One is tracked and the other has wheels of course, but turret and gun seem to be the same. So what were the advantages and disadvantages of one over the other?

A tracked vehicle has better cross country ability, but costs more to buy and maintain. Wheeled vehicles have a higher road speed. The EBR cars were retired long before the AMX-13 tank.

Gerald;

I would, in general, concur that armored cars may be cheaper and faster (on roads, anyway) than are tracked vehicles - and, where lower weight may be important, AC are generally lighter than tracks.

But the EBR comparison may be a "less-clear" case, as it was large, heavy (14+ tons), quite technically-complex, and difficult to service - having large driven central wheels that also lifted and lowered as needed, two complete driver's stations with steerable wheels at both ends, and a very special "ultra-low-profile" engine mounted beneath the turret-floor - which required removing the turret for most major engine work. And it was actually fairly clumsy and not well-suited for in-town use, owing to its long hull.

The EBR was larger than but modestly lighter than the AMX - 14 tons compared to about 16 for the AMX - for the same original fire-power. It was similar in fuel efficiency, and equally limited in the (small) number of main-gun rounds carried, and the EBR needed 4 men, while the AMX did all the same job with 3. I'm uncertain as to cost, but expect the turret and gun were the same - and maybe there wasn't much savings either way in the hulls. The AMX hull and suspension proved much more adaptable for other vehicles, so longer-term savings were likely realized as related vehicles came along.

Evidently the French thought it not-so-good-a-deal after a few years.... Electing to make lots of AMX and retire their odd wheeled-recon-tank relatively early. But the EBR IS, in my opinion, among the coolest armored cars ever made!

Cheers!

Bob

8eme Régiment de Hussard 1953 :



Djibouti 1970 :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Xkt2Ym_rk

See here for more info (in French...) :

http://daniel.rabbe.free.fr/organisation/peloton.htm

AFAIK, the last EBR's were phased out in the early 80's...

H.P.

Wheeled vehicles seem to have become more popular lately; they are well suited to urban combat. Camerounais AMX-10 RCs and PTL-02s have been used to extract Boko Haram fighters from fortified buildings, by firing into them at very close range.

Presumably because of improvements in tire and suspension technology. as well as the fact that armored cars can fit into smaller areas.