Italian Police Staghound T17 EI - M36115

Staghound T17

The T17 Deerhound and T17E1 Staghound were armored cars made in the United States during World War II. The vehicles were not employed directly by the US Armed Forces but were supplied to the British and Commonwealth Army. Overall it was a very good combat vehicle, albeit less slender than the M8.
In June 1941 the U.S. Army Ordnance issued a specification for the construction of a medium armored car. This request was answered by the Ford Motor Company which built a prototype with 6 x 6 drive, designated T17, and Chevrolet which built a 4 x 4 armored car which was designated T17E1. The two vehicles carried the same armament, a 37 mm gun mounted in a 360 ° rotating turret. The cannon was coupled with a coaxial machine gun and another machine gun mounted in the hull. A third machine gun was also mounted on some T17E1s for anti-aircraft defense.
Production began in October 1942. Around the same time, the U.S. Army had decided to adopt the lighter M8 Greyhound which had an open turret. The T17 was built in 250 copies, all without armament, and was used by the US Military Police. Later the production of this vehicle was stopped.
The T17E1 was instead produced for the British army, where it was called Staghound and remained in service several years after the war. After the war the T17E1 served in numerous countries, including Italy where it served in the Army in the divisional exploration groups, and in the units of the XI Mechanized Brigade of the Carabinieri as well as in some specimens armed only with machine guns and painted red in the rapid departments of the Police.