Tata Steel Heritage Story Series: Tatanagar Armoured Car that fought in World War II

Tatanagar Armoured Car was the first and only Indian-made armoured car that battled the Axis powers in Africa during World War II.

In 1942, Tata Steel had set up a mill to manufacture armoured plates for defence carriers to support the nation’s preparedness towards war efforts. Special quality sheets of alloy steel and silicon and bullet-proof armour plates, varying in thickness from 4 mm to 14 mm, were produced to manufacture the armoured plates.

A gunnery officer once mentioned that Tatanagar Armoured Car was safer than slit trenches during a bombing raid as it could only be damaged in the event of a direct hit from a shell or a bomb.

One model of the Tatanagar Armoured Car is on display inside the Tata Steel Works at Jamshedpur. Another model is maintained by Tata Motors, and the armoured car was exhibited during the first edition of Tata Steel Vintage and Classic Car & Bike Rally, organised this year at Jamshedpur.