The Daimler Dingo is quite possibly the most popular Scout Car the British military has ever deployed and was universally liked thanks to its speed, agility, capability and ride comfort
The Dingo was conceived in 1938, in response to a British War Office specification for a scouting vehicle. Prototypes submitted by the Birmingham Small Arms Company Ltd (BSA) and Alvis were the most successful. Trials were conducted, adjustments made, and finally, the BSA option was selected. At that time, Daimler was part of the BSA group of companies, and commenced production of the scout car at its Radford Works, near Coventry. Officially designated the Daimler Scout Car, it became better known as the Dingo, which had been the name for the Alvis prototype.
The Dingo is a small, two-man armoured car primarily designed for reconnaissance, and thus equipped with conventional radio and Morse code capabilities.
It was well-protected with 30mm of armour at the front, but the side and rear armour were lighter (12mm), That was because accepted tactics were to face the likely direction of enemy fire whenever possible, even during withdrawal. To facilitate this, the Dingo had five speeds in both directions: forward and reverse, which meant crews could extract quickly without taking the time - and risking the vulnerability - of turning around.
Lighter armour also helped reduce the vehicle weight, which was 3.2 tonnes fully laden. Should the crew need to turn, the four-wheel steering system gave a tight turning circle of 7m. The Dingo was rear-engined, so reversing out of danger offered the engine some extra protection too. It was a 2,522cc, straight-six, Daimler petrol engine. Governed to 4,200 revs/minute, it developed 55bhp and was capable of 60mph on-road (both directions!), although the safe speed was listed as 45mph.
Fuel consumption was 11,25mpg on-road and 4.45mpg off-road; and that legendary comfort was provided by independent coil suspension, with concentric (or nested) springs which gave each wheel up to 20cm of vertical travel.
Four-wheel drive was delivered from the transfer box to a bevel box at each wheel, negating the need for fixed beam axles, so if one wheel came off there was still drive to the other three without any loss of oil. In effect, you can drive a Dingo on three wheels.
Typical armaments initially included a .303 Bren light machine gun, a 7.92mm coaxial machine gun, a Thompson or Sterling submachine gun, personal rifles, smoke grenades and hand grenades. The MKI model presented some issues in service: the four-wheel steering proved extremely difficult to master, and the sliding armoured steel roof could shoot forward under severe braking; as it weighed 200lbs, there was a real risk of serious injury to the crew.
‘The Dingo is a small, two-man armoured car primarily designed for reconnaissance’
Anecdotal evidence also suggests that if the Dingo ran over a mine, the explosion could send the crew slamming into the roof. So, the MKI A and MKIB were created, introducing a folding armoured roof which could be secured, and frontwheel steering which made driving easier, but increased the turning circle to 12m.
Two further versions followed: the MKII and MKIII. These incorporated mostly minor modifications, the most notable of which were the change from a steel roof to a canvas cover, a water-sealed engine and a waterproofed and fully radio-suppressed ignition system, all added to the MKIII. For the D-Day landings, Dingoes were modified for deep wading through at least 3m (1 Oft) of water.
Between 1939 and the cessation of production in 1945, Daimler produced some 6,630 Dingoes. Many MKII vehicles were upgraded to MKIII specification by the MOD during the 1950s, and Dingoes were still being used in Cyprus, Portugal and Sri Lanka until the 1970s. It is believed there are around 118 still in existence, although some of those are in a very dilapidated state.
That could not be said of this lovely example, owned by Chris, Liz and Damian Ball. Its history is a little hazy, but it is known to be a 1942 model when production was transitioning between MKII and MKIII, so it has characteristics of both. The Ball’s investigations, and some help with the history, have revealed this Dingo saw service in North Africa and Italy, but exactly where and when is still unclear. Damian discovered a lot of sand in the storage bins and chassis rails, which certainly points to desert and/or beach deployment.
The family are not sure when it was demobbed, but before Damian’s father, Chris, bought it, it was allegedly used by Michael Caine in the film A Bridge Too Far back in the late 1970s.
SPECIFICATIONS
Make Daimler
Model Scout Car
Nationality British
Year 1942
Production Run 6,630 (1939-1945)
Engine Type Six-cylinder, in-line
Fuel Petrol
Displacement 2,522cc
Power 55bhp @ 4,200 rev/min
Torque 105 ft/lb @ 1,600 rev/min
Transmission Type Manual gearbox and liquid flywheel
Gears Pre-selective, five forward, five reverse
Transfer Box Helical and spur gears incorporating a differential
Suspension Independent concentric (nested) coil springs
Brakes Hydraulic drum
Wheels FB/R 5.00 xl 8 disc-type
Tyres RF or RFE type, 7.00x18
Crew/seats Two
Dimensions (overall)
Length 3.276m
Width 1,752m
Wheelbase 1.981m
Weight unladen 2,642kg
Weight laden 3,200kg
Liz had always wanted a two-seater, soft-topped, Daimler sports car and Chris spotted the Dingo for sale on a local garage forecourt (yes, really). It met all Liz’s criteria (at a stretch), ticked all his boxes, so he bought it and took it home. Liz thought her brother had come to visit because he was in the military.
She said a Dingo wasn’t exactly the Daimler she had in mind! It was, however, in perfect working order and the family used it for local trips. Chris would go to the pub in it and recalls that one day when the entrance to the car park was blocked, he simply drove it through the hedge and parked. He also took the local bobby out for a spin
But then Chris’ work took the family abroad and the Dingo went to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford for safekeeping, where it was on display to the public for many years. After sitting on display for so long, the Dingo needed some maintenance and replacements before it returned to the family about four or five years ago.
The original three belly plates - the 6mm removable under shield which gave some protection against mines and helped the car slide over uneven ground - had gone missing. Rather than using armoured steel, the team at Duxford replaced these with aluminium replicas, which are much lighter and easier to handle. They also replaced the brakes, brake liners and a variety of other parts to get it ’back on the road’ for the Ball family.
This Dingo is road legal, and Damian likes to drive it out and about locally, as well as to as many shows and events as possible, but says it takes a bit of getting used to. The steering is heavy, and with the pre-selector gearbox you select the gear you want in advance, but the transmission remains in the current gear until you press the ‘gear change pedal’… which you need to remember to do.
‘Liz had always wanted a 2-seater, soft-topped, Daimler sports car’
But Damian and his father enjoy the experience and the challenge. In 2019, Damian drove the Dingo at a Prescott Hill Climb meeting: it’s the first armoured vehicle to go up the hill and attracted a lot of spectators.
The furthest Damian has been with the Dingo was to Flywheel 2019 at Bicester, about 40 miles from home, where he, unfortunately, arrived on an AA truck. On the way, the Dingo threw the crank bearing on the engine.
Replacement engines are difficult to find, but Chris and Damian alerted their network and eventually, a friend called to say he’d found an original war-stock engine of the right age. It could have been a refurbished unit, but when they took the sump off it was obvious it had never been used, so they snapped it up for £3,000. It’s now done around 400 to 500 miles, sounds amazing, and runs very smoothly.
The original engine is in pieces in the garage, and Chris and Damian plan to rebuild it so they have a spare, ready to go whenever it’s needed. There is also a new lightweight aluminium engine cover, replacing the original armoured which one took four people to get on and off the vehicle: this one takes just one.
Apart from the engine swap, maintenance has been minimal. Damian is mechanically qualified, so he does most of the work himself, or calls on two friends who are military vehicle specialists to help. He does general visual inspections and running maintenance - such as adjusting the cards - but the Dingo hasn’t needed any major work.
Putting the Dingo to bed for winter means changing the engine and gearbox oils, and last year was the first full year with the replacement engine, so Damian flushed the entire coolant system. This year he’s planning to change the fuel pump from the 1940s mechanical pump to a low-pressure electrical one to help prevent vapour locks on the fuel system.
One of the few downsides is that the Dingo runs on leaded fuel, which needs to be mixed using the right lead-replacement additive. But there is an ingenious K-Gas starting system for cold weather: a manual pump sprays a fuel mist into the air intake, priming the engine for easier starting. This was a MKIII addition, so one of this vehicle’s ’transition’ elements.
The Dingo is well provisioned with external storage bins and internal kit stowage. Operations could last from days to months, and the crew carried everything they needed, from ammunition, spare gun barrels, camouflage netting, gas masks, tools and spare parts to food, water, blankets, first aid kit, maps and personal equipment.
Damian has an extensive collection of period pieces, including the vehicle morsing kit which he’s in the process of rebuilding. Dingoes had a light kit - as well as the more typical ’tapper’ kit - to send Morse communications to ships, aircraft or other units at a distance.
He’s still on the look-out for the foldable armoured roof, the anti-aircraft tripod to mount the Bren on the engine cover, sand ladders, non-leaking fuel canisters and more camouflage netting and mushrooms, so he can put the net up around the Dingo.
Damian was planning to display the Dingo and its kit at a variety of shows and events this year and do that hill climb again, too. But as I write this, many events have been cancelled and others are in the balance, but hopefully, you’ll get the chance to see this lovely Dingo out and about sometime soon.
’For the D-Day landings, Dingoes; were modified for deep wading'
