Roden 803 British Armoured Car (Pattern 1914) 1:35

In the autumn of 1914 light armored Minerva Cars were used quite successfully by the Belgian army, and it strongly impressed the leadership of the British Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS). The chassis of the famous passenger car the Rolls Royce Silver Ghost was considered as a basis for the future armored car, which had quite good structural strength and high cross-country ability. Moreover, on the initiative of some military officers, during the early days of the war some Silver Ghosts were refashioned as patrol cars, for which purpose a Maxim gun was installed. Several encounters with German command cars, when the British easily dealt with the enemy with their machine guns, proved that the concept of armored vehicles was practical and should be further developed.

On to the chassis of the Silver Ghost, which was unchanged, was installed an armored body, which consisted of riveted metal plates of six millimeter thickness. In the aft part, behind the driver's seat, was installed a moving cylindrical turret and behind that was a small space for boxes of ammunition and entrenching tools. The wheels of the armored car, as on its passenger predecessor, were spoked. Protection against heavy enemy fire was not discussed and the concept of a light armored car was the only consideration.

The first three armored vehicles were ready as soon as October 1914 and they were immediately sent to the Western Front, but unlike the 'ersatz' armored cars which had so successfully shown their worth earlier, production cars did not gain great renown in the conditions of trench warfare. The numbers of Rolls Royce Armoured Cars were gradually increased, but this war of largely static positions, which dragged on for so long, did not give them a chance to show their full worth.

However, on another continent, in the Middle East, where the flames of war flared up with ever increasing force, these armored cars appeared to be a real success and a boon for the British. The endless hot desert terrain from Turkey to Palestine could not be called ideal conditions for the armored car of the time, but in this situation when the Empire had to wage war not only with the enemy in the colonies, but also suppress local indigenous uprisings, the Rolls Royce Armored Car was a significant help to the British troops.