The Sd.Kfz 234/2 was the turreted version of the Sd.Kfz.234 family of eight-wheeled armoured cars. It was the best known of the series but not the most numerous, with only 101 built from September 1943. Generally known as the Puma, it used the turret originally planned for the Leopard light tank, the intended replacement for the Panzer II, but this project was cancelled, and the turret used on the Puma. The 101 Puma were distributed across the reconnaissance battalions of Panzer Lehr division, 1st SS Panzer Division, 2nd Panzer Division, 20th Panzer Division, Panzer Division ‘Clausewitz’, 7th Panzer Division and perhaps 13th Panzer Division, seeing action on both the Eastern and Western Fronts in 1944 through to 1945.
Rye Field Model’s announcement of the Puma was not a surprise. It seems that when one company starts to produce a particular family of vehicles, the rest follow suit and we now have state-of-the-art 234s from Dragon, Das Werk and MiniArt, as well as Rye Field Model.