Ref.: TAKO-2024
Skoda PA-II The PA-II ("Armored Car II") was developed by Škoda, which capitalized on the experience gained on the previous semi-experimental PA-I, in 1922-23. But, this time, the Chief Engineer’s choice was to provide the hull with an all-around streamlined armor bodywork. This quickly earned the new vehicle the nickname of "Želva" (Tortoise), never officialized. Instead, the Army designation was Obrn?ný Automobil model 1923 (OA vz.23). By the fall of 1923, the blueprints were ready and submitted to the the Army. 12 vehicles were ordered, to be delivered until December 1924 and mid-1925. When the vehicles were presented to the Czechoslovak army, which had ordered them in 1925, they were tested and eventually refused. They were bulky, heavy and not very agile, with poor ground clearance that forbade off-road rides and an internal fighting compartment that was too cramped. Instead, Skoda sold three of them to Vienna’s police forces in 1927, as a compensation for a batch of OA vz.27 that were never delivered. The remaining nine were purchased by the Czech police ten years after, actively showcased in parades and exercises in the meantime. Another Skoda armored car, the Obrn?ný Automobil vz. 27, was instead chosen by the Army for active service. The Austrian vehicles saw action in the repression of the Nazi coup in 1934. At some point, two vehicles were incorporated in the Austrian-Croatian border police force, notably the 16th Company, when the riots erupted. A number of Czech vehicles were seized and incorporated into the Wehrmacht after 1939, modified to use a radio, as radio relay vehicles. Their operational capabilities were rather limited, but they seem to have been used until 1945.