Development of the Marder Infantry Fighting Vehicle began in the late 1950s. After developing three prototype series, pre-production vehicles were completed in 1968, and the following year Rheinstahl was designated as the prime contractor for Marder production. The first production vehicles entered service in 1970, and began to replace the HS-30 armored personnel carrier. The Marder holds the distinction of being the first true Infantry Fighting Vehicle to enter service in NATO.

The Marder 1A3, the latest of the main series of production vehicles, has a fully enclosed hull with the drier on the left front and the 600hp 6-cylinder liquid-cooled diesel engine to his right. The engine drives the tracks through front sprockets, and the suspension consists of six road wheels per side, plus three track return rollers, a rear idler, and track skirts to provide protetction to the lower hull from shaped-charge anti-tank weapons. The Marder is not amphibious, but can ford water obstacles up to 2m with preparation.

The crew comprises the driver, plus commander and gunner in a two-man turret. The turret mounts a 20mm cannon, a coaxial 7.62mm machine gun, and six smoke grenade dischargers. The 20mm gun has a dual feed system that lets the gunner choose between Armor Piercing (AP) and High Explosive (HE) rounds, with a maximum effective range of 1800m.

The rear crew compartment holds six infantrymen, and one Marder in a mechanized infantry platoon carries a Milan ATGM mounted above the commander's hatch on the right side of the turret.

Three major variants of the Marder were built:

• A driver training vehicle
• A self-propelled anti-aircraft weapon mounting the ROLAND suface-to-air missile.
• The TAM main battle tank built for Argentina that mounts a 105mm gun in a turret on a modified Marder hull.

Production continued from 1970 through 1975, with 2,136 Marders being built. The vehicle on display is one of the series III prototype vehicles.