AMC Schneider P 16

The AMC Schneider P 16, also known as the AMC Citroën-Kégresse Modèle 1929 or the Panhard-Schneider P16, was a half-track that was designed for the French Army before World War II.

Development

The P 16 was developed in 1924 by Citroën from the earlier Citroën-Kégresse Modèle 1923. It was very similar in conception but had an enlarged armoured hull, built by Schneider, and a stronger 60 hp Panhard engine. In June 1925 an order was obtained for a pre-series of four vehicles. In October that year a first production series of ten is ordered. Citroën found itself unable to produce the vehicles and the order was delegated to Schneider. Citroën would supply the chassis, Kégresse the suspension and Schneider, responsible for the final assembly, the armour plates.

The pre-series vehicles get the company designation Modèle 1928 or M 28 after the year they were delivered; the production vehicles are likewise named Modèle 1929 or M 29, though the actual delivery was in 1930 and 1931. The official name however, assigned in 1931, is the AMC Schneider P 16. The P 16 was thus accepted as conforming to the specifications for a wheeled AMC, or a AMC N°1, as stated by the Supreme Command on 12 April 1923, although the vehicle was not specifically designed to meet them, and partially fulfilling the requirements of an AMC N°2 stated in August 1924, which asked for a tracked vehicle — as a half-track it was indeed in between.<ref name="François Vauvillier...
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