Designed by well-known German engineer Ferdinand Porsche in 1940 and produced by the equally well-known Austrian Steyr works, the Steyr 1500 A or "Kfz.70" became an important part of the Wehrmacht motor-pool on all fronts.
Powered by an air-cooled 3.5 litres V8 engine with 85 HP and equipped with a robust 4x4 suspension, the vehicle was capable of dealing with the hot Libyan desert as well as the muddy or frozen Russian plains, thus gaining instant popularity among the German drivers and beyond.
First produced in September 1941 with internal sparewheel mounting as the "A/01", the design switched to external sparewheel mounting in August 1942 resulting in the final "A/02" version. Minor changes in 1943 meant reinforcement of the rear springs and omitting the rear mudguards.
In March 1944, heavy Allied bombardment of the Steyr works stopped any further production of the 1500 A with a total of 12,450 examples built.
In August 1944, production restarted with the payload increased 2000 A, 6,400 of which left the assembly lines by February 1945.
Thus, Steyr in total delivered no less than 18,450 reliable troop carriers, and production even continued for many years after the war.