radio equipment and an additional radio operator. To support the additional equipment, the turret was omitted, the superstructure was raised and only a single ball-mounted machine gun was mounted. Eight wheelers Sd. Kfz. 231 family 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 armoured body looked somewhat similar to the 6-wheel predecessors. 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 7.92 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 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 and dropped with introduction of the strengthened front armour in July 1942. Sd. Kfz. 231 This was the standard reconnaissance variant built from 1937 to 1941. From July 1941, any need for a 231 was fulfilled by producing a 232 without the additional radio equipment. The official name was Sd. Kfz. 231 (8-rad). Sd. Kfz. 232 The Sd. Kfz. 232 (8-Rad), which was produced from 1938 to 1943, was a 231 with additional medium range radio sets and a large frame aerial. From 1942, a small ('star aerial') replaced the frame aerial, a modification retrofitted to older models. The official name was (Fu) Sd. Kfz. 232 (8-rad). Sd. Kfz. 233 This was equipped with a short barrelled (L/24) 7.5 cm KwK 37 gun and based on the open-topped superstructure of the Sd. Kfz. 263 (8-Rad) radio vehicle. One hundred and nine of these vehicles were built at the Büssing plant between December 1942 and October 1943. A further 10 were converted from 263 chassis in October 1942. This variant of the Sd.Kfz. series entered service during 1942 and remained in use throughout the war. They were issued as a platoon