The Kubelwagen: The Nazi Jeep

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[Rude_Potato]

In the 1970's we had both a CJ5 and a Volkswagen Thing. Living in the upper Midwest we used them in various weather conditions and terrain. The CJ5 was a real farm vehicle were as the Thing was more of a fun ride and something to tinker around with. The Jeep was a better tool on the farm, but as a teenager the Thing was much better for pulling girls because it was unique, goofy and orange!
We must have looked like a strange cartoon military every hunting season when we would be dressed up in blaze orange, carrying rifles, and riding around the countryside in a blaze orange Thing.

[mikeb.]

Had a mid 70’s Thing for a few years. Anytime my buddies and I would leave to anyplace in it one of them would always . “Shultz, to the Squad Car”

[postal_the_clown]

When "The Thing" came out in the U.S. I was just starting my first "real" job and I wanted one. The young lady I was seeing at the time said she would not go out with me in it even though I had a 64 Beetle at the time. Fast forward about 5 years.... Shoulda bought the Thing.

[ChaseCars]

The legacy of the Type 82 was also built into the VW van in 1949 - to get extra ground clearance they used offset stub axles at the front and an extra pair of reduction gears at the rear. That dropped the overall gear ratio (useful to let the van carry more weight) and gave more ground clearance too.

Great video, thank you!

[jensschroder]

After the war, VW converted remaining Kübelwagens into VW Beetles. That was simply because the chassis and engine are the same.
The oldest VW Beetle still operational in Germany was an officially converted VW Kübelwagen.

[ronmorrell]

The US GIs appropriated enough of these that an English language maintenance guide was published. Apparently the independent suspension and longer wheelbase made them much more comfortable than the solid axle Willys.

[steffenwurster]

I was a concript in the early 80the and the Bundeswehr still used after war produced Kübelwagens. They had to compete offroad with the unbeatable Zwei Tonner Unimog, and the Kuebels did pretty good. The Kuebel was never much else than the a Beetle on steroid. But it was astonishing to see how good this simple car did offroad

[DisclaimerGarage]

7:43 Poor dude in the back definitely got a concussion from his head slapping the side of the jeep! 😮

[johnsims]

Random fun fact: when the UN was deciding what to do with Volkswagen, they offered to sell it to Ford for $100, 000. Ford politely declined the offer saying they weren't interested.

[Happymali]

Volkswagen REALLY wanted to cut the Nazi-image lose when they created the 181 for the Bundeswehr. Thus, the model (which became "The Thing" in the US), was officially named the Kommandowagen (Command car).
Except it took about 4 minutes for the Bundeswehr (and soon everyone else too) to call it a Kübelwagen, which leads to some confusion nowadays as the Kübelwagen and the 181/Thing are very much not the same car.

[larrybremer]

I had plenty of experience with the M-151 jeep and for your average 18-25 year old serviceman its really no problem making your way into the back seat of a jeep. That said if I had a choice to own a willies jeep or kubelwagen from WWII I would pick the kubelwagen hands down just because it just looks so cool and would be simpler to maintain since it largely uses still common VW car parts.

[JeffDeWitt]

There is a great story about how the Schwimmwagen saved VW, I think it came from the book "Small Wonder, the Story of Volkswagen". It seems that right after the war ended some Italians ever visiting the VW factory to see if there was any of their equipment that had been stolen by the Nazis. There was, it was a big press and if VW lost it they wouldn't have been able to continue. So the VW top brass gave the Italians the grand tour, feeding them PLENTY of wine, and they were driven around plant in a Schwimmwagen. Before they got to the plant where the machine was located the Germans had managed to get the Italians quite drunk... and without warning they drove the Schwimmwagen into the river.

The Italians were quite shaken up, decided they'd had enough. and left, without ever seeing the stolen machine.

[barrydysert]

i remember the VW Thing ads that in part said, "You can drive it with the roof on. You can drive it with the roof off. You can drive it with the doors on. You can drive it with the doors off." It's hard to imagine any vehicle today advertising the ability to drive with it's doors off !:-)

[parzi]

Looks like the Opel Blitz might also be worth a shot/video

[garrisonandrew]

I own a replica Kubelwagen. I drive it like I stole it.

[robertsolomielke]

TY simon. The VW's all had Independent suspention, so nothing but a big skid plate underneath. "Floatation" over soft terrain was achieved in this way.

[beejay]

Thanks to Simon I now fully understand the phrase “comparing apples to oranges”. This is why I turn to YouTube for my learnin’

[kaiborrmann]

I bought a Volkswagen 181 from a school teacher in 1992; she had purchased it directly from VW and it was in excellent shape. The 181 is just a Beatle with a chassis adjusted to military needs, so it was slow, reliable (my dad drove a different model once from Warry, Nigeria to Bremen, Germany back in the Eighties) and ideally suited for fun rides with loads of tipsy and pretty students through the wine yards around Freiburg, the most romantic town in Germany. Mine was green, but it looks gentle and inviting in any color whatsoever.

[marcstlaurent]

I had the type 181 civilian version called VW Thing in North America, which I hot roded with a stroker 140hp type 1 engine with a beefed up trans, wide rear tires, etc . The big advantage I would say was its excellent ride quality where I could drive fast off road with it soaking up the bumps with ease, unlike the Jeep that like gave many soldiers spinal cord injuries. I pity the poor bastards that were forced to make the Army videos bucking over the test track . In closing the 181 was one of my favourite vehicles I ever owned .

[ThomasCrouse-xz]

My Dad brought back from his service in the US Army in WWII the TM E9-803 technical manual on the Kubelwagen. I still have it. It was published on 6 June 1944. It was put out so American soldiers could use the vehicle.