Crompton’s Column
Bruce Crompton tells us about a rare German Army vehicle in his collection
Over the years, I’ve been blessed with some mighty fine wheels, rare ones at that. This Büssing NAG in our collection is one such gem. We got it through a top-notch Dutch mate, who had it shipped straight from Finland to me.
Büssing’s roots can be traced back to 1903, making it the granddaddy of German lorry makers. Come 1931, Büssing merged with AEG’s daughter company NAG, becoming Büssing-NAG. They churned out buses, armoured beasts and trucks ranging from 1.5 to 9.5 tons payload.
Now, the OG Büssing-NAG, the type 500 S, rolled out from 1939 to 1941. It packed a punch with a six-cylinder, 105 HP diesel engine, hauling 4.75 tons. They also cooked up a Type A with all-wheel drive, but only a handful hit the streets from 1940 to 1942.
Fast-forward to 1942, when penny-pinching was in vogue. Enter the type 4500S, a worthy successor to the 500S.
It looked different outside, but under the hood, same old song. They jazzed it up with a new bonnet, changed and removed some mudguards, spiffier pointy rear wheel hubs, and a snazzier radiator grill. Almost 15,000 of these babies rolled off the line until the war’s end.
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