Dusting off a hound of war

Ben Brown investigates the remarkable restoration story of one T17E1 Staghound Armoured Car
Team Staghound L-R Ian, Pete and Aaron
The Staghound hull as recovered at the start of the project
The all important chassis number ‘353’ marking this example as an early one
The Staghound turret today, note refitted mantlet to accept 37mm gun

Pete ‘The Sweep’ is a wellknown military vehicle collector on the Northamptonshire/ Leicestershire border. His collection began around 25 years ago with a single Jeep and has since expanded to include a T16 Universal Carrier, M8 Greyhound, M3 Halftrack, Daimler Heavy, Daimler Dingo and Dodge Command Car, with many more on the way. Unusually, he has replaced most of their engines with diesel units to make them more usable, but retains the original engines so they can be restored in the future if required.

Pete owns one example of a venerable T17E1 Staghound, utilised heavily by British and Commonwealth forces during World War Two. His vehicle is believed to be one of the earliest examples produced, built sometime in 1942. He purchased the vehicle about nine years ago from John Hickman, who, in turn, had bought it at a museum in Oosterbeekin the Netherlands, from a gentleman who had unearthed it from the ground. Chassis Number 353 indicates that the vehicle was ex-British Army, but no service history has been discovered. It is confirmed to have been used by the Dutch following 1945.

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