The SdKfz 231 6-Rad family of vehicles had its origin in a 1929 requirement for an armored car based on the chassis of a 6x4 truck. The resulting design had a relatively conventional layout in the form of a front-mounted engine. However, the modified hull was notable for its use of sloping, far beyond was was applied to contemporary British or Soviet armored cars which helped partly make up for relatively thin armor. One of the features of the SdKfz 231 was the inclusion of a second driver's position with full steering control in the rear, which allowed for easy driving in reverse. Armament consisted of a turret-mounted 20-mm KwK 30 cannon which was adequate against similarly light armored vehicles. More sophisticated radio equipment was added in the SdKfz 232 as well as the SdKfz 263 which was a dedicated radio car. SdKfz 231/232 6-Rad vehicles were used to equip the Aufklärung (reconnaissance) detachments of motorized units and were first seen during the occuptions of Austria and Czechoslovakia, followed by the early Blitzkrieg campaigns of 1940. They were gradually phased out thereafter due to preference to 8-wheeled vehicles which had superior off-road performance.

The Schwerer Panzerspähwagen 6-Rad (SdKfz 231) was first conceived as early as 1929 and was the most modern armored car available to the German Army when the Nazis took power. The Schwerer Panzerspähwagen (Fu) 6-Rad (SdKfz 232) was the only other major version of the basic armored car design with the only difference being the addition of a long-range radio and a large frame antenna. The Panzerfunkwagen 6-Rad (SdKfz 263) was a dedicated radio car variant with a fixed turret housing an MG 13 machine gun, with both a large frame antenna and a a telescoping mast antenna.