The Panhard EBR (Panhard Engin Blindé de Reconnaissance, French: Armored Reconnaissance Vehicle) is an armoured car designed by Panhard for the French Army and later used across the globe, notably by the French Army during the Algerian War and by the Portuguese Army during the Overseas War.
The EBR is an 8×8 wheeled reconnaissance vehicle based on the previous Panhard AM 40 P/Model 201, a light armored car born before the Second World War, but remained only at prototype level. After the war the new contest for a postwar armored car saw the Panhard proposal as winner against two other French firms.
While the two basic concepts developed with the M.201 were retained (8 wheels and oscillating turret), the new armoured car was a new project, much heavier (13 t vs 8), with a larger crew (4 vs 2) and a 75 mm gun (vs 25 mm).
Other innovations included new anti-bullet Michelin tyres and Veil-Picard tubes, which feature a series of nitrogen-filled cells, enabling them to absorb bullet hits and not go flat. The armoured hull is mounted on an 8-wheel drive, with 4 inner metal wheels, which can be raised for driving on the road. The four central wheels have aluminum rims with steel grousers, separated by rubber blocks; with all eight wheels deployed, ground pressure is only 0.7 kg (1.5 lb) per 1 cm2 (0.16 in2), very sloped armour, and double machine guns inside the hull nose and aft.
The EBR had a crew of four, two drivers (front and rear) and a gunner and a commander, both seating in the oscillating turret, and was powered by a 200 hp (150 kW) 6 liter 12HD horizontally opposed air-cooled 12-cylinder engine (with dual carburetors and 6.6:1 compression, enabling it to run on low-octane petrol).
Based on Panhard’s two-cylinder automobile engine, it was mounted under the floor of the fighting compartment, which had the unfortunate effect of requiring the turret to be removed to conduct major engine repairs.
Saumur museum of armored vehicles
