1943 Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Kübelwagen was a light military vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Volkswagen during World War II for use by the German military. Based heavily on the Volkswagen Beetle, it was prototyped as the Type 62, but eventually became known internally as the Type 82.

Kübelwagen is a contraction of Kübelsitzwagen, meaning ‘bucket-seat car’ because all German light military vehicles that had no doors were fitted with bucket seats to prevent passengers from falling out. The first Porsche Type 62 test vehicles had no doors and were therefore fitted with bucket seats as Kübelsitzwagen. Further development of the Type 62 took place during 1939, including a more angular body design, and pre-production models were field-tested later that year. Despite their overall satisfaction with the vehicle’s performance, military commanders demanded that a few important changes be made: the lowest speed of the vehicle had to be reduced from 8 km/h to 4 km/h as an adjustment to the pace of marching soldiers. Second, it needed some improvement of its off-road ability. Porsche responded to both requests by mounting new axles with gear-reduction hubs, providing the car with more torque and more ground-clearance all at once. Revised dampers, 41cm wheels, and a limited slip differential, as well as countless small modifications, completed the specification. In order to reflect the changes, the vehicle was renamed Type 82. With a modest 59,900 km recorded on the odometer from new, this amazing Type 82 Kübelwagen is described to be in excellent condition throughout. Equipped with its front mounted space-saver, shovel and weather equipment.

Offered at No Reserve on 18th May 2019 at Chiswick House.