The Sd.Kfz.250 was an attempt by Germany to produce an armoured vehicle as a replacement for the Sd.Kfz.222 armoured car. The Sd.Kfz.251 series of vehicles based on the Sd.Kfz.11 was already in production, and so the new vehicle was to based on the Sd.Kfz.10, which presented a problem with power. Since the new armoured Sd.Kfz.250 was heavier than the Sd.Kfz.10, the existing engine, the Maybach HL42 was felt to be underpowered for such an armoured vehicle, so rather than attempt to fit a more powerful engine, the actual design of the vehicle was altered by deleting the first pair of Roadwheels and shortening the vehicle. In a similar way to the Ausf.C and Ausf.D variants of the Sd.Kfz.251, as material and labour became more of a problem, the production of vehicles based on the Sd.Kfz.250 was simplified in 1943 by making the sides less angular and to construct them of less separate pieces that had to be welded, and also to make the side stowage lockers integral to the fenders. The original vehicles before these changes were introduced were thus given the suffix 'Alte' for 'Original model', and vehicles produced after the changes had been introduced were given the suffix 'Neu' or 'New'. Dragon originally produced a series of kits based around the 250 some years ago, and modellers have been eagerly awaiting the recently promised 'Premium' upgrade to the series.
