In the German Army, armoured cars were intended for the traditional cavalry missions of reconnaissance and screening.

They scouted ahead and to the flank of advancing mechanized units to assess enemy location, strength and intention.

Their primary role was reconnaissance, but they would engage similar or light units and at times attempt to capture enemy patrols.

[citation needed] The speed of the eight-wheeled cars made them the best scouting vehicles that Rommel had for long-range reconnaissance across the wide desert territory.

[citation needed] This armour was designed to provide protection from small arms fire and HE fragments; it was ineffective against heavier weapons.

After the French campaign, additional spaced frontal armour plate was added to provide better protection.

This cannon was based on the 20 mm FlaK 30 anti-aircraft gun, and was capable of firing at a cyclic rate of 280 rounds per minute.

[citation needed] The 20 mm (0.79 in) cannon was not designed to defeat enemy tanks; experiments were made towards replacing it with a heavier gun, which resulted in the Sd.Kfz.

234/2's 50 mm (2.0 in) gun could penetrate and knock out Allied armoured cars and light tanks, but this was not the vehicle's role.

The role intended was for the car's armour to protect the crew from small arms fire during reconnaissance missions.

232 were fitted with a 155 PS (153 hp; 114 kW), eight-cylinder Büssing-NAG L8V-G petrol engine, which gave a top speed of 85 km/h (53 mph) and a range of 300 km (190 mi).

The 231 was introduced into service in 1932 and began to be replaced in 1937 when the German Army switched production to 8-wheeled armoured cars instead of 6-wheeled.

This antenna was supported by two insulated vertical connecting tubes at the back corners and an inverted U-shape tube construction on the turret sides with a central joint that allowed the turret its full 360° traverse.

To support the additional equipment, the turret was omitted, the superstructure was raised and only a single ball-mounted machine gun was mounted.

[citation needed] 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.

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.

From late 1940 Stand-off angled armour plates were mounted about 50 cm in front of the vehicles.

232 (8-Rad), which was produced from 1938 to 1943, was a 231 with additional medium range radio sets and a large frame aerial.

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.

This was an eight-wheeler with an increased height superstructure armed with a single 7.92 mm MG 34 machine gun.

The gun's low velocity made its armour-piercing round ineffective against most Allied tanks, but allowed the high-explosive shell casing to be thinner and thus contain more explosive.

Another variant of the 8 wheeler, but mounting a 7.5 cm PaK 40 L/46 anti-tank gun in an open compartment.