The Bussing A5P was an armoured car produced in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

History

The Büssing

Büssing

Büssing was a German bus and truck manufacturer established by Heinrich Büssing at Braunschweig in 1903. Büssing's first truck was a 2 ton payload machine powered by a 2-cylinder gasoline engine and featuring worm drive...

 company received its first orders of military vehicle

Military vehicle

A military vehicle is a vehicle that includes all land combat and transportation vehicles, which are designed for or are in significant use by military forces throughout the world. Vehicles that are armored or intended for combat are often referred to as armoured fighting vehicles....

s in 1910, producing artillery tractor

Artillery tractor

Artillery tractor is a kind of tractor, also referred to as a gun tractor, a vehicle used to tow artillery pieces of varying weights.-Traction:...

s and supply trailers. In November 1914, Bussing was requested to develop an armoured car with all-wheel drive. In 1916, the A5P began production. Its powerplant was Bussing's successful 6-cylinder truck engines. It had a large steel armoured body and was crewed by 10 men. 6 of the crew operated three 7.92 mm machine gun

Machine gun

A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....

s, usually the MG 08 or MG 15 nA. Some vehicles even received two 20 mm cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

. The A5P served on the Eastern Front

Eastern Front (World War I)

The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...

until 1917. It was produced in limited numbers.

Specifications

• Country of origin: Germany
• Crew: 10
• Weight: 22600 lbs
• Dimensions: Length: 31.17 feet (9.5 m), Width: 6.89 feet (2.1 m), Height: 11.4 feet (3.5 m)
• Range: 150 miles (241.4 km)
• Armour: 6–9 mm
• Armament: 3x 7.92 mm MG 08 machine guns
• Powerplant: 1x 6-cylinder Bussing 'Otto' petrol, developing 90 hp
• Performance: Maximum road speed: 21 miles per hour (33.8 km/h)