Fox Armoured Car

[Would you like to see this in-game?]
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0 voters

Hello, I would like to suggest this Canadian armoured car I found.
450px-GMC_Fox_Mk1_Armoured_Car_(1943)_owned_by_James_Gosling_pic1

History:
Since 1942 Canada had the idea of adopting the Humber Armoured Car Mk III it was desired to make them locally. Due to this instead of being built on the British Karrier KT4, it was built on the Chevrolet C15 of the Canadian Military Pattern(CMP) trucks. Other names the armoured car has is “Armoured Car, General Motors Mark I (Fox I)”. Over 1,500 of the Fox armoured cars were produced. The Fox ended up in most of the other commonwealth nations’ hands and the Polish during WW2, post-war they served with the Portuguese, Dutch and later the Indonesians. The Dutch also made a variant known as the “Humfox” due to its Humber Mk. IV turret, this variant was also used by the Indonesians. The Fox was used to train troops in the UK and saw service with Canadian units in Italy, North Africa, Northwest Europe and India. Its most notable deployment was with the Canadian troops in Italy from 1943-1944. The Fox served alongside other Canadian armoured cars such as the Lynx and the Otter before each one was either replaced or retired. The Fox was also used to make a prototype anti-tank vehicle using the 2-pdr gun. Although the Fox would be replaced with the American T17E1 Staghound they’d still serve in security roles until V-Day for Canada. The Italian Air Force also received some of the Fox armoured cars to use as security for their aerodromes until they were retired in the 1950s.

Other photos

fox_0
Fox1
Fox1acELLIOTT (1)
Fox1acELLIOTT (2)
Fox1acHolloway (1)
Fox1acHolloway (2)
unnamed

Specs:

Year 1943
Vehicle Type 4x4 Armoured Car
Origin & Designer Canada/GM Canada
Numbers Produced 1.506
Crew 4 (Commander, Gunner, Wireless Operator & Driver)
Main Armament 1 x .50 Cal M2HB Heavy Machine Gun
Turret Traverse 360° (Manual)
Secondary Armament 1 x .30 Cal M1919 Machine Gun (Coaxial)
Height 2.40m
Width 2.30m
Length 4.60m
Combat Weight 7.085 kg
Radio No 19 Set
Armour
Hull Front: 15mm.
Hull Sides: 10mm.
Hull Rear: 10mm.
Hull Top: 7mm.
Hull Bottom: 6mm.
Gun Mantle: 15mm.
Turret Front: 15mm.
Turret Sides: 10mm.
Turret Rear: 10mm.
Turret Top: 6mm.
Engine GMC 6 Cyl (Petrol)
Transmission 4 Forward & 1 Reverse
Maximum Road Range 402 km
Maximum Cross Country Range 240 km
Maximum Road Speed 71 kph
Maximum Cross Country Speed 40 kph
Sources

CANADIAN FOX ARMOURED CAR Mk. I - Quartermaster Section
GMC Fox
WarWheels.Net- Fox Mark 1 Armored Car Index
Oshawa-made 'Fox' armoured vehicle returns home on 80th birthday | INdurham
Fox Armoured Car - Wikipedia
Armour in Canada: Fox Armoured Car

6 Likes

+1 as a Reserve for an independent Canada TT. Characterful and nippy little blighter.

2 Likes

+1 for a Canadian tree

12 Likes

the armament wasn’t the 12,7mm M2HB but a 12.7mm Vicker HMG

here is the Fox with the 12.7mm M2HB

this was just a bad restoration as far as I know.

the vicker HMB is a lot shorter, have a much lower velocity and… have a much lower penetration than the 12.7mm M2HB
https://wiki.warthunder.com/Vickers_Mk.V_(12.7_mm)

2 Likes

Really? As every source I could find says it was armed with the .50 and .30 Cal Browning machine guns.

1 Like

image
I don’t think a Vickers .50 with water jacket would fit the armoured mounting.

4 Likes

Shortages of European ammunition forced Canadian GM Fox armoured cars to be equipped with the readily available American M2 .50 machine gun. It carried 2,200 rounds. It did not have the Vickers machine gun.

Per

2 Likes

maybe i am wrong. but the water cylinder may not be mounted

1 Like

I mean no, those can’t be a Vickers 50 because there’s no space for it’s jacket. The Guy armoured car (of which the Humber is derived, of which the Fox is derived), has the Vickers 50 and it’s very obvious.
image

Your one is the only image I can find of a Fox like that. I think that’s a museum job using a mock barrel.
There’s a dozen other images of the WW2 Fox with a Browning M2.

6 Likes

I am not sure if this vehicle should be added, I would rather prefer the Fox modified variant with Humber turret and 37mm AT gun. The 12.7mm machine gun can work, but it will still struggle against better armored vehicles we have in game, like the late Stuart models, the T-28, Italian M13/M14 medium tanks etc. It will behave like an M2A2 on wheels, but with better turret traverse and worse speed on bad terrain.

1 Like

The difference is that “Humfox” is a Dutch modification that Canada has no claim to as they didn’t use it. Well, I’d also like to see the other variant in the game, this suggestion and that can’t be the same as this is for the Fox as a Canadian vehicle as it’s the only one it has a claim to.

I mean we are all well aware of that hence why most of us think it would be a good Reserve/1.0 for Canada. Speaking of the M2A2 I was assured that due to it being in-game I’d be fine making this suggestion, as I was on the fence about this vehicle for some time.

Or the Anti tank gun version of the Fox

Eh it would be a viable 1.0 tank, considering we have the M2A2, Csaba, and L3/33 CC. It’s not perfect by any stretch, but it’s a unique addition for a Canadian tree.

1 Like