Italeri 6478 British Heavy Recon Vehicle Staghound Mk III

The Staghound T17 is a heavy, wheeled armored car from the American World War II period. The first prototypes of this car were made in 1942, and the serial production of the vehicle was carried out in 1942-1944. It is assumed that about 3,000 vehicles of this type were built in the course of the project. The drive was provided by two motors Hercules JXD or the GMC 270 with 110 hp and 97 hp respectively. The car was 5.48 meters long and 2.79 meters wide. The vehicle's operating range was approximately 750-800 kilometers. In the Mark I version, the main armament was a single 37mm cannon, and the secondary armament was 2-3 7.62mm machineguns.

The Staghound T17 was developed for the US Army by Chevrolet as a new heavy armored car. However, over time, the American Armed Forces withdrew from the order, and the car (under the designation Staghound T17E1) was primarily used by the British Army as part of the Lend and Lease program. In the course of production in the United States, several versions of this vehicle were created, including: Mark I (basic version armed with a 37mm gun), Mark II (a version serving as a support vehicle armed with a 76.2mm gun). mm) or Mark III (a vehicle with a Crusader turret and a 57mm gun). Cars of this type were used primarily in the final period of the campaign in North Africa, the Middle East and the Apennine, but to a lesser extent in North-Western Europe in the period 1944-1945. Cars of this type were used in the troops of the British Commonwealth of Nations and in the Polish Armed Forces in the West.