Britain's failed explosive car invention

The Panjandrum was a rocket-propelled vehicle carrying a large amount of explosives, designed by the British during World War II but testing showed that the weapon was a disaster.

In 1941, the British government established a provisional agency called the Directorate for Combined Weapons Development (DMWD) to develop new weapons to destroy the enemy. The DMWD's efforts led to many famous inventions, but there were also some failed projects, the most disastrous of which was the Panjandrum project , according to Interesting Engineering .

Named after a character in a work by 18th-century playwright Samuel Foote, the Panjandrum was doomed from the start. Built as a pair of large wheels, each about 10 feet in diameter, the vehicle had a steel drum in the center that could carry more than a ton of explosives. Around the rim of the wheel were hollow tubes fitted with cordite rockets that would roll the vehicle toward a concrete barrier along the French coast, aiming to blow a large hole. The designers estimated that at full load, the 1,800-ton Panjandrum would reach a speed of 62 mph, enough momentum to smash through any obstacle between its starting point and its target.

Experiments with Panjandrum all ended in disaster. (Photo: Amusing Planet).

In late 1943, a prototype of the Panjandrum was built in London and secretly transported overnight to a small village called Westward Ho ! on the southern coast. However, the choice of testing site was not good. Westward Ho! was a popular seaside resort. On the morning of September 7, 1943, when the device rolled onto the beach, it was crowded with beachgoers. Local residents and holidaymakers crowded around the device with delight.

The test began with just a few cordite rocket tubes attached to the wheels, and sandbags of similar weight to simulate explosives. The rockets fired, and Panjandrum shot forward, off the launch pad and well across the beach. However, several rockets on one wheel malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to veer off course. Despite attempts to fire more rockets, Panjandrum continued to spin out of control before reaching the end of the beach.

To solve the balancing problem, project leader Nevil Shute Norway attached a third wheel to Panjandrum. When launched, the vehicle sped toward the coastline, skimming the beach first and then running away. Rockets fell off and exploded haphazardly above the gathered spectators or exploded in the water. The development team arranged more tests. This time they removed the third wheel and attached heavy cables to each end of the tubular container, connected to two winches to steer the vehicle safely to the beach. However, Panjandrum was too powerful, breaking the cables and dragging them across the beach.

By then, it was clear that the Panjandrum was impractical, but the DMWD continued with the project. After several weeks of tweaking, the engineers were ready with an improved version. In January 1944, a number of government officials and high-ranking officers of the armed forces were invited to a new test.

Brian Johnson describes the test in the 1977 BBC documentary The Secret War. At first, all went well. Panjandrum rolled out to sea. Military officials watched through binoculars from atop a mound. Then something went wrong. First, one missile fell off, then two more. Panjandrum began to sway ominously. The vehicle hit a series of small craters in the sand and began to veer to the right, rolling rapidly toward Klemantaski, who was watching through a telescope and unable to judge the distance and continuing to film. He looked up as the rumble grew closer and saw Panjandrum, missiles falling in all directions, hurtling toward him. As he ran for his life, he caught a glimpse of the generals rushing to take cover behind the mound. Panjandrum rolled back towards the shore and exploded into pieces on the sand, sending missiles flying across the beach at high speed.

After a disastrous test, the project was eventually shelved. The only successful operational use of Panjandrum was in 2009, when a 1.8m mock-up was built and deployed on Westward Ho! Beach. After running for about 50 minutes at walking speed, the missiles shot 450m, not quite as far as hoped.