A staff car is a vehicle used by a senior

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

, and is part of their country's white fleet. The term is most often used in relation to the United Kingdom where they were first used in quantity during World War I, examples being the Vauxhall D-type and Crossley 20/25. Staff cars are often painted in

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

colours, or plain black. In the U.S., Brazil and other American countries the frequent colour is flat olive-drab as used on the 1941 Buick Century Series 60, used during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was generally painted in

khaki The color khaki (, ) is a light shade of tan (color), tan with a slight yellowish tinge. Khaki has been used by many armies around the world for uniforms and equipment, particularly in arid or desert regions, where it provides camouflage rela ...

, with a white star on the front doors. Gen.

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

, commander in chief of the Allied Forces on the Western Front during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, used a

Packard Clipper The Packard Clipper is an Car, automobile series built by the Packard Motor Car Company (and by the later Studebaker-Packard Corporation) for model years 1941–1942, 1946–1947, and 1953–1957. It was named for a type of sailing ship, called a ...

1942 staff car. The Plymouth P11 1941 was also used frequently. During the Second World War the German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

(armed forces) also used staff cars for various purposes. These included military models with machine gun mounts like the Horch 108 and converted civilian versions for high-ranking officers like the Horch 853. Mercedes-Benz also produced vehicles that the Wehrmacht converted for use as staff cars.

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army (in countries without the rank of Generalissimo), and as such, few persons a ...

Bernard Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...

used a 1939 Rolls-Royce Wraith during the war and continued to use it while serving as Commander of the

British Army of the Rhine British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) was the name given to British Army occupation forces in the Rhineland, West Germany, after the First and Second World Wars, and during the Cold War, becoming part of NATO's Northern Army Group (NORTHAG) tasked ...

and as

Chief of the Imperial General Staff Chief of the General Staff (CGS) has been the title of the professional head of the British Army since 1964. The CGS is a member of both the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Army Board; he is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the A ...

. It was used by successive Chiefs of the Imperial General Staff until its retirement in 1964. Currently it is on display at the

Royal Logistic Corps Museum The Royal Logistic Corps Museum tells the story of logistic support to the British Army from Agincourt to the modern day. Based at Worthy Down near Winchester, the museum holds the collection of the Royal Logistic Corps and the collections of it ...

In popular culture

The ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'' episodes "The Captain's Car" and "The Making of Private Pike" deal with staff cars; in the former case, the car was donated by a local aristocrat. Staff cars were also used in the American television sitcom ''

Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom created by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy which is set in a Prisoner-of-war camp, prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Nazi Germany during World War II, and centers around a group of Allied prisoner ...

'', in which Colonel Wilhelm Klink (

Werner Klemperer Werner Klemperer (March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an American actor. He was best known for playing List of Hogan's Heroes characters#Colonel Klink, Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom ''Hogan's Heroes'', for which he twic ...

) and General Albert Burkhalter (

Leon Askin Leon Askin (; born Leo Aschkenasy, 18 September 1907 – 3 June 2005) was an Austrian actor best known in North America for portraying the character General Burkhalter on the TV situation comedy ''Hogan's Heroes''. Life and career Askin was ...

) both had staff cars that they frequently used throughout the series.

References

External links

The Buick Century Series 60General Patton's Staff CarFord Fordor 1942 Staff Car
Military vehicles by type {{mil-vehicle-stub

In popular culture

See also

References

External links