4x4s.org BASE MODEL · 1952–71
BASE MODELMilitary · UKUnited Kingdom

Ferret scout car (1952–71)

The Dingo’s successor and the longest-serving British scout car: 4,409 built between 1952 and 1971 across sixteen sub-models, 3.7 tonnes on a 2.29 m wheelbase, with a 130 hp Rolls-Royce B60 six, H-form drive with a central differential and parallel shafts that kept the hull low, two crew, 58 mph and 190 miles.

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Ferret scout car (1952–71) — Daimler Ferret scout car. RAF Museum LondonThe wub · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗
MODEL LINEFerretBUILT BYThe Daimler Company, CoventryPRODUCED1952–71OPERATED INUnited KingdomPRODUCTION4,409 in sixteen sub-modelsLAYOUT4 wheels · 90.1575″

The record

The H-drive and independent suspension that made the Ferret so capable also kept it in service around the world long after Britain retired it in 1991. Sixteen marks were built — reconnaissance, turreted, Vigilant missile carriers, swimming versions with flotation screens — and Commonwealth and other armies ran them into the 1980s and beyond.

Procedural model research, 2026-09-28: Low open Mk1 crew rim, pintle machine gun and folded canvas. All sixteen supplied photographs inspected. Representative British Army olive green, angular crown wings, left fixed spare, right stowage bins, rear engine louvres and two hull-mounted three-tube smoke banks. Shared wheels and shared weapon systems; no borrowed donor shell, invented unit insignia, rally beacons or luggage. Country fields retain UK origin and the populated wider export-operator list; that list is broader than this row’s British Army operator. Arcade handling values are tuning rather than certified specifications. See research/model-notes/stoneleigh-stoat.md for the inventory and provenance.

Specification

MANUFACTURED1952–71
ENGINERolls-Royce B60 petrol six, 130 hp (129 bhp at 3,750 rpm on late marks)Rolls-Royce B60
PRODUCTION RUN4,409 in sixteen sub-models
COUNTRY OF ORIGINUnited Kingdom
OPERATED INUnited Kingdom
STATUSout of production; British service 1952–1991
RECORD KINDBase model
FAMILYFerret
WHEELS4
NOMINAL WHEELBASE90.1575″
BODY STYLEScout car
VARIANTS2
CATEGORYMilitary · UK

Catalogue fields describe the vehicle's structure and body as this registry records it. They are not certified factory measurements, and no performance figures are published here.

Body styles & colours

Body style

Factory colours

  • Deep Bronze Green
  • Light Stone

Codes on hover. Hex values are representative approximations of period paint unless a source states a measured value.

AI rendering impression

An AI rendering impression starts from a 3D model of this vehicle, which an image model then paints into a scene. It is an artist's impression of the type, made to give a feel for the vehicle in its element — not a photograph, and not a record of any particular vehicle.

Proportions, fittings, markings, colours and the setting can all drift from the original in the process. For the vehicle's actual details, rely on the specification, the photographs and the cited sources on this page.

Sources

  1. 1Daimler Ferret ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-23SOURCE
  2. 2Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  3. 3Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  4. 4Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  5. 5Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  6. 6Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  7. 7Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  8. 8Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  9. 9Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  10. 10Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  11. 11Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  12. 12Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  13. 13Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  14. 14Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  15. 15Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  16. 16Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  17. 17Inspected reference photograph ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  18. 18RAF Museum collection: Ferret Mk2/3 ↗accessed 2026-09-28SOURCE
  19. 19https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret_armoured_carhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret_armoured_car ↗REFERENCE

Registry record updated 2026-09-28T03:40:23.264Z · status: researched