1944 Volkswagen Schwimmwagen

Schwimmwagen owners seem to be an enthusiastic crowd, often seen in the company of drastically less hip Amphicars

by Rob Sass

Porsche’s Type 60 (the Volkswagen prototype), with its strong backbone chassis and air-cooled engine, had been recognized as an ideal basis for the German army’s proposed Kübelwagen (“bucket car”)—a lightweight, open utility vehicle.

A small number of Type 62 Kübelwagens were in service by the time war broke out. Experience with these early vehicles soon led to a number of modifications, the result being the definitive Type 82 that would see service on virtually every front.

 A variant of the Type 82 was the Type 166 Schwimmwagen, an amphibious vehicle that represented almost total re-engineering rather than mere further development. The Schwimmwagen featured a watertight, doorless hull—designed by Porsche’s colleague Erwin Komenda—four-wheel drive, and a power take-off from the engine that drove a retractable propeller. 

 This example of the most mass-produced amphibious car ever was first registered in Italy on August 25, 1947, by the...