The Leonidas-2 represented an effort made by the Greek vehicle manufacturer ELBO to produce an advanced armoured personnel carrier of its own. It is named after Leonidas, the king of the ancient city-state of Sparta. The first version of the Leonidas was the Austrian Saurer 4K 4FA Armored Personnel Carrier built with minor modifications by the Greek company from 1981 until 1987 (when it was still called Steyr Hellas S.A.). Initial production was essentially assembly, however Greek content progressively increased. The APC had a 320 hp engine and a weight of 14.8 tons.