Austin Armoured Car Austin Armoured Car was a British armoured car produced during the First World War . The vehicle is best known for its employment by the Russian Army in the First World War and by different forces in the Russian Civil War . In addition to the British - built Austins , a few dozens of vehicles were manufactured in Russia in 1918 - 20 . These are usually referred to as Austin - Putilov or - if fitted with a Kégresse halftrack chassis - Austin - Kégresse . Production history . British Austins . In August 1914 , just after the beginning of the First World War , the army of the Russian Empire started to form armoured car units . Due to limited production capabilities of the country ' s automotive industry it was decided to order a number of vehicles abroad . A committee was sent to the United Kingdom , but didn ' t find an armoured car which met their requirements for overhead protection and two machine gun turret s . To meet these requirements , the Austin Motor Company designed a new armoured car . The vehicle , known as Austin 1st series , was based on a passenger car chassis with rear axle drive . Wheels were wooden , spoked , with pneumatic tyres and an additional set of wheels with full rubber tyres for use in combat was carried . Two Maxim machine gun s were mounted in separate turrets placed on both sides of the hull behind the driver ' s cab . The vehicle was protected by armour plates 3 . 5 – 4 mm thick screwed to a body frame . The crew of four - commander , driver and two gunners - could enter or leave the vehicle via a door on the left side of the cab or via big two - leaf rear door . On 29 September 1914 , 48 armoured cars were ordered . One car cost 1 , 150 pounds . After arrival in Russia the front and turret armour was replaced with 7 mm plates . First combat experience , however , revealed that the protection was still too weak and the vehicles were fully rearmoured at " Izhorski Works " , Izhorsk . The improved armour made the Austins much heavier , resulting in limited mobility and occasionally in chassis damage . However , the car was still considered more successful than alternative designs by , among others , Armstrong Whitworth , Renault and Sheffield - Simplex . On 6 March 1915 the Russians ordered 60 vehicles of an improved design , known as Austin 2nd series . This time the chassis of a 1 . 5 ton truck with a more powerful engine was used . The hull was shorter , with thicker armour , the driver ' s cab roof was modified to improve machine guns ' angle of fire . Less welcome was a removal of rear access door . The army also decided it wanted a rear driving post , so after arrival to Russia all vehicles were fitted with a redesigned rear hull section , which housed a second driving post and additional hatch . Another upgrade was the addition of side shields to the machine guns . Sixty units of Austin 3rd series were ordered on 25 August 1916 . The vehicles were similar in characteristics to the 2nd series , but had modified rear hull with driving post , MG shields , bulletproof glass in the front vision slots and lacked big side windows . Yet another version , with strengthened chassis and double rear wheels , sometimes referred to as Austin model 1918 , was ordered in 1917 but due to events in Russia none were delivered . Russian Austins . In 1916 a decision was made to produce a Russian armoured car on the well known Austin chassis . 60 chassis units - identical to those used in 3rd series - were ordered from Austin . The mission of building armoured hulls was entrusted to Putilovski Works , Saint Petersburg . It was planned to build the cars by July 1917 , but work was virtually brought to halt by the February Revolution and the subsequent chaos . Not until March 1918 were the first cars produced . Later the production was transferred to " Izhorski Works " . A total of 33 vehicles were produced in 1918 - 1920 . In contemporary Russian documents the model was referred to as Russian Austin ( Russian : " Русский Остин " - " Russkij Ostin " ) , but eventually became better known as Austin - Putilov ( Russian : " Остин - Путиловец " - " Ostin - Putilovets " ) . Twelve hulls identical to those of Austin - Putilov were mounted on a Kégresse halftrack chassis , resulting in vehicles known as Austin - Kégresse . Production continued from July 1919 until March 1920 when it was stopped by shortage of materials and parts . Russian Austins ' most obvious features were diagonally placed MG turrets ( in order to reduce width ) and additional right side door . They also had MG mounts with better elevation and other minor improvements . Service history . Russia . Arrival of the 1st series Austins allowed to start forming " automobile machine gun platoon s " ( Russian : " пулемётный автомобильный взвод " - " pulemyotniy avtomobilniy vzvod " or " автопулемётный взвод " - " avtopulemyotniy vzvod " ) . First platoons ( 5 - 12 ) , formed according to the organization no . 19 , had each three Austins , four staff car s , a truck , a workshop truck , a tanker truck and four motorcycles , with personnel of four officer s and 45 - 46 soldiers . Further platoons ( 13 - 24 , 26 - 28 , 30 - 36 ) , formed according to the organization no . 20 , received only two Austins but had a gun section consisting from a gun - armed Garford - Putilov Armoured Car , a staff car , a truck and a motorcycle . Platoons 5 to 12 received an additional Garford . Crews of those auto - MG platoons were entirely drawn from volunteers . Most of platoons were used in the Western and South - Western Fronts , some platoons in the Northern Front and Caucasus . In combat they were attached to divisions or regiments . By mid - 1916 it was evident that larger units should be formed to make armoured cars more effective . In August , platoons were arranged into twelve " armoured automobile battalion s " ( Russian : " броневой автомобильный дивизион " - " bronyevoy avtomobilniy divizion " or " автобронедивизион " - " avtobronedivizion " ) , each attached to a specific army . Each battalion was formed from two to five former platoons , which were renamed to section s while retaining old number . In some cases , for example in the Caucasus theatre , the platoon organization was retained . In the Russian Civil War Austins were used by many participants , including both Red and White armies , Ukrainians etc . . The Red Army had the largest number of vehicles , including all the Austin - Putilov and Austin - Kergesse vehicles and most of the 3rd series . In Soviet service the cars were organized into " armoured automobile units " ( Russian : " броневой автомоильный отряд " - " bronevoy avtomobilniy otryad " or " автоброневой отряд " - " avtobronevoy otryad " ) , similar in strength to a World War I - era platoon : three machine gun - armed cars and one either gun - armed or machine gun - armed , four staff cars , five trucks , a tanker truck , a workshop truck and four motorcycles . The RKKA Austins also saw combat in the Polish - Soviet War . By 1921 the RKKA possessed about 16 Austins of the 1st series , 15 2nd series , 78 3rd series and Putilovs . British - built Austins were removed from service by 1931 , and by 1933 , the Russian - built ones were also retired . The Austin - Putilov armoured car named " Vrag Kapitala " ( " Enemy of the Capital " ) , on display at the Artillery Museum , Saint Petersburg , is often referred to as the vehicle which Lenin stood on to address the crowd in April 1917 . However , it cannot be true as this armoured car was only manufactured in 1919 . Sixteen of the Austins built for Russian but not sent following the revolution were used to equip the 17th ( Armoured Car ) Battalion of the Tank Corps . The Vickers machine guns were exchanged for the Hotchkiss M1914 machine gun which was the standard machine gun of the British tank unit . The 17th Battalion arrived in France in April 1918 . Its first operations were in support of the French Army in June . It returned to the British Army in August and was very successful at the Battle of Amiens . The Austins were towed in pairs by tanks across the battlefield . Once they reached better ground on the other side of the lines , they ranged freely . A German Corps headquarters 10 miles back was captured and German reserves , artillery and supply lines were shot up . The 17th was the first British unit to cross the Rhine in 1918 . Other users . After the war , the bodies were reused on Peerless lorry chassis . Some of these were still in service at the start of the Second World War . Some cars were sent to the Caspian Sea region . Austins were also used by the British in the Anglo - Irish War .