The Engineer Who Built a Monster — That His Own Country Refused to Drive !

In 1941, Chevrolet engineer Earle MacPherson designed one of the most technically advanced armored fighting vehicles of the Second World War -- a fourteen-ton armored car with twin engines, automatic transmissions, gyroscopically stabilized armament, and power-assisted steering. The United States Army rejected it. Britain took every single one. This is the story of the T17E1 Staghound -- a machine built by America, refused by America, and driven into combat by British, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand, Belgian, and Free Polish forces across Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany. From the narrow streets of wartime Italy to the pursuit across the Seine River with the 12th Manitoba Dragoons, the Staghound proved that a vehicle built to a higher standard outlasts the circumstances of its birth. Three thousand eight hundred and forty-four were produced. Not one served in the front-line US Army. This video covers the full story: the engineering decisions that made the Staghound extraordinary for 1942, the Palmer Board rejection that handed it to Britain under Lend-Lease, its frustrating debut in Italy, its defining role in the breakout through northwest Europe, the rocket-armed field modification attempted by Canadian crews in November 1944, and the post-war service with over twenty-six nations -- ending with the final shots fired in Rhodesia in 1965. The engineer who built it, Earle MacPherson, also gave the world the MacPherson strut suspension -- a design found beneath virtually every passenger car produced today. His country refused to drive his armored car. The world drove it for twenty years anyway. T17E1 Staghound -- Chevrolet armored car -- World War II armored vehicles -- Earle MacPherson engineer -- British Lend-Lease vehicles -- 12th Manitoba Dragoons -- armored car history -- WWII reconnaissance vehicles -- Palmer Board rejection -- M8 Greyhound vs Staghound -- Canadian Army WWII -- northwest Europe campaign 1944 -- automatic transmission WWII vehicle -- gyroscopic gun stabilization -- armored car World War 2 -- Staghound combat history -- WWII military engineering -- forgotten WWII vehicles -- American vehicles British service -- post-war armored cars Sources Wikipedia -- T17E1 Staghound https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T17E1_S... Military Trader -- "The Staghound Chevrolet T17E1: An Unlikely Game Changer for the British" by John Norris https://www.militarytrader.com/mv-101... World War II Database -- T17 Staghound Armored Car https://ww2db.com/vehicle_spec.php?q=317 Wikipedia -- Earle S. MacPherson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earle_S... Wikipedia -- 12th Manitoba Dragoons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/12th_Ma... Canadian War Museum / Library and Archives Canada -- 18th Armoured Car Regiment (12th Manitoba Dragoons) photographic and operational records Lucy, Roger V. -- The Staghound in Canadian Service. Ottawa: Service Publications, 2007. Doyle, David -- The Staghound: A Visual History of the T17E Series Armored Cars in Allied Service. Ampersand Publishing, 2009. CGSC Digital Library -- "Follow the Charging Bisons: The XII Manitoba Dragoons" (Command and General Staff College research paper) https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digit... CSMMI MilArt -- "Staghound Rocket Launcher" by Roger V. Lucy https://milart.blog/2014/09/07/stagho... Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. I do not own some or all of the video materials used in this video. In the case of copyright issues, please contact me at [email protected] for credit or removal. #Staghound #T17E1 #WWIIHistory #ArmoredCar #WorldWarII #MilitaryHistory #BritishArmy #CanadianArmy #LendLease #EarleMacPherson #Chevrolet #12thManitobaDragoons #WWIIVehicles #ArmoredVehicles #MilitaryEngineering #ForgottenHistory #WWII #TankHistory #ReconnaissanceVehicle #NormandyLandings #NorthwestEurope #ItalyCampaign #ColdWarMilitary #WarHistory #EngineeringHistory #MacPhersonStrut #AmericanMilitary #CommonwealthForces #HistoryChannel #HistoryMediaChannel