WMC 028 Charron-Nakaszidze 1904

Charron-Nakashidze was a Russian armored car from the beginning of the 20th century. The first prototypes of the vehicle were built in 1904-1905, and its field tests took place in 1905-1906. The drive was provided by a single four-cylinder engine with the power of 35-36 KM. The cart was 4.8 meters long and 1.7 meters wide. The armament consisted of a single 7.62 mm machine gun. Charron -Nakashidze was constructed by an officer of the tsarist army, Michał Nakashidze, and went down in history as the first armored car in the history of the Russian military. Interestingly, however, both its prototypes and final copies were made in a French company Société Charron, Girardot and Voigt based in the city of Puteaux. The vehicle used a two-axle chassis with a front engine, and its armor was only 3 mm thick. The armament was placed in a rotating turret on the roof of the car. In total, 8 such vehicles were used by the Russian army.