“You will be home before the leaves fall from the trees.”

– German Emperor Wilhelm II, addressing German soldiers departing for the front in WWI, August 1914

Every so often, a new product crosses our desk that seems to come out of nowhere yet has a dramatic impact. Earlier today, one such item came to light: a WWI-era German Ehrhardt Strassenpanzerwagen E-V/4 Armored Car (ATL7210001). Produced by Atlas Editions and offered in 1:43 scale, this interesting little oddity seems to be the first Great War military vehicle made by this prolific publisher, and could signal the start of a brand new series if sales meet or exceed expectations.

The E-V/4 Panzerkraftwagen Ehrhardt was one of the first examples of a type of high and flatsided armoured car design that the Germans used almost until the start of the Second World War for internal policing duties. It weighed nearly 9 tons, had a crew of eight or nine, and carried an armament of up to three machine-guns.

The very first German armoured cars were special large car or truck chassis adapted to carry a skyward-looking artillery piece for use against observation balloons. These vehicles were collectively known as Ballon Abwehr Kanonen (BAK), though none were taken into large-scale use.

The Daimler and Ehrhardt armored car prototypes were both reliant on the use of double wheels on each side of the rear, and had flanges on the single wheels at the front of the vehicle, in an effort to reduce ground pressure and so enhance the cross-country mobility of the vehicle to a useful degree. All three cars had a crew of eight or nine men, carried an armament of at least three machine guns, and possessed a maximum armour thickness of 9 mm.

Only a handful of pieces are being made available to us some time in December, so this is going to be one of those first come first served listings that could get gobbled up even before the product hits the shelves.