Rolls Royce Armoured Cars were first built during the First World War, when wealthy gentlemen took their family cars with them to the front. Soon they had equipped their vehicles with weapons and armour, and proved their worth as fighting cars. The Admiralty approved a request for purpose-built vehicles.
Although they weren’t suitable for use on the Western Front, once trench warfare began, the Army sent them to fight in the Middle East where they proved very successful.
After the First World War, a new generation called the Rolls Royce 1920 Pattern were built and The Tank Museum’s Rolls Royce was one of them. 1920 Pattern cars served throughout the world between the wars in places as far flung as Ireland, Shanghai, Iraq and India. by 1939, the Army still had 76 in service. Those in the UK were used for home defence while the 11th Hussars, based in Egypt, fought with them in Operation Compass.
The Tank Museum’s Rolls-Royce Armoured Car
The Museum’s Vehicle was built in Derby in 1920. It served in Ireland, Shanghai and Egypt, before coming back to England to patrol the Norfolk coast during the Second World War. It later went to the School of Tank Technology, then The Tank Museum in 1949.
It has been used by The Tank Museum for events and special occasions since it came to the collection, including an appearance on the Antiques Roadshow, Annika Rice’s Treasure Hunt, the Lord Mayor’s Show in London and numerous regimental occasions. The highlight of its long career came when it drove the Queen as its passenger, on a visit to The Tank Museum in 1997. It is the oldest member of our running vehicle fleet.
