Volkswagen Schwimmwagen Type 166

The Volkswagen Schwimmwagen Type 166 is a four-wheel-drive amphibious car developed by Porsche for the German army and built by Volkswagen and Ambi-Budd. With roughly 15,600 completed between 1942 and 1944, it is the most-produced amphibious car ever made — a record the Amphicar never approached.

Design

The body is a sealed welded-steel tub with no separate chassis, carrying the Beetle's air-cooled flat-four at the rear. First gear and reverse drive all four wheels; higher gears drive the rear axle only. For water use a three-bladed propeller swings down at the stern and engages directly with the engine's crankshaft extension. There is no reverse in water — the crew paddled, or used the wheels.

At 910 kg it is remarkably light, which is the whole design. Type 166 is the shortened successor to the Type 128, cut down after the earlier car's longer hull proved insufficiently rigid.

Survivors

Wartime attrition was heavy and genuine examples are now among the most valuable of all Volkswagens, with replica and re-shelled cars common enough that provenance documentation matters considerably.