The history of the Type 170V started in 1931 when Mercedes-Benz, famous for its luxurious cars, decided to build an economy class car. They showed their first Type 170 car at the Paris exhibition in 1931. The public accepted the car very well, and the 170V that appeared in 1938 became very popular. The car had many technical features that were advanced for the time. Mercedes-Benz released the 170V with different types of bodies for the different needs of the civilian market, from traditional sedan to quite extreme roadster. The car was widely delivered for export, and these variants had quite visible external variations such as different bumpers, lights, etc.

The success of the car attracted the attention of the armed forces. The German military and their highly mechanised army required special passenger cars. However, a dramatic shortage of such cars forced a call-up of many civilian cars. The Mercedes-Benz 170V was not really appropriate to the role of the soldier: its rear wheel drive and low ground clearance restricted its use away from normal roads. However, the high quality of construction, high reliability and simplicity of operation made cars of the 170 series very popular with the army. As a result, all versions of this car, without exception, served in all types of units of the German armed forces. Even purely civilian 170Vs were purchased willingly by the military departments. Daimler-Benz developed four types of the car on the basis of the Mercedes-Benz 170V, all intended exclusively for the army and police and never sold on the civilian market.

This particular model is the first that looks truly ‘military’, rather than just a civilian car pressed into military service. Having said that, the Polizeikübelsitzwagen was hardly civilian. The SdKfz 2 was specifically tailored for the German military forces. The VK was a largely simplified vehicle that boasted short, diagonally cut doors in a slab-sided body providing sufficient room for four. All the 170VK bodies were wooden framed with either sheet aluminium covering or a ‘Vulcanboard’ covering (a compressed 5-6 mm thick man-made fibre and glue-compressed board). The chassis is not reinforced compared to the car, but is different only at the rear where the chassis members raise upwards to support the rear deck of the Kübel body (where on the car they are much lower and support the floor of the rear luggage space). It was produced between 1938 and 1942. The model seems to be a mix of two marks – a Kfz 2/1 Fernsprechwagen (telephone) and a Kfz 2/2 Funkwagen (radio)

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