This 1930s Armored Harley-Davidson Has a Sidecar, and a Machine Gun

Landsverk was a military contractor in the 1930s. It built a series of armored motorcycle prototypes. They were a front for the Germans and the only guy to ever own one was a Nazi...

Like most weirdos, I love me some old military designs. Yes, the stuff we have now is way more effective at both destruction and protection comparatively. But there's just something about the old ways that gets me.

Maybe it's just how they were figuring everything out with paper? Maybe it's the brutalist efficiency of the designs? Whatever scratches that little itch inside my gray matter, I love rabbit-holing my way through old war-time vehicles and the one I've got for you today is so freakin' cool.

Meet the Landsverk 210, a tank-ified Harley-Davidson built by the Swedes and featuring a light machine gun in the 1930s. And, wouldn't you know, the Nazis were involved. Because of course they were. 

Now, when I first came across the Landsverk on Reddit's r/ShittyTechnicals subReddit, I didn't know anything about it. All I had was its name, that it was based on some Harley-Davidson from the period, as well as it featured a sidecar-operated 8x58 Madsen machine gun. And that's it. 

A quick Google search, however, sent me to Tanks Encyclopedia which, as you've likely guessed, is a repository for all things tank and tank-related. And it was a wealth of knowledge on this insane creation. 

AB Landsverk is, as mentioned, a Swedish company, that built a host of different military vehicles during the period between World War I and World War II. And as motorcycles became more commonplace on the battlefield, the company sought to build something that was far more protected than your average bike.

The company's first foray into armored motorcycles was the L-90, which featured movable armor plates and a 6.5mm KSP machine gun, and not much else. The machine gun's turret could pivot skyward, likely indicating it was meant for anti-aircraft duty, but little else is really known about the bike, other than it used a Harley-Davidson as the basis of its design. Only two were likely built of this particular model.  

Landsverk's 210, however, is far more documented. 

According to the site, "By the early 1930s, the Danish military was investigating whether a cheaper alternative could be found to conventional armored vehicles of the day. In 1932, Landsverk produced a new type of armored motorcycle based on specifications provided by Danish authorities, internally known as the L-210."

The L-210 was based around a 1,200cc V2 Harley-Davidson, most likely the VL. This was done because the Danish military had already adopted the motorcycle throughout its fleet and they could share parts, as well as reducing the need to retrain mechanics on new bikes, thus reducing the cost.

For the L-210, the 6.5mm was swapped out for a 8mm Madsen and fed through a "top-mounted curved box magazine." The armor was welded instead of riveted, as the L-190 was, and used 4.5mm-thick plates which the site claims wouldn't have likely stopped rifle calibers, but because of the angles Landsverk gave the armor, might've been sufficient. 

Yet, because of all this armor, it weighed a heck of a lot. Nearly 1,600 pounds. That meant that even with 30 horsepower, its top speed was only 30 mph. Not great for the battlefield. As such, the Danish military abandoned the project as it sorta sucked. 

The company was, however, a front for the Germans, as at the time, they were banned from making weapons of war by the Treaty of Versailles. And the sole customer for the L-210 ended up being the Nazi's South American diplomat, Baron Friedrich Karl Johannes von Schlebrügge, who bought one and had it shipped to South America. 

And that's the end of the Landsverk story! I definitely get why it was never mass-produced, as a lightweight motorcycle with a machine gun doesn't really make sense when it doesn't have a lot of suspension travel and it isn't exactly light. It's more of a perfect artillery target than anything else. 

But that hasn't stopped militaries from utilizing motorcycles in the field, and WWII is teaming with interesting military motorcycles. Maybe one day I'll go through all of them.