Introducing the Standard Beaverette.
Don't let that vaguely competent appearance fool you. These things began life as a chop job of a riveted hull section applied over a commercially available vehicle chassis - making them, technically speaking (ho ho), a civilian built commercial vehicle modified for military use. A Technical, in the real sense.
But like much of what Britain was shitting steel plate and Bren guns on come the dark days of 1940, the thing was abject nonsense. It was heavy, for starters. Taking a commercial vehicle and slapping two tons of superstructure on top didn't do anything to help its handling. That armour, by the by, was backed by three inch planks of oak - if these things had ever come under fire heavier than rifles, the crew would be climbing out looking like gory pincushions covered in splinters. But if you're wondering how it gets worse? Driving this thing wasn't a one man job. There was a guy behind the wheel, and he had an observer who'd tell him about road conditions, upcoming traffic, and even suggest when to begin making a turn. The Beaverette was so poorly designed that the driver had to base his steering on, quote, "observations made something like [30 feet] back."
Nonetheless, with heavy industry struggling to keep up with the demands of rearming Britain after the loss of almost anything noteworthy in Dunkirk, there were 2,800 of these godawful fucking things built. They didn't stop manufacturing them until 1942! Mostly used by the RAF and Home Guard, some would still end up in Army service, though they were seen mostly as training vehicles by the stage they started to see widespread use.
A Technical that was actually born of a pressing military need which went through four different versions, each of which was simply shite in a different way. The Standard Beaverette. The worst Technical in history.
