The M8 Greyhound was originally designed to replace the US military’s portee gun in an anti-tank role, but was quickly repurposed once it was realised that its performance against German armour was lacking. It found use as a popular and successful armoured car that served American and British armies well throughout the war.
Its crew of four served a 37mm gun, a co-axial .30 cal, the more aggressive crews adding a .50 cal on the roof for anti aircraft and local defence.
It was very fast – hence its British name of Greyhound – capable of 55mph on good roads, but was known to bog down in mud. Its armour was enough to shrug off small arms fire, and these vehicles were best used in pairs to scout out enemy lines, supporting each other in a leap-frog fashion on the advance or covering a retreat.
Replacing the armoured turret for a fixed, open fighting compartment, the M20 scout car was used primarily as a command vehicle, Sacrificing the turrets main gun in favour of extra radio capability, it also carried a portable Bazooka for extra anti-armour firepower.
In contrast to many other nations the US developed just the one type of chassis for the role of reconnaissance, destined originally for the tank destroyer units it was eventually issue primarily to the cavalry squadrons.
In conjunction with the M8 the M20 utility car was also developed becoming a command variant in many cases.
Appearing in late 1943 in Italy to a baptism by fire on the roads to Rome, the cavalry squadrons gave the tactical commanders a unique unit offering a mix of speed and firepower. This led to the squadrons becoming the core of small, task specific, forces consisting typically of engineers, tank destroyers or self-propelled artillery depending on the mission.
This kit will allow you to build both the M8 with its familiar turret and 37mm gun as well as the M20 utility.
Models supplied unassembled and unpainted
Dan Hewitson
Conor Trainer
Tom Mecredy