Sd. Kfz. 233 “Stummel“ 8x8 reconnaissance support variant armed with a 75mm gun in Tunisia in 1942

As the cross-country performance of the 6-wheeled armoured cars was deemed insufficient, the Heer Ordnance department (WaPrw 6) signed a contract with Büssing to develop an eight-wheel armoured car with all-wheel-drive, all-wheel-steering and two driver positions at front and rear. Deutsche Werke in Kiel were contracted to design the armoured body. The turret in the 231/232 series was altered to a hexagonal shape for increased internal volume, it was equipped with a long barrelled 2 cm KwK 30 L/55 autocannon and a coaxial mm MG 34 machine gun. The Sd. Kfz. 231, 232 and 263 were initially built on chassis slightly modified for their needs. From July 1942 they were built on the same Einheitsfahrgestell chassis and had their armour increased to 30 mm. From September 1941, a more powerful engine was installed, providing 180 PS instead of 155 PS. From late 1940 Stand-off angled armour plates were mounted about 50 cm in front of the vehicles. This additional armour was retrofitted to older vehicles