The light armored car has been designed under the denomination AML 245 by Panhard in the late 1950s to replace the Ferret armored cars. Production began in 1959 and the first deliveries occurred in 1960.

The first AML were only fitted with the turret Havre HE 60-7 armed with a 60 mm mortar cannon and twin 7.5 mm AA 52 MGs. Later a new version of the turret, HE 60-12, was produced with a single .50 cal MG instead of the AA 52s.

The 60 mm mortar was breech loaded. Its initial range was 300 m in direct fire and 1600 in indirect fire. The introduction of new ammunition extended the range to 2650 m with the explosive round. The mortar could fire the following types of ammunition: explosive, illumination, anti armor and training. 53 rounds were stowed on board in the combat version and only 32 in the command version.

Whatver the turret type may be, it is manually operated and can traverse all round. With the turret HE 60-7 the mortar could elevate from -15° to +76° whereas the AA52 could only elevate to +60°. With the turret HE 60-12 both the mortar and the MG could elevate from -11° to +76°.

Two searchlights are on the turret. The first one is slaved to the MGs, the second is manually oriented by the vehicle commander.

Because of its permanent full 4 WD transmission and its light weight the AML had a good mobility. The two gap crossing elements stowed at the front of the hull enabled the crossing of a ditch up to 1.10 m. With eight elements the crossing span was 3.20 m.

The AML has a crew of 3: a driver, a vehicle commander-loader and a gunner.

The AML in all its versions remained in service with the French army until the 1990s and many countries are still using it in 2021. About 4000 AML in all types were produced and served in more than 30 countries. The AML saw action in many conflict in Africa (in particular by the French army) but also in the Middle-East (Lebanon, Kuwait) and South-America (Falklands). The AML has also been produced and modified by South-Africa under the denomination of Eland. Other versions armed with a 90 mm gun or a 20 mm cannon have also been built.