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Austria’s all wheel drive Steyr 1500A was one of the many personnel/transport vehicles which was designed to meet Whermacht requirement for standard army 1,5 ton truck. Presented in 1941, the Steyr was used as troop transport in all the war theaters. A total of more than 20,000 were built, in a wide range of variants. Tamiya presents basic and command versions. The chassis of Steyr 1500A and it’s reinforced variant Steyr 2000A were also used for Fire trucks, Omnibus (Leadwarrior kit Lw35026), Ambulance (Leadwarrior kit Lw35025), universal “Funk-Koffer”, and different types of cargo carriers (Leadwarrior kits Lw35023, Lw35024, Lw35027, Lw35028).
In second half of WWII, due to superiority of Allies in the air, Germany faced an urgent need in Self-Propelled Anti-Aircraft vehicles. Beside many official developments, utilizing panzers and halftraks chassis (see Leadwarrior kits Lw35014, Lw35022), there was a wide range of troop improvisations made by infantry units using all sort of vehicles and guns.
Steyr 2000A cargo truck chassis used to be field-converted to carry 2cm. Flak.38 AA Gun as well. The complete gun including the field carriage was mounted. This way the gun could be used in the static position, while the vehicle could be used for supply purposes (Leadwarrior kit Lw35029).
During the last months of the war the new AA-gun became available - the 3cm. Flak.108/38, also known as ‘Jaboschreck’ - ‘The Fighter-Bomber Terror’. It was a modern weapon, utilized many parts from obsolete Flak.38, including it’s carriage and frame.
Soon the Steyr 2000A conversion carrying the Jaboschreck gun was introduced, and the immediate production was started. Most of the vehicles were instantly picked-up by troops right to the front-line. No photos of this vehicle known, but detailed description states that the gun was mounted in the flatbed low-sided wooden trunk on round pedestal. The space under the platform was used to store the ammunition.
Reinforced rear springs of Steyr 1500A/2000A trucks.
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