up in value now, 10-15 years ago they were peanuts.
Yep it's a B60 so just the B40 with two extra cylinders, then you had the B80 straight eight in the Saracen APC and Saladin armoured car, and the B81 which was a slightly bigger capacity in the Stalwart amphibious load carrier and Salamander RAF fire tender. The B81 has to be one of my favourite exhaust notes of all time, lovely!
They're lovely things Champs, people put them down far more than they deserve. Obviously they were expensive and far more complex than was really needed but they were far better than Landies etc.
I've never really looked at one in detail but I would say that sounds about right, I believe they can also do their top speed in reverse much like a Ferret? Has your dad ever thought of selling it? I think they've really started to shoot up in value now, 10-15 years ago they were peanuts.
Yep it's a B60 so just the B40 with two extra cylinders, then you had the B80 straight eight in the Saracen APC and Saladin armoured car, and the B81 which was a slightly bigger capacity in the Stalwart amphibious load carrier and Salamander RAF fire tender. The B81 has to be one of my favourite exhaust notes of all time, lovely!
LewG said:
yellowjack said:
Eeeeeh, that takes me back!
The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
Brilliant The last Ferret (Mk 2/3) I saw "in service" was our Squadron Sergeant Major's 'wreck' in late 1990. It sat forlorn on the tank park, unloved, unwanted, and firmly "VOR" as we got on the buses for our flight to Al Jubail, where every other piece of the Regiment's armour except for this poorly Ferret was waiting for us.
Suffice to say that the SSM was NOT sad to leave it behind, and he used a Land Rover for the duration of hostilities. He took the .30 cal Browning from his Ferret with him though, despite ammunition for it being near non-existent. Less than a year later, while I was away on a course in UK, the Regiment (23 Engr Regt) was disbanded, so I've no idea what happened to it.
almost amazed it still had a Browning that late! I've got the Bren gun ready to go back on top of ours. Did you see many of them in action or were they all but gone by then? My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this s
t, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast? As an ex REME type I can recall many happy afternoons stripping and reassembling ferret and stalwart reduction hubs, the planet gears have a small etched mark against one tooth and these gears need to be timed, otherwise the hub locks up after a couple of revolutions.
I had a frustrating afternoon putting back together a Ferret hub in Nicosia during the Turkish invasion,1974?, somebody else has stripped it and lost a few of the needle rollers.
An activity drivers should perform is operating what passes for the clutch pedal prior to daily use. They rarely did this which resulted in worn brake bands on the Wilson preselected box! ithis results in slipping or non selection of the gear selected.
The only other area of failure I can recall was the 2 stage generator.
If you own and command a FSC with a turret I would urge caution with cornering speed as it was well known that such vehicles would topple and slice the commander in two!
I had a frustrating afternoon putting back together a Ferret hub in Nicosia during the Turkish invasion,1974?, somebody else has stripped it and lost a few of the needle rollers.
An activity drivers should perform is operating what passes for the clutch pedal prior to daily use. They rarely did this which resulted in worn brake bands on the Wilson preselected box! ithis results in slipping or non selection of the gear selected.
The only other area of failure I can recall was the 2 stage generator.
If you own and command a FSC with a turret I would urge caution with cornering speed as it was well known that such vehicles would topple and slice the commander in two!
Edited by e600 on Saturday 9th April 05:40
EFAEdited by e600 on Saturday 9th April 05:43
yellowjack said:
Now I wasn't with them, but 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment weren't referred to as "The Antiques Roadshow" for nothing during the '91 Gulf War! Even then, I don't recall many 'fit' Ferrets, and there are none in any of the photos I have that survive from the time so I assume they were pretty much phased out by then.
My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this st, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast?
Hello chap, great to read. I can well imagine! They are relatively ancient in comparison, I've driven several 432s and although great fun there's no comparison to the modern stuff. A Cent or a Chieftain would be the ultimate toy for me, but in a battle situation I think I'd prefer the shiny new stuff My 'truck' was a 1966 FV 432, and even our Chieftain AVREs and AVLBs were no spring chickens. 32 Armd still had Centurion Mk V 165mm AVREs, and some Mk 12 105mm AVREs in their fleet. We had the very devil of a time trying to keep up with the infantry and cavalry regiments, with their shiny new Warriors and Challengers. I'm not sure I even saw a Ferret move in our unit , either in Germany or the Gulf. They didn't really lend themselves well to RE tasks I'm afraid. Recce duties were carried out in Land Rovers or Spartans. Lots of Ferrets ended their days at BATUS (British Army Training Unit, Suffield) in Alberta, Canada. They were used as observation vehicles by Range Safety Staff when live rounds were issued, and they were standard olive green with big gloss red panels painted over them.
Is your BREN a 'proper' BREN, or is it the 7.62mm L4? The L4 is what was allocated to my 432, so that was my 'baby' too when it was dismounted. My section took 5 Iraqi prisoners with me providing cover from the commander's hatch behind the LMG (as we knew it then). My personal weapon was the Stormtroopers' blaster of choice - the 9mm SMG. Section personal weapons were 7.62mm SLRs, and we also deployed with 2 x GPMG from 'war reserve' stocks to give us a bit more firepower, although they couldn't be fitted to the pintle mount in our CES, so were used only in the dismounted section support role. Hells teeth! How do I remember all this s
t, when most days I couldn't tell you what I'd had for breakfast? Superb we do have a Spartan too funnily enough, I can't quite recall its service history I'll have to dig out the file.
It is a proper Bren I'm afraid, realistically it should be the L4 but they command a healthy premium over a standard one. From what I remember there was a company that made a specialist GPMG turret for 432. I can't remember the name for the life of me though.
Was that the Sterling SMG? We have one for the little gun hooks in the back of the Ferret. I've been told the stories! If what you're aiming at is any more than 30 feet away, don't bother
e600 said:
As an ex REME type I can recall many happy afternoons stripping and reassembling ferret and stalwart reduction hubs, the planet gears have a small etched mark against one tooth and these gears need to be timed, otherwise the hub locks up after a couple of revolutions.
I had a frustrating afternoon putting back together a Ferret hub in Nicosia during the Turkish invasion,1974?, somebody else has stripped it and lost a few of the needle rollers.
An activity drivers should perform is operating what passes for the clutch pedal prior to daily use. They rarely did this which resulted in worn brake bands on the Wilson preselected box! ithis results in slipping or non selection of the gear selected.
The only other area of failure I can recall was the 2 stage generator.
If you own and command a FSC with a turret I would urge caution with cornering speed as it was well known that such vehicles would topple and slice the commander in two!
Hello e600, absolutely right as you say. I have a few EMERS with different bits and pieces in and had been warned by John the Ferret guru that there's a few tricks to getting it back together. What a pain! Thankfully I had several small plastic bags in the workshop so every planet gear and its rollers went in a separate bag. I'll get round to doing something with it one day. I had a frustrating afternoon putting back together a Ferret hub in Nicosia during the Turkish invasion,1974?, somebody else has stripped it and lost a few of the needle rollers.
An activity drivers should perform is operating what passes for the clutch pedal prior to daily use. They rarely did this which resulted in worn brake bands on the Wilson preselected box! ithis results in slipping or non selection of the gear selected.
The only other area of failure I can recall was the 2 stage generator.
If you own and command a FSC with a turret I would urge caution with cornering speed as it was well known that such vehicles would topple and slice the commander in two!
Edited by e600 on Saturday 9th April 05:40
EFAEdited by e600 on Saturday 9th April 05:43
Oh yes the left leg workout in each gear! I understand it's a big job replacing the brake bands?
Absolutely that, I would've thought going from a Mk1 to a Mk2 would require some reeducation in driving technique! It's surprising how much you can throw the Mk1 round corners on the road, we have had it really cooking in the past!
Not sure I'd fancy going from that to a Fox CVRW. Apparently although absolutely rapid they'd tip over at the prospect of a corner
Got her washed down today, the rear armour plates and air filter fitted. Took her for a couple of runs up the farm track, come to a stop and could smell acrid smoke so I hopped out quick and threw the engine hatches open. Thankfully just a stray zip tie on the exhaust!
Myself and dad took her a few hundred metres up the road to the garage for some fresh petrol, it's quite evident that there isn't a lot of stopping power in reserve so a bit of brake adjustment definitely needed!
Engine is looking far better for a pressure washing.
20160409_130717_zps2qpgjdxp
Little PH event in the next town tomorrow morning so it looks like I'll be taking the TVR, a shame as I really wanted to take this but it's ill advised with not a huge amount of brakes
Myself and dad took her a few hundred metres up the road to the garage for some fresh petrol, it's quite evident that there isn't a lot of stopping power in reserve so a bit of brake adjustment definitely needed!
Engine is looking far better for a pressure washing.
20160409_130717_zps2qpgjdxpLittle PH event in the next town tomorrow morning so it looks like I'll be taking the TVR, a shame as I really wanted to take this but it's ill advised with not a huge amount of brakes
Edited by LewG on Tuesday 15th August 19:03
LewG said:
Thanks! I managed to get all the hub oils changed tonight and taxed it online. A good pressure wash tomorrow and I'll take it for a few gentle test runs up some local country lanes to make sure all is well.
They're lovely things Champs, people put them down far more than they deserve. Obviously they were expensive and far more complex than was really needed but they were far better than Landies etc.
I've never really looked at one in detail but I would say that sounds about right, I believe they can also do their top speed in reverse much like a Ferret? Has your dad ever thought of selling it? I think they've really started to shoot up in value now, 10-15 years ago they were peanuts.
Yep it's a B60 so just the B40 with two extra cylinders, then you had the B80 straight eight in the Saracen APC and Saladin armoured car, and the B81 which was a slightly bigger capacity in the Stalwart amphibious load carrier and Salamander RAF fire tender. The B81 has to be one of my favourite exhaust notes of all time, lovely!
Yes, they're fantastically over complicated - its amazing any survived the squaddies, let alone 50 years of civilian abuse! Theoretically top speed is the same in reverse, although apparently they're extremely twitchy They're lovely things Champs, people put them down far more than they deserve. Obviously they were expensive and far more complex than was really needed but they were far better than Landies etc.
I've never really looked at one in detail but I would say that sounds about right, I believe they can also do their top speed in reverse much like a Ferret? Has your dad ever thought of selling it? I think they've really started to shoot up in value now, 10-15 years ago they were peanuts.
Yep it's a B60 so just the B40 with two extra cylinders, then you had the B80 straight eight in the Saracen APC and Saladin armoured car, and the B81 which was a slightly bigger capacity in the Stalwart amphibious load carrier and Salamander RAF fire tender. The B81 has to be one of my favourite exhaust notes of all time, lovely!
He talks of selling it every so often but we've done so much to it over the years it'd be a shame to let it go. Its pretty much spot on mechanically for the first time in 30 years! We had a ride in a stolly at the evesham show a few years ago - what a machine. When I win the lottery....Cheers Dave. Took her out for a good run this afternoon and what an experience. It's fantastically slow for a couple of miles whilst all the many, many gallons of oil warm up and everything begins to agree with each other. After that I merrily ticked along around the local countryside at 45mph ish as a cruise. I've only ever driven it around the farm, never out on the road so it was completely new to me. It's surprisingly accurate to drive on the road and the steering has considerably less vagueness than my old Landy for example (not a high benchmark for steering excellence I know but nevertheless!). It's quite frustrating pulling out of junctions because obviously you need a fair bit of room due to being relatively slow, but then the car passing slows down to a crawl to have a look/take photos on their phones
Really looking forward to getting it absolutely perfect for this coming show season, a company called Jolley Engineering do a great electronic ignition kit for these so I'll be fitting that to replace the two sets of points, as it doesn't idle particularly well which can make setting off from busy junctions difficult with no clutch. Really pleased with it so far though, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for hours afterwards!
Really looking forward to getting it absolutely perfect for this coming show season, a company called Jolley Engineering do a great electronic ignition kit for these so I'll be fitting that to replace the two sets of points, as it doesn't idle particularly well which can make setting off from busy junctions difficult with no clutch. Really pleased with it so far though, I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for hours afterwards!
minivanman said:
Yes, they're fantastically over complicated - its amazing any survived the squaddies, let alone 50 years of civilian abuse! Theoretically top speed is the same in reverse, although apparently they're extremely twitchy He talks of selling it every so often but we've done so much to it over the years it'd be a shame to let it go. Its pretty much spot on mechanically for the first time in 30 years! We had a ride in a stolly at the evesham show a few years ago - what a machine. When I win the lottery....
Too right! That is a bit of a shame, do you not reckon you could take it on? Aren't they fantastic! There was a Mk1 Stolly rotting on a farm on my way to school years ago, used to pass it every day on the bus and I used to find that old thing absolutely amazing. I persuaded Dad to try and contact the owner so we knocked on the door of the farmhouse next door, it turned out it belonged to some strange recluse who lived down the river in a tiny cottage, and had used it to sail back to his house on occasion! He hadn't moved it in approximately 15 years and it hadn't run for 5. We approached him about buying it but he wouldn't sell up unfortunately. Eventually it just disappeared, so we spoke to the farmer again to see what had happened. He'd spoke to the owner and asked him to move it, received no reply and so got one of those tank driving companies to come and fetch it, they gave him £400 for it! Apparently with some new batteries and fresh fuel it started and 'run like a sewing machine'. I was absolutely gutted. He talks of selling it every so often but we've done so much to it over the years it'd be a shame to let it go. Its pretty much spot on mechanically for the first time in 30 years! We had a ride in a stolly at the evesham show a few years ago - what a machine. When I win the lottery....
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff