Staff car

Crossley 20/25 Royal Flying Corps Staff car

Hitler saluting troops from atop his staff car, a Mercedes-Benz 770k.

A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior military officer, and is part of their country's white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first used in quantity during World War I, examples being the Vauxhall D-type and Crossley 20/25.

Staff cars are often painted in camouflage colours, or plain black. In the U.S.A., Brazil and other American countries the frequent colour is the olive-drab lusterless.

One example is the 1941 Buick Century Series 60, used during the Second World War. It was generally painted in khaki, with a white star on the front doors. Another famous example is Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's, commander in chief of the Allied Forces during World War II, Packard Clipper 1942 staff car. Another well known staff car is the Plymouth P11 1941.

During the Second World War the German Wehrmacht (armed forces) also used staff cars for various purposes. These included military models with machine gun mounts like the Horch 108 and converted civilian versions for high-ranking officers like the Horch 853. Mercedes Benz also produced vehicles that the Wehrmacht converted for use as staff cars.

Staff cars in fiction

The Dad's Army episodes The Captain's Car and The Making of Private Pike deal with staff cars; in the former case, the car was donated by a local aristocrat.

Staff cars were also used in the American CBS Television sitcom, Hogan's Heroes, in which Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) and General Albert Burkhalter (Leon Askin) both had staff cars which they frequently used throughout the series.

External links

• The Buick Century Series 60
• 1941 Plymouth P11 Staff Car
• General Patton's Staff Car
• Ford Fordor 1942 Staff Car
• 1941 Chrysler Royal Staff Car