COBI 1937 Horch 901 kfz.15 Set 2256

COBI's 1937 Horch 901 Kfz. 15 is a 1:35 model built from 178 blocks, 13 cm long, in Afrika Korps desert paint. Multi-piece wings, a brick radiator and sand-coloured glazing are included, along with a figure of a DAK soldier with a printed field cap and an MP 40. All markings are printed.

Kfz. 15 is a job, not a model

The name on the box has two parts and they mean different things. Horch 901 is the vehicle — the manufacturer and the chassis. Kfz. 15 is what the army did with it.

The German army classified vehicles by role using a Kraftfahrzeug number, and the number told you the function regardless of who built it. Kfz. 15 was a medium radio and command car. Kfz. 17 was a radio van, Kfz. 31 an ambulance, Kfz. 69 a light gun tractor.

So several manufacturers built Kfz. 15s on different chassis, and one chassis could appear as several Kfz numbers depending on how it was fitted out. A unit's paperwork asked for a Kfz. 15 and got whatever the depot had.

It is a small thing and it explains a great deal of confusion in German vehicle designations — including why the same car appears in reference books under three different names.

What it actually did

Several thousand Horch 901s were built from 1937. It began as transport for staff officers and ended up doing everything: ambulance, signals vehicle, light artillery tractor, troop carrier. Four-wheel drive, independent suspension all round, and expensive enough that it was replaced in production by cheaper designs.

In the COBI range

Set 2405 is the same vehicle in European markings. Set 2050 is the Afrika Korps figure set, and 3131, 3141 and 3143 the DAK vehicles and guns.

Specifications

Pieces: 178 · Figures: 1 with accessories · Scale: 1:35
Model dimensions: 13 × 5.5 cm (5.1 × 2.2 in)