I've been reading "The Adventures of Dunsterforce" and early in the book the author references a solitary RR armoured car, officered by Lt. Singer, with a photo. A close look at the photo shows some interesting detail. The WD number is C>259 and there is a small metal plate which reads "Drake" on the rear of the car.
Could this vehicle have been one of the original RNAS cars? HMAC Drake later shows up as a name with the RAF Armoured Car Companies.
Do you have a higher resolution version of the Dusterforce photo that you could share? The best I have is the scan from the online version of the book which does not have sufficent resolution to make out the name "Drake" on the metal plate.
Also, what are your sources for "HMAC Drake" as a name for a RAF armoured car? What leads you to suspect it was one of the original RNAS armoured cars?
This is very interesting to me as I am trying to go through every historic RRAC photo that I can find looking for markings or other identifying features. My eventual end goal is to be able to trace the histories of individual cars throughout their service.
I'll have to see if I can get the photo scanned. It's very clear that there is a metal embossed plate with the name "Drake" on the rear. Since Drake is the name of at least one RN ship, I thought that the RNAS connection seemed to make sense.
HMAC Drake was a Lancia, so there's not a direct connection.