Charron

History

The Charron-Girardot-Voigt 1902 was a French armoured car (French: Automitrailleuse blindée) developed in 1902 by the company Charron Girardot & Voigt. It was equipped with a Hotchkiss machine gun, and with 7 mm armour for the gunner.
The first fully armoured car was designed by the Georgian engineer Mikheil Nakashidze. His design for a machine gun armed vehicle with 4-8mm of armour, combat weight of 3,000kg, and a road speed of 50km/hour was accepted by the Russian War Ministry for service with the Russian Army. However, as no Russian plant was considered capable of producing the vehicle, manufacture was subcontracted to the French company Charron, Girardot, and Voigt.
The new machine was presented at the Salon de l'Automobile et du cycle in Brussels, starting 8 March 1902.