The Humber family of armoured cars can be considered as a gun tractor's innards with an armoured shell on the outside.
The Humber armoured car in all of its marks was produced up until the end of World War 2 and saw service with many countries into the 1960’s.
All marks of the Humber armoured car were 4x4 offerings, but usually operated in rear wheel drive only unless otherwise required.
The vehicle had good cross country ability due to a 90HP 6 cylinder petrol engine in addition to the optional four wheel drive. The primary role for which the Humber armoured car was used was reconnaissance and saw service in all theatres other than the Eastern front.
The Humber armoured car Mk.III was fitted with a larger turret than previous versions and this allowed for an extra crewman, the extra man was used as a dedicated radio operator and resulted in one less task for the commander to perform.
The Humber armoured car Mk.III was usually armed with a 15mm BESA Cannon and Co-Axial: 7.92mm BESA machine gun; however the weaponry was sometimes replaced with dummy guns and an extra radio fitted so that it became a command/communications vehicle.
The Humber Armored Car (Humber AC) was a British armored car from the Second World War. The first Humber AC prototypes were built in 1940, and serial production was carried out in 1940-1945. In total, about 3,700 vehicles of this type were built. The Humber AC was powered by a single 90hp Humber Super Snipe carburetor engine. The Mk I version was armed with 3 machine guns: one 15mm Besa, one 7.92mm Besa and one 7.7mm Bren.
The Humber Armored Car was created in response to the British Army's need for a new armored and reconnaissance car. Guy Motors and Karrier Motors Limited, which were awarded the contract to build new vehicles, used the Karrier KT4 artillery tractor chassis in its design, but it was modernized to meet the new needs. The new British armored car turned out to be a successful design, characterized by high mobility, a high degree of reliability and a low cost of mass production. During it, four development versions of the Humber Armored Car were created. The first, designated Mk I, was the basic version. Shortly thereafter, the Mk II version was introduced which featured a better shaped hull which allowed for more space for the crew. The next version is the Mk III, which had an enlarged turret and a crew extended to four people. The last development version, and the most widely produced, was the Humber Armored Car Mk IV, armed with a 37mm gun and again with a crew of three. All versions of the Humber Armored Car intensively took part in the Second World War. They underwent their baptism of fire in the course of fighting in Africa North (1940-1943), later fought in the Italian campaign (1940-1943), in Normandy, France and West Germany (1944-1945), but also in the Far East in fights with the Japanese. They also served in the Polish Armed Forces in the West (PES). The quality of the Humber car can be proved by the fact that it reached many foreign recipients (eg Belgium, France or Canada), where it served until the 1970s!