It was mainly used for transporting military cargo (mainly ammunition), personnel and towing artillery pieces in Czech and later German armies.

The vehicle had an air-cooled OHC four-cylinder engine with 1981 cc rated to 22 kW (30 hp) power.

Since 1934, the 52 chassis of the Tatra 72 version were extensively modified to produce an armored car OA vz.

Other specialized versions have included telephone cable layers (52 built in 1933–1935), and machine gun carriers (23 delivered in August 1934).

Another common (80 produced) model were command-maintenance cars build with two different cabin lengths, capable of carrying 5 passengers plus mixed cargo-passenger space at the rear.