Stoewer R200 History

In 1936 Stoewer developed the leichter geländegängiger Einheits-PKW ('uniform light off-road car') for the German army, designated the R200. The vehicle used a Stoewer AW2 two-litre four-cylinder OHV engine producing 50 PS, with a five-speed gearbox and transfer box, four-wheel drive, and — on the original version through 1940 — four-wheel steering and fully independent suspension on all four corners using wishbones and coil springs.

To meet Wehrmacht demand, Hanomag and BMW were brought in as additional manufacturers from 1937; across all three producers approximately 13,000 units were built, of which about 2,000 were Stoewer-made R200s with four-wheel steering. From 1940 Stoewer continued production of a simplified Typ 40 variant without four-wheel steering, building R200 Spezials through 1943 as the sole remaining manufacturer.