After WWI, Germany was severely restricted regarding the size and equipment that the military was allowed. For the army this meant a cap of 100,000 men, no tanks, minimal artillery and a need to submit any desired new items to a commission to see if they could actually procure it. Of course, any attempt at new gear was stifled by the world wide depression of the early 1930s.

These restrictions did not stop the army from training for the day when it could get tanks, nor from using civilian style vehicles. This led to some interesting wood and canvas fake tanks based on automobile chassis, some of which are covered in this book. One of the 'new' items developed with light armored cars. These were based on Adler auto chassis which made them less expensive to purchase, but meant they had no off-road capabilities, which would be important for reconnaissance vehicles.

Two variants were built. One was a two man car that was open topped (leading them to be called 'bathtubs') with a mount for a light machine gun. The other was a radio car, which was unarmed, and was visibly different because it had a wire antenna around the upper portion of the car.

Though they were nearly obsolete by the time WWII began, they were used in fairly large numbers during early war campaigns. They were also lost in fairly large numbers thanks to their fairly thin armor. Yet they soldiered on during campaigns in Norway, Greece, and Russia. Even later they were pressed into service in the anti-partisan role. The book has a bit more history background than some. Still there are a bevy of excellent period photos that make this series so useful and interesting. I learned a huge amount about these vehicles and easily recommend this one to you.

June 2026

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