Steyr Type 380 after successfully receiving new engine transplant
Steyr Type 380 after successfully receiving new engine transplant

By the end of 2017, we agreed with one of the Advisors of the Traditionsverband (Dr. Herbert Werner) to transfer his Steyr Type 380 into our collection. The vehicle was delivered to the “Defense Office” in the Austrian Chancellery on January 11 1956 – before the Ministry for Defense was officially created by the newly formed Austrian Republic. Unfortunately, no records exist which units it has been serving with, however by December 4 1958 it was re-assigned to the Ministry of Defense and issued the license number W 175.407. Note that until the early 1970s, Austrian Army vehicles still bore the civilian “W” license plates for “Vienna”. Only by 1974, a dedicated „BH“ (for “Bundesheer”) Army license plate was issued. By March 22 1976 the vehicle was retired from active service and sold. For the next 45 years the “Lattice Steyr” (as it was often called due to its characteristic front grill) was preserved in private hands, in March of this year we had it overhauled and found the engine to be shot. Fortunately, the Steyr WD 413 engine had also been licensed for production in Hungary, and we could source a brand-new engine to be transplanted. This vehicle is now the oldest military vehicle from post-WW2 Austrian production in our collection.