In the early 1900s, the British army recognized that motor transportation could be used during a large-scale war. When war was declared in August 1914, the army acquired a total of 1,200 lorries.

Over the course of the war, a total of 7,000 Dennis 3-ton lorries were built and used. With a four-cylinder engine, it could reach a top speed of 55 mph, even when loaded, the Dennis 3-ton lorry was one of the most reliable lorries.

In 1908 the British army began testing the feasibility of using commercial motor buses as troop transport in the event of an emergency. The maneuvers using twenty-four buses were very successful and it was decided that they would be used in the event of a war or other national disaster.

In August 1914, Winston Churchill asked the London General Omnibus Company to provide buses for the use of moving troops in France. Volunteers from their staff of conductors and drivers came forward and a total of 75 crews were chosen and then recruited into the Royal Marines. In September 1914, 75 Daimler buses and crews were shipped to France. Although the Germans captured some of the buses the majority remained in use in France until the end of the war in November 1918.

Built in some numbers, the Lancia was the most important Italian armoured car of WWI. It was used in battle against the Austrian and later the German forces on the front on the northeastern borders of Italy where some of the vehicles were captured by the Germans and used to equip their own armoured car units. The Lancia armoured cars were also used to train and equip American troops in Italy.

The Napier, the most popular British car, was first produced in 1912. The different body designs, made for a chassis which could be quickly adapted for a variety of uses. The Allied forces used armour-plated, open-topped vehicles fitted with machine guns and other artillery pieces on the Western Front. Unfortunately, they proved unreliable on uneven terrain so their use was fairly limited in trench warfare.