What Is a Scout Car?

A scout car is a lightly armored, military all-terrain vehicle primarily used in reconnaissance. The vehicle is smaller, faster, and more mobile than armored cars and larger troop carriers. Scout cars are typically lightly armed with a single or dual machine guns for crew protection and are seldom used in an offensive role. Most scout car designs have four conventional wheels with pneumatic tires and generally feature permanent four wheel drive. The helicopter has largely replaced the scout car in its traditional reconnaissance role although several nations still utilize smaller, lightly armored, and armed vehicles within their military structures.

During the Second World War, combatants found the need for a small, fast, and maneuverable vehicle for use as reconnaissance platforms in active combat zones. The resultant vehicle designs featured light armor, four driven wheels with standard pneumatic tires, and suspensions which offered good ground clearance and all-terrain flexibility. These scout cars were typically too small to carry troops and too lightly armored and armed to be pressed into service as offensive vehicles. They were, however, fast, nimble, and able to move across inhospitable terrain with ease both quickly and unobtrusively.

Typically armed with one or two light or medium machine guns and able to carry a crew compliment of between four and seven men, the scout car was ideally suited to moving reconnaissance groups into areas where conventional armored vehicles could not go undetected. The car's armor and armament were sufficient to protect the crew from the attentions of infantry patrols, and their speed and agility could extricate them from most unpleasant encounters with tanks or armored cars. These characteristics allowed recon groups to move deep into enemy-held territory at times and return home safely to deliver their valuable intelligence.

The obvious usefulness of the scout car saw it pressed into service in other less heroic roles such as liaison vehicles, ambulances, and officer transports. Most armed forces involved in WWII developed at least one variant; examples such as the British Humber Light Reconnaissance Car and the Ferret, the American M3 Scout Car, and the German SdKfz.222 saw extensive service in all theaters. Some of these designs evolved into variants equipped with turrets and slightly heavier armor and weapons, but all retained their quick, quiet, and nimble status throughout the war.

The advent of the helicopter saw the scout car begin to fall from favor as a fast and reliable method of inserting small groups of soldiers into combat environments. Several nations have, however, retained and refined the scout car in their armored divisions. Few retain the original specifications of early designs; most are turreted vehicles capable of carrying a squad and armed with .50 caliber machine guns or 20 mm cannons.