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Experts from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles have reconstructed the first flat car with rare original parts from the 1940s. In the early post-war period, the panel wagons were designed for internal transport tasks at the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg. The commercial vehicle probably also provided the first impetus for the Transporter T1. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles will be showing the newly constructed flat car for the first time at the Techno-Classica in Essen (Hall 3, April 12-16) and at the VW Bus Festival in Hanover (June 23-25). A one-off is also celebrating its trade fair premiere at the Techno-Classica: the T1 Raupen-Fuchs from 1962, built for use in the high mountains.
Techno Classica 2023
- Newly constructed Volkswagen panel car will be shown to the public for the first time at the Techno-Classica in Essen
- A team of specialists reconstructed the first flat car with new CAD data and rare VW parts from the 1940s
- Platter wagon with a flatbed at the front and boxer engine at the rear was used as a transporter at the Wolfsburg plant from 1946
- Trade fair premiere at the Techno-Classica for the T1 Raupen-Fuchs from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer
- VW currywurst is offered on the outdoor area
The newly built flat wagon bridges the gap to almost eighty years, as it is a detailed reconstruction of the original version of this transporter: the flat wagons were manufactured from 1946 – Volkswagen was still under the British military government – with parts from the Type 82 (“Kübelwagen”) and the Beetle type 1 built. Originally designed as a temporary measure, the last panel wagons were still used in the factories into the 1990s. How many of these rear-wheel drive vehicles were created is not exactly documented, since it was not an official series development. As far as is known, only one modified copy from 1946 exists, which is said to be with a collector in the USA. It was all the more important for the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles team to recreate the brand's original meter exactly as it was 77 years ago.
Impulse for one of the biggest icons?
Historically, the flat car could also have been one of the impulses for one of the greatest icons in automotive history: the Transporter T1 (Volkswagen Type 2). In terms of design, both vehicles are definitely linked by the four-cylinder boxer engine located at the rear. The 1,1 liter engine now used in the newly constructed flat car dates from 1944 and develops an output of 18 kW/25 hp. Power is transmitted to the rear axle via a 4-speed gearbox that was manufactured between 1943 and 1944.
All other VW series parts - the shortened frame of the Type 82 ("Kübelwagen"), the speedometer, the axles, wheels and hubcaps as well as the headlights, the taillights and the tank - were produced between 1940 and 1946. The rare original parts come from the stocks of the Volkswagen AutoMuseum Foundation, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Vintage and private VW collectors. The idea of building a panel car in the original version was born in 2018 - largely initiated by Gerolf Thienel, the technology historian at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer. He found support from both his active and retired colleagues as well as the members of "VWN Oldtimer Aktiv" from the Friends of the Volkswagen AutoMuseum Foundation. In addition, eyewitnesses who had seen the plate wagon in action were interviewed. The project started in 2020.
One of the challenges was that there were no longer any original drawings of the panel van - not least because there had never been a Volkswagen development order (EA) with a corresponding EA number for the transporter that was only used in the factory. Without further ado, a retired Volkswagen engineer returned to his computer and transferred various photos and the dimensions of existing vehicles into a CAD program (computer-aided design) so that the team could reconstruct the new flat car exactly. In addition to the old components, various components were newly manufactured. This includes the tubular frame built in the VWN development, the sheet metal parts and the electrics. The new wooden boards for the loading area of the panel truck come from a forest near the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg.
the dimensions have remained
Based on the researched historical dimensions, it was clear that the new plate car should follow the dimensions of the original 1946 versions. Since the vehicles were made by hand back then, there were always certain deviations in the dimensions. However, the now realized wheelbase of 1,90 meters is just as realistic as the implementation of the 1,60 meters wide and 1,94 meters long loading area. One of the advantages of the panel truck is the very small turning circle of seven meters - ideal for maneuvering in the Volkswagen factory halls.
In March 2022, what was probably the best plate car of all time was ready - just in time for the debut of the new ID. buzz At the peak of the corona pandemic, however, the team then agreed not to celebrate the premiere of the panel van until 2023 - at the Techno-Classica in Essen and as part of the international VW Bus Festival in Hanover. Both here and there, the newly constructed panel car will be one of the highlights – because it conveys a feel for the modest beginnings of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand, which is now a global success. The new, old Volkswagen works transporter is thus also a homage to all those who, in 1946, with great confidence, created a new world from what was still there - sometimes little more than old water pipes for the substructure of the loading area of the panel wagons of the time.
Trade fair premiere of the T1 Raupen-Fuchs at the Techno-Classica
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer has put a 61-year-old one-off back into new condition: the caterpillar fox. This T1962 was produced at the Hanover plant in May 1 and sent on its way to its buyer in Austria. After a short period of life as a normal T1, it was transformed into an alpine specialist in the hands of a Viennese Volkswagen mechanic. The Austrian converted the Bulli into a T1 with four axles - two of them equipped with a chain drive, two of them steered by dual wheels. And that's how it came about, probably the most all-terrain Bulli of all time. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer is now showing the off-road Bulli at a trade fair in Essen for the first time.
The designer of the caterpillar fox was Kurt Kretzner. Historical sources say he was an avid skier. He noticed that there was a shortage of highly off-road transporters in the mountains of Austria. Those that were easy for everyone to drive and yet could easily climb to the highest pasture. "An ideal helper for everyone: hut manager, hunter, forester, doctor, maintenance staff for lift systems, television and radio systems, pipelines and the like," as Kretzner later wrote in the sales documents for the caterpillar fox. “In the beginning I looked around but couldn't find the car I was dreaming of. So I decided to build it myself.” Just as Ferry Porsche once said and did, so did Kurt Kretzner. The inventor designed and built the summiteer for more than four years. Two "foxes" were probably made by 1968, and production of the third then faltered. What survived, however, was at least one specimen of the caterpillar fox.
The Viennese inventors had planted a steered double axle with coarsely profiled 14-inch twin tires at the front and a double axle with chain drive at the rear under the body of the Bulli painted orange. The tracks were mounted on 13-inch wheels and were a proprietary construction of aluminum elements with two-centimetre-thick rubber blocks to save the asphalt. The double front-axle steering resulted in a turning circle of just six meters – almost turning around. Each wheel was equipped with a brake. An automatic locking differential ensured evenly distributed propulsion even in deep snow. The T1 drew its power from its standard 31 kW/42 hp boxer engine with a displacement of 1.493 cm3. The caterpillar fox reached 40 km/h and was therefore only slightly slower than its namesake from the animal world.
very easy to control
Kurt Kretzner wanted to build a tracked wagon that would be very easy to control. Precisely for this reason, the mechanic did not opt for chain steering on all axles like on a bulldozer, but for a half-track (only on the drive axles) and almost normal, albeit double, front-wheel steering. And that's how the inventor advertised the caterpillar fox: "The new, ideal, easy-to-use caterpillar vehicle with which you can master any difficult terrain safely and comfortably. You can drive on snow, sand, stones, alpine meadows, moors, small streams and forests with this device.”
The caterpillar fox has rarely been seen over the years. The T1985 made its last appearance in Vienna in 1 before it was bought by the Porsche Museum in Gmünd in the early 1990s. At some point the caterpillar fox then became the property of the Bullikartei eV – a community of fans of the first Bulli generation. In 2005 they started a first attempt to restore the high-alpine special vehicle. Unfortunately, the restoration could not be completed for logistical reasons of the nationwide scattered members of the association.
At the end of 2018, the caterpillar fox was added to the collection of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer. The goal: The caterpillar fox should get back on the slopes. Under their leitmotif “Remembering. Experience. Preserved.” the classic car experts therefore started a complex reconstruction. As with all factory restorations in Hanover, the 61-year-old body was stripped of paint, repaired, KTL-coated and repainted in the largely original orange color. Matt orange so that – according to the intention at the time – the caterpillar fox was immediately recognizable in the snow-covered landscape. The team from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer also restored the technology to new condition. Likewise the interior. The team was able to let their creativity run free there, as there were no reliable specifications. Beech and pine wood were individually adapted to the space in the caterpillar fox and practical tool holders were installed.
Bulli Love goes through the stomach
A popular tradition at Techno Classica for many trade fair visitors is to enjoy the culinary classic, the legendary "Volkswagen Currywurst", on the Currywurst Bulli - a 71 T2. The appropriate cool refreshments can be ordered from the '64 T1 BECK's Bulli in Hall 4 at the club stands. Those who prefer to enjoy coffee specialties in proper style from the T1 coffee platform can simply stay at the joint stand in Hall 3.
The dear neighbors in Hall 3
The common credo of the brands from the Volkswagen Group – Volkswagen Classic, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer, Audi Tradition, Škoda, the Autostadt, the AutoMuseum Foundation and Volkswagen Classic Parts – is this year: “Passion connects”. The Techno-Classica takes place from April 12th to 16th in Essen.
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The highlight of Techno-Classica 2023: a team of experts reconstructs the original record car from 1946
Picture credits: vwn-presse.de
