Sd . Kfz . 250 The Sd . Kfz . 250 ( German : " Sonderkraftfahrzeug " 250 ; ' special motor vehicle ' ) was a light armoured halftrack , very similar in appearance to the larger Hanomag - designed Sd . Kfz . 251 , and built by the DEMAG firm , for use by Nazi Germany in World War II . Most variants were open - topped and had a single access door in the rear . The Sd . Kfz 250 was adopted in 1939 to supplement the standard halftrack . Production delays meant the first 250 did not appear until mid - 1941 . Development . In 1939 , the Inspectorate for Motorized Troops ( AHA / In 6 ) decided that it would be useful for small armored half - tracks to accompany tanks in the attack . They could satisfy requirements for which a larger vehicle wouldn ' t be needed , such as headquarters , artillery forward observer , radio , and scout vehicles . Demag , the designer of the smallest half - track in service , the Sd . Kfz . 10 , was selected to develop the " light armored troop carrier " ( " leichter gepanzerter Mannschafts - Transportwagen " ) or Sd . Kfz . 250 . The D7 chassis of the Sd . Kfz . 10 was shortened by one roadwheel station , an armored hull ( " Panzerwanne " ) replaced the sheet steel bodywork and almost every component was specially designed for the D7p , as the armored chassis was designated . Description . Power for the " Sd . Kfz . 250 " was provided by a Maybach 6 - cylinder , water - cooled , 4 . 17 - litre ( 254 cu in ) " HL 42 TRKM " gasoline engine of . It had a semi - automatic pre - selector transmission with seven forward and three reverse gears : Maybach SRG , type " VG 102 128 H " , ( SRG = Schaltreglergetriebe , VG = Variorex - Getriebe , H = Hohlachse ) . Gears were first selected and then the clutch depressed to change the ratio , the next gear could then be selected in advance . In effect , the clutch acted as a gear change ' switch ' . It could attain , but the driver was cautioned not to exceed . Both tracks and wheels were used for steering . The steering system was set up so that shallow turns only used the wheels , but brakes would be applied to the tracks when the steering wheel was turned more . The drive sprocket had rollers , rather than the more common teeth . The rear suspension for its continouous track consisted of four double roadwheels , overlapping and interleaved in the so - called " Schachtellaufwerk " design used by nearly all German half - tracked vehicles , mounted on swing arms sprung by torsion bars . An idler wheel , mounted at the rear of the vehicle , was used to control track tension . The front wheels had transversely mounted leaf springs and shock absorbers , the only ones on the vehicle , to dampen impacts . The " Sd . Kfz . 250 " was unique among German half - track designs as it , and its parent Sd . Kfz . 10 , used a hull rather than a frame . Service history . The vehicle was used in a wide variety of roles throughout World War II . The basic troop carrier version was used as an armored personnel carrier for reconnaissance units , carrying scout sections . This basic variant usually mounted one or two MG34 machineguns . Later variants carried 20 mm , 37 mm , and even 75 mm guns to support the more lightly armed versions ( see table below ) . Several special - purpose variants were seen early in the war . The 250 / 3 and 250 / 5 were command variants , equipped with fewer seats but with long - range radio equipment . These were used by battalion and higher commanders as personal command vehicles , most famously the 250 / 3 used by Erwin Rommel in the North African campaign . Early versions had large ' bedframe ' antennas , which were easy to spot at long range , making them more vulnerable to artillery fire . Later variants dispensed with this and used a whip antenna instead . The " Sd . Kfz " . 253 variant was fully enclosed , and was used by artillery forward observers to accompany tank and mechanized infantry units . The initial design had an armoured body made of multi - faceted plates , which gave good protection against small arms fire , but which made the design both expensive to manufacture and quite cramped . Production of this early version stopped in October 1943 with some 4 , 200 built , and a second version ( " neue Art " or " new version " ) , greatly simplified to speed up manufacture , began replacing it . In both variants , the armour was useful only for stopping small - arms fire and small artillery fragments . Heavy machinegun fire , anti - tank gun fire , or almost any tank gun could penetrate the Sd . Kfz . 250 at long range .