They were susceptible to damaging the armoured brake hoses when going cross country. We always kept a couple of modified wing nuts (a one pfennig piece braised in the yoke as a blanker and a rubber washer inside as a seal) to remove the hoses and blank and bleed the front or rear half of the braking system. The wing nut would fit on the brake line boss on the hull. It was a 'get home from manoeuvres' job and pretty scary with only 50% brake efficiency, especially as 'Ferret Scout Car' and 'Braking efficiency' in the same sentence is an oxymoron!
Manoeuvres? I thought us Brits did Exercises!! I was Ferret Section Commander in 2 Para when serving in Berlin when the wall was still up. Yours is in gorgeous nick.
They were not intended to take on armour, there were missile armed versions, they were really designed for recce and internal security work although they ended up being used for a lot more. It was considered that if they had to fire their main weapon, their mission had failed (Obviously not the missile versions which were intended to engage tanks etc). In Europe, the units facing the soviets were expected to last only 15 minutes or so. Just long enough to act as a trip wire and alert the units further back.
