The original vehicle was to have been called the BSA Light Wheeled Tank, and have two machine guns as per the Guy Wheeled Tank and also four-wheel steering as on the Dingo. This steering arrangement was never fitted in production, indeed only the earliest Dingos had it, and armament was a 2pdr gun even on the prototypes. This gave the car firepower similar to current British tanks and better than the machine guns of earlier armoured cars.Photos of the prototype show it had no side doors and small detail differences form the production cars. Turret vision slots were different, smoke dischargers were fitted one each side of the turret, and there was a raised section above the driver's position as well as headlight differences. Production vehicles had escape hatches in each hull side. The three man crew was the largest which could be fitted in, and without a major redesign a more powerful gun could not be fitted. One feature which was useful for reconnaissance work was the rear driving position, with a steering wheel and throttle on the left rear of the fighting compartment and a small peep slot in the hull rear. Turret hatch opened in a manner similar to early Crusader tanks, a series of rods and torsion bars allowed the hatch to open with a cantilever action. This meant the hatch was either fully open or fully closed.First vehicles were issued in the UK in 1941 and small numbers of cars went to North Africa from mid 1941 for evaluation. It was not until 1942 that the 11th Hussars became the first active service users. Initially Daimlers served alongside other cars, mostly Humbers, and armoured car units also used Dingos. Looking at the 1944 establishment, it was possible to see Daimler armoured and scout cars working with Staghounds as command and anti aircraft vehicles, supported by AEC Matador Mk III cars or 75mm guns on half-tracks - surely this gave unit mechanics and logisticians busy days and sleepless nights! Later on, the Daimler became the standard car in British armoured car regiments and the Reconnaissance Corps units attached to infantry divisions in place of Humbers, although Staghounds were used as command vehicles.As was common, detail improvements were introduced as production progressed. Most noticeably, the external stowage changed, a spare wheel was fitted on the left hull side (unfortunately blocking one of the side escape hatches) and later a rack to carry two sand channels on the right side. I have never seen these used for their original purpose in photos, and indeed cars in North Africa and Sicily often carried a rack for petrol or water cans on the hull side with the sand channels being carried on the front of the hull, while a sun compass bracket could be fitted on the right side of the turret. An external condenser can was carried in hot climates. It was planned to replace both Daimler and Humber armoured cars with the Coventry, designed and built jointly by both manufacturers. In the event, more Daimlers were built. Mk II cars had a more rounded gun mantlet, the older 'Mounting, 2pdr and Medium BESA MG No 4 Mk II' with its square-ended mantlet being replaced by the 'No 10 Mk I'. There was now an escape hatch above the driver, the left hand side door was eliminated, while improved engine cooling meant armoured louvers over the whole hull rear plate and only two covered slots in the horizontal engine cover instead of four (oddly, the prototype seemed to have had this later arrangement) as well as a number of mechanical improvements.Post war, both marks remained in service, many photos even show both in use in the same unit at the same time. The only changes made were the replacement of the 4" smoke bomb throwers with sets of six barrelled dischargers as used on many British AFVs of the period.Surviving vehicles are highly prized among UK vehicle collectors, while Mk Is are on display in the Imperial War Museum in London and the Museum of British Road Transport in Coventry, and a Mk II at the Tank Museum in Bovington.