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Ford Mk IV Armoured Car
Line Drawing of the Ford MIV from B. Halligans Site (Link Below)
Copyright � B. Halligan/Denis J. McCarthy
Background
As the Emergency continued, into 1940, it was recognised that the Cavalry Corps lacked sufficient resources and the DF General Staff decided to investigate manufacturing further armoured vehicles and on July 5th, 1940 approval was given to proceed with the development of "The Improvised Armoured Cars". These vehicles were intended to act as airfield security vehicles, however, as the project was to prove successful it was decided to extend their use.

Great Southern railway Company (GSR) were chosen to build a protype and two engineers from the Inchicore Works inspected a Rolls Royce Armoured Car at the Hibernian School in the Phoenix Park (Denis J. McCarthy, An Cosantoir March 1975). The resulting design of the Mk IV is like a cross between the front of the Landsverk L-180 and the turret and rear of the Roll Royce armoured car. The front grille had closeable louvres similar to the L-180 and had two wooden tool boxes on a pickup style rear ala the R-R. It appears that the original Mk IV armoured car was built using the chassis of a second hand Morris Commercial two-ton lorry, however, no photographs of this vehicle appear to exist (according to Karl Martin the registration number of the Morris was IP2853). In order to extend the use of the vehicle beyond airfield security alone, a better chasis was required and the chosen type was a Ford 2 / 3 ton, 30hp, 134-inch wheelbase and seven Fords were ordered without cab, body or windscreen.

It is reported that these vehicles did not have a reverse gear leading to jokes that it was unnecessary as the Irish did not run away.

During tests on the first car completed it was found that due to poor weight distribution road holding was inadequate and it was decided to add a 10 cwt. cast iron block to the rear of the vehicle to improve performance (Karl Martin - 9 cwt. according to Denis J. McCarthy). Additionally Ford modified the front and rear suspension.

It should be noted that armour plate was not available in Ireland and due to WWII could not be imported, therefore it was decided to build the Mk IV using 3/8 inch case-hardened by the "potash process". This provided similar protecteion to .5 inch mild steel plate but was lighter and more expensive. Also, case-hardened steel plate could not be welded and had to be riveted to a steel frame, making these seven vehicles expensive to manufacture.

The seven Ford Mk IVs were disposed of in 1954 while the Morris was disposed of in 1946. The registration numbers of the Ford's were ZD 1189, and ZD 1523 to ZD 1528.
Vehicle Specification
Crew 3 Driver, Commander and Gunner
Armament Hotchkiss .303in Machine Gun .
Unladen Weight 3 ton 16 cwt estimated
Combat Weight . .
Length 17 ft. 8 ins. Estimate (K. Martin)
Width 6 ft. 7 ins. .
Height 7 ft. 6 ins. Estimate (K. Martin)
Internal Volune . .
Ground Clearance . .
Gradient . .
Slide Slope . .
Max. Speed 35 mph Open road
Max. Speed in Water . .
Cruise Speed . kph .
Range 120 miles estimated
Max. Vertical Step . .
Max. Trench . .
Fording . .
Armour 3/8 inch Rivited Case-Hardened Steel Plate
Ballistic Protection .303 in ball at 100 yds. All Round
Ballistic Protection . .
Ballistic Protection . .
Engine Ford V8 3,621 cc 85 hp petrol
Transmission Ford 4 Speed/? Reverse Manual
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