M8 Greyhound

The M8 Light Armored Car was a 6x6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during the Second World War. It was used by the U.S. and British troops in Europe and the Far East until the end of the war.





The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remains in service in some third world countries. In British service the M8 was known as the Greyhound.





Development history



In July 1941, the Ordnance department initiated a development of a new fast tank destroyer to replace the M6 37 mm Gun Motor Carriage, which was essentially a 3/4 ton truck with a 37 mm gun installed in the rear bed.





The requirement was for a 6x4 wheeled vehicle armed with a 37 mm gun, a coaxial machine gun mounted in a turret, and a machine gun in the front hull.





Its glacis armor was supposed to withstand fire from a .50 cal. machine gun and side armor from a .30 cal. machine gun.





Prototypes were submitted by Studebaker (designated T21), Ford (T22) and Chrysler (T23), all of them similar in design and appearance. In April 1942 the T22 was selected despite complaints about deficiencies due to the need for vehicles.





By then it was clear that the 37 mm gun would not be effective against the front armour of German tanks so the new armored car, designated M8 Light Armored Car took on the reconnaissance role instead.





Contract issues and minor design improvements delayed serial production until March 1943. Production ended in June 1945. A total of 8,523 units were built, not including the M20 Armored Utility Car.





In 1942 the British turned down the opportunity to use the M8 through Lend-Lease. It was named Greyhound in keeping with other US armoured cars already ordered by the British such as the (cancelled) T18 Boarhound, the Deerhound and the Staghound.



The telescopic sight used to aim the main 37 mm gun.



Description



The M8 was fitted with a 37 mm M6 gun (aimed by M70D telescopic sight) and a coaxially mounted .30 Browning machine gun in an open-topped, welded turret.





An M2 Browning machine gun was sometimes carried on a ring or pintle mount for anti-aircraft use; this was not standard on early vehicles but was a frequent unit modification.





The crew of four comprised the commander (who doubled as loader), gunner, driver, and radio operator (who could also act as a driver). The driver and radio operator were seated in the forward section of the hull, while the commander and gunner rode in the turret, commander in the right side.



Shells for the main 37 mm gun are stored on racks inside the turret. The barrel of an M1 carbine, carried for personal defense, is visible at left.



The vehicle carried 80 37 mm rounds when fitted with a single radio. Vehicles with a second radio installed carried as few as 16 main gun rounds, although unit-level modifications could raise this as high as 40 or more.





Machinegun ammunition consisted of 1500 .30 cal rounds and 400 .50 cal rounds. In addition, it carried 16 hand grenades, 4 smoke pots (M1 or M2), 6 landmines (Anti-tank and HE types) and M1 Carbines for the crew.





The armor ranged from 3 mm on the hull floor, to 19 mm on the front hull and turret. The M8 was powered by a Hercules Model JXD in-line 6-cylinder 320 cu.in. gasoline engine giving it a top speed of 56 mph on-road, 30 mph off-road.





With a 59 gallon tank, and an average fuel consumption of 7.5 mpg it could manage an average range of 400 miles.



American troops in a M8 passing the Arc de Triomphe after the liberation of Paris.



Service history



The M8 first saw action in Italy in 1943 and was used by the US Army both in Europe and in the Far East.





In the latter theater it was occasionally employed in its original tank destroyer role as most of the Japanese armor was vulnerable to its 37 mm gun. Over 1,000 were supplied via lend-lease channels to Britain, France and Brazil.





The vehicle was considered fast, sufficiently reliable (after some technical problems were solved) and armed and armored well enough for reconnaissance missions. However, cavalry units criticized its off-road performance, which was even worse than the M3A1 Scout Car it replaced.





In the mountainous terrain of Italy and in the deep mud and snow of North European winter the M8 was more or less restricted to roads, which greatly reduced its value as a reconnaissance vehicle.





It was also very vulnerable to landmines. An add-on armor kit was designed to provide an extra quarter-inch of belly armor to reduce landmine vulnerability. Some crews placed sandbags on the floor to make up for the thin belly armor.





Another problem was that commanders often used their reconnaissance squadrons for fire support missions, for which the thinly-armored M8 was ill-suited. When it encountered German armored reconnaissance units, the M8 could easily penetrate their armor with its 37mm gun. Conversely, its own thin armor was vulnerable to the 20mm autocannons that German scout cars were equipped with.





The US Army Armour School's paper The Battle at St-Vith 17-23 December 1944 describes an engagement during the Battle of the Bulge, between an M8 (Troop B, 87th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron) and a Tiger tank. The M8 crew was the resounding victor, punching multiple 37mm rounds through the rear armour of the panzer.



M8 armored car with Constabulary markings.



The US Army started to look for a replacement for the M8 as early as 1943. Two prototypes, the Studebaker T27 and Chevrolet T28 were finished in summer 1944.





Both were found superior to the M8, but it was decided that at this stage of the war there was no more need for a new armored car.





After the war, the M8 was used for occupation duty, saw combat in the Korean War and was retired by the US Army shortly thereafter. France continued to use the M8 until the First Indochina War.





Many vehicles formerly used by the US, Britain and France were exported to NATO allies and third world countries. As of 2002, some still remain in service in Africa and South America.





List of operators



Past and present operators of the vehicle include:



Algeria

Austria

Belgium

Benin

Brazil

Britain

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Colombia

Cyprus

El Salvador

Ethiopia

France

Germany - captured in World War II and saw service with the West German Border Guard after the war.

Greece

Guatemala

Haiti

Iran

Italy

Jamaica

Japan

Madagascar

Mexico

Morocco

Niger

Norway

Paraguay

Peru

Philippines

Portugal

Saudi Arabia

Senegal

South Korea

South Vietnam

Taiwan

Thailand

Togo

Tunisia

Turkey

USA

Venezuela

Yugoslavia

Zaire



Variants



T22.



T22 Light Armored Car - Prototype.



T22E1 Light Armored Car - A 4x4 prototype.



T22E2 Light Armored Car - Prototype eventually standardized as M8.



M8 Light Armored Car - Production variant.



M8E1 Light Armored Car - A variant with modified suspension. Two vehicles were produced in 1943.



M20 Armored Utility Car at the US Army Ordnance Museum.



The M20 Armored Utility Car, also known as the M20 Scout Car, was a Greyhound with the turret removed.





This was replaced with a low, armored open-topped superstructure and an AA ring mount for a .50 caliber M2 heavy machinegun AA. A bazooka was provided for the crew to compensate for its lack of anti-armor weaponry.





The M20 was primarily used as a command vehicle and for forward reconnaissance, but many vehicles also served as APCs and cargo carriers. It offered high speed and excellent mobility, along with a degree of protection against small arms fire and shrapnel.





When employed in the command and control role, the M20 was fitted with additional radio equipment. Originally designated the M10 Armored Utility Car, it was redesignated M20 to avoid confusion with the M10 Wolverine tank destroyer. 3,680 M20s were built by Ford during its two years in production (1943-1944).



T69 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage.



T69 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage - In late 1943 an anti-aircraft variant of the M8 was tested. The vehicle was armed with four .50 cal. machine guns in a turret developed by Maxson Corp.. The Antiaircraft Board felt that the vehicle was inferior to the M16 MGMC and the project was closed.



M8 TOW Tank Destroyer - M8 upgraded by the US company NAPCO. The main gun was replaced by an .50 cal machine gun and a BGM-71 TOW launcher was installed above the turret. Upgraded vehicles were used by Colombia.



M8/M20 with H-90 turret - A French upgrade, using the turret of the Panhard AML 90 armored car.



CRR Brasileiro - A version developed in 1968 by the Brazilian Army Engineering Institute (IME). The middle axle was removed and a new engine (120 hp Mercedes-Benz OM-321) installed to create the VBB-1 of which one prototype was completed, the vehicle being found to be inferior. The Vbb-1 was in turn the basis for the CRR which reverted to a 6x6 configuration and 8 vehicles were produced for evaluation. The EE-9 Cascavel was developed from the CRR.



M8 (Diesel) Hellenic Army Armored Car - A number of M8 Armored Cars were upgraded with a Steyr diesel engine in place of the Hercules JXD gasoline engine, this required a rearwards extension of the engine compartment by 30cm as well as some heightening. Also fitted were a new radio, indicator and new hooded lights, rear view mirrors, while the M2HB anti-aircraft machinegun was moved to the right front of the turret, where a new pintle socket was bolted on the partial roof (the turret rear socket being retained) and the coaxial 0,30" M1919A4 replaced by a 7,62x51mm NATO MG3 machinegun. Used for coastal defense and retired from service in the late 1990s.



M8 in the Media



An unarmed M8 is seen in use by the LAPD SWAT team in a failed assault on the fictional Nakotomi Plaza in the 1988 film Die Hard.

An M8 appears several times in the 1998 remake of the movie Godzilla.

The M8 is featured in the graphic novel "Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope" by Emmanuel Guibert (ISBN 978-1596430969). This collection of stories and anecdotes of the Alan Cope, a radioman assigned to an armored cavalry unit of Patton's 3rd Army, during the closing months of World War II. Details about the M8's operation and how it was perceived by its crewmen are discussed. Interestingly, it includes a story about the acquisition of a ring mount for the .50 caliber M2HB machine gun on top of the turret, which the crew apparently considered the only worthwhile weapon on the vehicle, as the 37mm anti-tank gun that armed the M8 was woefully underpowered even by the middle of the war.

A Greyhound is painted like a czech tank in the James Bond movie "The living daylights" (1987)

The M8 Greyhound is featured as the Americans' heavy reconnaissance vehicle in the real time strategy game Company of Heroes. It can be upgraded with an anti-infantry machine gun and better armour.



M8 equipped for battle.



M8 Armored Car



Type Armored car

Place of origin United States





Specifications



Weight 7.8 t

Length 5 m (16.4 ft)

Width 2.54 m (8.3 ft)

Height 2.25 m (7.4 ft)

Crew 4

Armor up to 19 mm (3/4 inch)

Primary armament 37 mm Gun M6

Secondary armament .30 and .50 MG

Engine Hercules JXD 6-cyl gasoline 110 hp (82 kW)

Power/weight 14.1 hp/tonne

Suspension 6x6 wheel, leaf spring

Operational range 563 km (350 miles)

Speed 90 km/h, 56 mph