Porsche saw the potential of an amphibious version of the VW Kübelwagen (type82).
The German Army was searching for a vehicle could handle snow, sand, mud and other
rough grounds. He combined these qualities and added all-wheel drive which had
been developed at about the same time for the VW (type87). The development project
was called the type 128 which appeared in 1940.
Thirty examples were built
in 1941 at the Wolfsburg Volkswagen Works and delivered to the Army's Engineer
units. The type 128 had a boat-shaped body. The army was very impressed. In 1941
Porsche received instructions to further develop the type 128.
The type 138
was a type 128 but then with a little modified body it seems (version type 128
B). Some 100 more vehicles of this type were ordered. Another special version
was produced type 129, probably a complete closed vehicle which could deliver
bombs without a driver. This type was however not a success.
By the end of
September 1940 the prototypes were tested in the lake called Max-Eyth near Stuttgart.
You can select
2 or 4 wheel driving in the type 128. The car had a gearbox with 4 gears and with
2 sperrdifferentials and a powertransmission to the front wheels.
Porsche thought that the type 128 was too large and so unstable. Porsche started
to create a smaller Schwimmwagen, which resulted in the project: type 166. The
first 125 vehicles were produced by the Porsche Team and they were hand-made in
Stuttgart. These cars are also known as "Vorserienschwimmwagen" or preseries
The type 166 entered large-scale production in Wolfsburg (or "Stadt
des KdF-Wagens", city of the Strenght Trough Joy car). The production model,
this is the "VW-Schwimmwagen" we know today, possessed a wheelbase which
was 40 cm shorter than the earlier type 128. Also the vehicle's width had been
reduced by 10cm. There were some small body modifications done as a result of
the army-tests. The tow hooks for example got reinforcements. Now it was powered
by the same 1131-cm3 engine installed in the Kubelwagen from 1943.
the water the engine drove a three-bladed propeller at the rear of the Schwimmwagen.
The type 166 was very popular, mainly because of the off-road capabilities thanks
to the 4wheel drive. However, its amphibious capability was rarely used in action.
In World War 2 the Schwimmwagen had lifespan of only 6 weeks.
stopped in 1944, because of the large number of man-hours involved in the production
and the high material usage.