The M8 Greyhound

Armored cars tend to be overlooked by World War II history buffs.

Nimble fighter planes, deadly bombers, hulking tanks and stealthy submarines are “sexier” than a car that can’t fight like a tank, can’t race a plane, and can’t use terrain to its advantage like infantry. Nevertheless, armored cars were a vital part of World War II armies, serving in a scout role where they were faster than infantry and stealthier than tanks. This article is about the M8 light armored car, also called Greyhound in British service, the definitive armored car of the U.S. Army.

The M8 did not actually start out as a reconnaissance vehicle. Before World War II, America’s primary anti-tank weapon was the 37 mm gun. Being a towed gun, it was slow to move around and set up, and the emerging anti-armor doctrine (Read our earlier article) required a self-propelled vehicle that could mount it.

RTWT