The Staghound Mk I was the British service designation for Chevrolet's T17E1 armored car, a large 4x4 reconnaissance vehicle supplied to British and Commonwealth forces rather than standardized for U.S. Army use. The Mk I combined a 37 mm M6 gun, multiple .30-caliber M1919A4 machine guns, twin GMC engines, and long road range, making it a heavy armored-car platform for headquarters, reconnaissance, and command-vehicle roles.
The T17E1 sat between light scout cars and tracked reconnaissance vehicles: it was too heavy to become the U.S. Army's standardized armored car, but British and Commonwealth forces accepted it as a robust long-range platform.
Use T17E1 for this Chevrolet 4x4 vehicle; T17 alone can refer to Ford's separate 6x6 Deerhound design.
The Staghound used twin rear-mounted GMC 270 engines, automatic transmissions, selectable two- or four-wheel drive, and a rigid hull that carried suspension and steering components directly.
British conversions emphasized close support, heavier turret armament, command radios, and anti-aircraft defense while retaining the T17E1/Staghound family base.
Sources: Military Trader: A look at the Staghound; T17E1 Staghound Armoured Car - Airborne Assault Museum; Medium Armored Car T17E1 Staghound I - AFV Database; Staghound - Oorlogsmuseum Overloon.
The Staghound family combines U.S. T17E-series designations with British Staghound mark names. This page covers the 37 mm gun-armed Chevrolet T17E1 baseline; later close-support, heavier-gun, command, and anti-aircraft variants are listed without catalog links until separate public records exist.
| Variant | Configuration | Designation notes |
|---|---|---|
| Staghound Mk II Close Support | Close-support conversion | British close-support conversion that replaced the 37 mm gun with a 3-inch howitzer in the original turret and removed the bow machine gun; conversion totals are not well established. Sources: Medium Armored Car T17E1 Staghound I - AFV Database, Military Trader: A look at the Staghound |
| Staghound Mk III | Up-gunned fire-support variant | Replaced the original turret with a Crusader-type turret carrying 75 mm armament and a coaxial 7.92 mm Besa; the bow machine gun was removed, and reported production totals vary from roughly 100 to 300. Sources: Medium Armored Car T17E1 Staghound I - AFV Database, Staghound Mk I | Weaponsystems.net, Military Trader: A look at the Staghound |
| Staghound Command | Command vehicle | The command conversion removed the turret and fitted additional radio equipment for communications duties. |
| T17E2 Staghound AA | Anti-aircraft branch | The T17E2 replaced the 37 mm turret with an open-topped twin-.50-caliber machine-gun turret and was acquired by Britain as the Staghound AA. Sources: Armored Car T17E2 Staghound AA - AFV Database, Military Trader: A look at the Staghound |
| T17E3 | 75 mm howitzer prototype | Experimental T17E1 fitted with the turret from the M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage and a 75 mm M2/M3 howitzer; trials took place in December 1943, but the type did not enter production. |
| Radpanzer Staghound | Swiss postwar up-gun | Swiss Mk I modifications replaced the 37 mm main gun with a 47 mm Pak 41, while a trial-gun version tested a Hispano-Suiza HS 820 automatic cannon. |
Weaponsystems.net lists three Browning M1919A4 machine guns on the Staghound Mk I in bow, coaxial, and roof mounts.
| Carried item | Item type | Carriage evidence |
|---|---|---|
 | Crew-served medium machine gun | The Staghound Mk I carried three .30 M1919A4 machine guns: one bow mount, one coaxial with the 37 mm cannon, and one on the roof. Sources: Staghound Mk I | Weaponsystems.net |
The U.S. Army medium armored-car requirement and British Purchasing Commission interest led Chevrolet to develop the four-wheel-drive T17E1 alongside Ford's separate 6x6 T17.
Sources: Military Trader: A look at the Staghound, T17E1 Staghound Armoured Car - Airborne Assault Museum
Military Trader describes a December 1941 British Purchasing Commission order for 300 T17E1 armored cars, the vehicles that British service later named Staghound.
Sources: Military Trader: A look at the Staghound
AFV Database gives October 1942 as the first acceptance date and lists 2,844 total T17E1 acceptances by Chevrolet.
Sources: Medium Armored Car T17E1 Staghound I - AFV Database
Museum sources describe the Chevrolet-built T17E1 as adopted by the British Army under the Staghound Mk I name and introduced in 1943.
Sources: Staghound - Oorlogsmuseum Overloon, T17E1 Staghound Armoured Car - Airborne Assault Museum
AFV Database notes that from May 1943 a 2-inch smoke mortar was installed through a turret-roof opening, with fourteen smoke bombs stowed.
Sources: Medium Armored Car T17E1 Staghound I - AFV Database
The T17E2 Staghound AA branch entered production with a twin-.50-caliber anti-aircraft turret for British use.
Sources: Armored Car T17E2 Staghound AA - AFV Database
The T17E3 howitzer project trialed a T17E1 hull with an M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage turret and 75 mm M2/M3 howitzer, but did not enter production.
Sources: Military Trader: A look at the Staghound
