The M8 Light Armored Car was a 6x6 armored car produced by the Ford Motor Company during World War II. It was used by the United States and British troops in Europe and the Far East until the end of the war. The vehicle was widely exported and as of 2006 still remains in service with some third world countries.
In British service, the M8 was known as the Greyhound. The British Army found it too lightly armored, particularly the hull floor where anti-tank mines could easily penetrate (crews' solution was lining the floor of the crew compartment with sandbags). Nevertheless, it was produced in large numbers. The M8 Greyhound's excellent mobility made it a great supportive element in the advancing American and British armored columns.
The M8 was fitted with a 37 mm M6 gun (aimed by M70D telescopic sight) and a coaxially mounted .30 in (7.62 mm) Browning machine gun in an open-topped, welded turret. A .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun was sometimes carried on a ring or pintle mount for anti-aircraft use; this was not standard on early vehicles, but was a frequent unit modification.
The crew of four was composed of the commander (who doubled as loader), gunner, driver, and radio operator (who could also act as a driver). The driver and radio operator were seated in the forward section of the hull, while the commander and gunner rode in the turret, with the commander on the right.
The vehicle carried 80 37 mm rounds when fitted with a single radio. Vehicles with a second radio installed carried as few as 16 main gun rounds, although unit-level modifications could raise this as high as 40 or more. Machine gun ammunition consisted of 1,500 .30-in rounds and 400 .50-in rounds. In addition, it carried 16 hand grenades, four smoke pots (M1 or M2), six landmines (Anti-tank and HE types) and M1 Carbines for the crew.
The armor ranged from .12 in (3 mm) on the hull floor, to .75 in (19 mm) on the front hull and turret. The M8 was powered by a Hercules Model JXD in-line 6-cylinder 320 in³ gasoline engine giving it a top speed of 56 mph (90 km/h) on-road, 30 mph (48 km/h) off-road[citation needed]. With a 59-gallon tank and an average fuel consumption of 7.5 mpg, it could manage an average range of 400 mi (640 km). Another detail about the engine is that it ran more quietly than other engines of comparable power, which helped the M8 maintain an element of surprise and reduce the chance of being heard by the enemy. Because of this, the M8 armored cars in Patton's Third Army were known as "Patton's Ghosts", since they were almost never detected by the Germans until the very last moment.
