[WWII] Daimler-Benz G5

[Phaelen Bleux]

"Aaaaaiiiiiieeeeee!!!!" -- Luftwaffe Driver, on his sudden and awkward promotion to pilot.

Daimler-Benz G5
The G5 Gelaendewagen was developed to meet a Wehrmacht requirement for a cross-country personnel carrier. It features all-wheel drive, and all wheel steering. Unfortunately, field performance was poor, and the car was more expensive than comparable vehicles, so the G5 was not chosen for military production. Nevertheless, Daimler-Benz continued to develop the car, and between 1937 and 1941 a total of 378 vehicles were produced. Some vehicles did eventually find use with the Wehrmacht, serving as communications vehicles for Nazi party members and the General Staff.

The movie Raiders of the Lost Ark features a G5 chasing the truck stolen by Indiana Jones. The car shown was built for the movie, and features a gunner in the rear of the vehicle firing a pintle-mounted MG. Historically, the car was probably not used in this way, but an additional crewman could stand in the cargo area while firing a machine gun.

The car has room for one driver and three passengers. The G5 burns 3 gallons of gasoline per hour at routine usage. A full tank of petrol costs $1.98.

Subassemblies: Small Wheeled chassis +3; four Off-Road Wheels +1.
Powertrain: 67-kW Standard gasoline engine with 67-kW All-Wheeled drivetrain; 13.2-gallon standard fuel tank; 4,000-kW battery.
Occ.: 1 XCS Body, 3 XPS Body
Cargo: 4 Body (open).

Armor
Body: 2/3
Wheels: 3/5

Statistics:
Size: 15'x5.5'x6' Payload: 0.64 tons Lwt.: 2.37 tons
Volume: 36 Maint.: 188 hours Cost: $1,136
HT: 10. HPs: 125 Body, 22 each Wheel.
gSpeed: 53 gAccel: 4 gDecel: 10 gMR: 1 gSR: 4
Ground Pressure: Moderate. 1/3 Off-Road Speed.

Design Notes:
Design loaded weight was 4,165 lbs.; this was increased 12% to the historical. The design purchases a 15-gallon fuel tank, but the historical capacity is shown. Design gSpeed was 85 mph; the historical gSpeed is shown (but see the entry on Jeeps on p. W106 about top sustained speeds).

All-wheeled steering is not an option in the MVDS, but it is on p. VE21. Cost was $600 (in WWII dollars), and adds 0.25 to gMR, which is reflected in the above figure.