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In the early 1930s, the Chiyoda Motor Car Factory headed the design and development of a new armored car for service with the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). A 6x6 wheeled configuration was utilized with the chassis based on the company's Type Q series trucks. Solid rubber tires with solid wheels and an armored superstructure were added to the chassis to produce the Chiyoda Armored Car, also known as the Type 92 in IJA service.

Armor protection shielded the vehicle from the front to the rear. The engine compartment was shrouded over with a slotted grille at the front. The headlamps came complete with faceted armor sheets. The driver, his position aft of the engine compartment, was seated at front right. A machine gunner's position (1 x Type 11 of 6.5mm) was arranged to his left. Additionally the hull superstructure contained several gun ports for the crew to use their personal weapons. The crew complement typically numbered five and this included the driver, vehicle commander and three dedicated machine gunners.

To the top of the armored superstructure was added a fully-traversing machine gun-armed turret. The cylindrical turret, housing a machine gun (1 x Type 11) at its forward face, was also armored against small arms fire and featured a slope angle along its starboard side to mount an upward-facing machine gun (1 x Type 11).

The vehicle weighed 5.6 tons and armor protection reached up to 6mm in thickness across the various facings. The car exhibited an overall length of 5 meters with a width of 1.9 meters and height of 2.6 meters. Power was derived from a single Wolseley 4-cylinder gasoline-fueled engine outputting 75 horsepower. Road speeds could reach 60 kmh.

At the time of its introduction, the Type 92 marked the first Japanese armored car of local design and manufacture. Up to this point, the IJA had relied on many foreign types to fulfill the role.

The Type 92 emerged from testing and entered formal service in 1931 and quickly took part in the Japanese campaigns against China. About 200 of the type were delivered for service into World War 2 (1939-1945). Beyond their infantry support duties, the cars were used for local security service of captured territories as the Japanese Army made their advance. Before their service was up, the cars were equipped with the more capable Type 91 6.5mm vehicle machine gun.

In time, the Type cars had run their course and, as soon as 1937, the line were being given up in favor of the Type 97 Te-Ke tankette series. The tankette offered nearly the same mobility but improved protection (up to 16mm) and firepower (1 x 37mm cannon; 1 x Type 97 7.7mm machine gun) and numbers reached 616 examples.©MilitaryFactory.com

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