The Ferret armored car, also commonly called the Ferret Scout car, is a British armored fighting vehicle designed and built for reconnaissance purposes. The Ferret was produced between 1952 and 1971 by the UK Company, Daimler. It was widely adopted by regiments in the British Army as well as Commonwealth countries throughout the period.

 

This Ferret Scout Car is a Mark II built in 1965. It weighs 3.7 tons and will travel about 190 miles on a tank of gas. This Ferret has a Rolls Royce B60 six cylinder gasoline engine giving the Ferret a top speed of 58 miles per hour.

 

The Ferret was developed in 1949 as a result of the British Army's need to obtain a replacement model for its Second World War light armored vehicles. Due to the success of their Reconnaissance Scout Car, the "Dingo", Daimler was employed to design and manufacture the Ferret.

 

The Ferret shared many similar design features with the Dingo and Canadian Ford Lynx, but featured a larger fighting compartment and an optional small machine gun turret. It was built from an all-welded monocoque steel body, making the vehicle lower but also making the drive extremely noisy inside as all the running gear was within the enclosed body with the crew.

 

Four wheel drive was incorporated together with "Run flat" tires (which kept their shape even if punctured in battle, thus enabling a vehicle to drive to safety.) The turret carried a single machine gun , which turns a full 360 degrees. Six grenade launchers fitted to the hull (three on each side) could carry smoke grenades.

 

The Ferret Scout Car is fast and small enough to be used in an urban environment but strong enough to negotiate rugged terrain off road. The Ferret is no longer in service in the British Army, although several Commonwealth countries still operate them to this day. They are popular with private collectors due to the compact size and affordable price in the USA.