World War II Off Road Beetle KDF 82E Road Test

[Blue Baron]

[usariemen]

[splitjunkie]

[Blue Baron]

[usariemen]

[Bruce]

[Blue Baron]

[Blue Baron]

Here's another interesting vehicle. Note the high chassis, external semaphores and widened, Type 87-style fenders.



Chris Barber stated that VW development at Stuttgart continued through the end of the war. It's not unrealistic to assume that a Stuttgart engineer clinging to his war deferment would be responsible for a fuel tank redesign and not the staff of a bombed out munitions plant.

[usariemen]

Well, indeed interesting to see those.
It seems they started to experiment with the new tank style during war time.
Or these are VERY early post war.
The ones on the pics are still differend from the stock post war version.
The top seems to be a bit "rounder" and the filler neck is much shorter.
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Master of my domain!

[Blue Baron]

I thought the light-colored seat frames were also interesting.

It's difficult to tell from the quality of my scans, but the fuel tank in the lower photo appears to be hand beaten and not machine pressed. The tank in the Hanson car, if it's an actual KdF, could be a replacement.

And keep in mind the thread on the factory reconditioned cars. This one could have gone down that line just like any other, scrambling the parts and making a positive identification impossible.

[usariemen]

On that Hanson car there is no sign at all that it is more than a post war body on a Kubel chassis.
And it is way too much story around it.
A junk yard in 1966 filled up with a 82e and lots of Swimmers and Kubels?
And most of them from that stupid " ss viking division"?
No way, for me. That´s the kind of made up legend that americans love to hear. Most of the time it is just devised.
Someone wrote the metal glove boxes would be missing because they had rusted out. How much would be left of a car whose glove boxes where rusted away?
In the video is just not enough visible to date it properly.
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Master of my domain!

[Blue Baron]

For those interested (gullible Americans), here's Harry Connors Jr.'s letter published in the June, 1975 issue of Volkswagen Greats magazine.

[messerschmittfan]

It is very interesting to read the posts on this car. I am sure that everyone is an expert after having read them all. While the video has some mistakes in it, I am the (then) Captain Connors who found this car in a junkyard in Michaelbeuern, Austria. Michaelbeuern is north of Salzberg and is way out in the country. Part of my job then, as it is now (50 years of Government Service and 70 years old now but still working) was looking for missing/stolen Art from WWII. For those who claim to know better there were over 50 WWII vehicle in that junk yard ranging from Schwimmwagens to Opel trucks. The owner claimed that they had come from the Wiking Division as they had surrendered in Austria in 1945 with a lot of them attempting to make the US lines before doing so. While some of the vehicles did, in fact have some tactical markings under their paint, a fair amount of them, especially the trucks, were used by the Post War Austrian Bundes Herr. I was in the area doing some recon work with the Austrian Government on areas that we had maps of where Art objects were supposed to have been hidden. That was right after I had returned from RVN in 1968 and between then and 1970 I purchased both Schwimmwagens and about eight Kuebelwagens that were in the yard. I did not purchase the three Kuebel pickups he had as I did not know that they were the rare ambulance versions. The first car I got out of that yard was the 82E. It had been hit on the left side by another vehicle but it was almost complete. The owner (I have his name somewhere) did not want to sell it but would trade for some original WWII US Army paint! On the way back to my office in Ulm I stopped at the large Property Disposal Office in Augsburg and asked the Sergeant running the place if he could help me locate some WWII paint. He laughed and took me to the paint storage area and asked me how many gallons I wanted. The WWII OD paint is a different shade than the post war paint and since it was no longer required it was being sold in five gallon or 20 gallon cans. A five gallon can cost me under $5.00. I put it back in the VW bus and drove back to Michaelbeuern and asked the owner if that was what he wanted. He was fixing up a 1944 Jeep and was overjoyed with the paint. We traded and I came back with a trailer about a month later. When I got it on post at the Hobby Shop I found that while the frame could be straightened the door frame was going to be a bit harder to do. Since I could purchase a running 1947 VW for $50.00 I did that and cut the whole left side off. That is when I discovered that the 82 had a little different curve to the roof and the entire body was gas welded together. I could not find any electrically welding seams. I do not remember that VW having an oval rear window. I believe it still had the split windows. The cover for the rear slots was under the rear seat and was a field modification from the looks of the sewing and the old canvas that was used. There is a hole in the firewall with a valve like that of an old German oven that was directly in front of the air intake for the engine. With the cover on the outside the air was sucked from the inside of the vehicle and through the heaters and back into the car. The heater control looks like an oil dip stick in the engine compartment and it controlled the heat. There was no means of controlling the heat from the inside of the car. The engine was the original 24.5 engine. The glove boxes on either side of the dash were made out of metal. One had a large rust hole in it and the other had been mostly cut away. I replaced them with the boxes off of the 47. When I had the car as a driver all over Germany, Austria, and even parts Czechoslovakia (yes it was a Warsaw Pact Country then) it had a 40 liter tank in it. No, it never had the elephant ears on either side of the tank. I still have a parts book for it and it shows the square tank in the drawings. I never had a problem with the Sonnenrad insignia on the vehicle with any Government Officials of any country to include Germany as the vehicle had US Army license plates. The Wiking Division emblem was located on the hood and the rear fender. They had been overpainted with a paint brush with a tan color. When I redid the car we painted around those insignias. The paint that is now on the car is not what I had. I got the correct paint mix for the 1944 camouflage for the eastern front (overall tan with dark brown and green) and had it painted in those colors. The only problem I ever had was driving back from Normandy in a mixed convoy of WWII German and USA WWII vehicles and we went through some small towns in Belgium. Some of the folks in one town threw rocks at us, but that included the USA vehicles as well. I did pick up the radio in Belgium at one of the famous military flea markets and yes I did trade the KDF logo block off plate for the right pod for it plus 20 US dollars. It has the date 6 June 1944 on the tag on the back of the radio and on the inverter. It is a 220 volt radio with an inverter, which had a switch for 6 or 12 volts on it. I wired it with a small cassette recorder so that it would only play WWII recordings when the vehicle was displayed and would complain about the radio only picking up WWII programs. More than one person though it was true. There are some other mistakes in the video, one concerns my Uncles. They were Volks Deutsche who were born in the USA and returned to Germany in 1936 when there was a big push by the NUTZIES to get all Germans to return to the homeland. Since they were not born within the Reichs boundaries of 1936 they could not be drafted into the Army or even volunteer at the start of the War. When the European Volunteers or Wiking was formed in 1941 they were among the first to joint. The car was a good device for me getting to meet some of the old stiff armed boys and "broke the ice" if you will enabling me to help recover missing items from the war. One last thing on the junk yard. I had to return to RVN two more times and after the last time in 1973 I went there fully intending to purchase whatever was left. Where the front gate was, there was now a road being build, before it was all unprepared road and all of the cars were gone. I had to hunt for the owner and found his daughter. The owner had died two years before and she had sold/given all of the stuff to a junkyard in Salzburg. She gave me the address and I drove like a maniac there, but the only thing they had left was a front axle. Everything else had been crushed. Before I forget in Furth in Wald, Germany near the Czech boarder during this time also had a junk yard that had about 20 Kuebelwagens. I sold the two Schwimmwagens and about 14 Kuebelwagens to the States back then for between $800 and $1500 each plus shipping which ran about $300 a vehicle. Before I sold the 82e to a man who stopped me at a Esso gas station in Ludwigsburg and offered me a, then insane price for it (I believe it was about 1974/75), I had pulled a 1941 Mercedes four-door convertible (Offen Touring Wagen) out of a junk yard on the Danish border that I still have and drive today. Back in the 60's a good Kuebelwagen would cost you about $100 here in Germany, that was DM 400 and no decent German would drive such a thing. I caught hell from my relatives when I purchased the Mercedes for 6,000 DM ($2,300) in 1972 because I was an Officer and should not be driving such an old car. The bottom line is, you used what worked. Hell VW Werk did not even have information on the Kuebelwagens in the 60's and used to refer people to me until I donated them the boxes of files I had received from Herr Hahn in Stuttgart shortly before his death. The 82E in question looks like my old car and while it has had some changes made to it since I owned it, it is a good one. One of the changes that I first noticed is the lack of the crank support on the rear bumper but the car is original. I have photographs that are packed away of the junkyard when I first visited it and again with me standing with the daughter in front of the former junk yard sign. We are attempting to sell our house here so I can return home to Tucson Arizona and retire. Fifty years of service to the country is enough I think. I did however just trade/purchase into a nice 1943 Kuebel in Czech Republic that is being rebuild there for me as I have too many other projects and the Kuebel should be ready for pick-up next month. Harry

[joe h.]

Well that settles that!
Thanks for the info. I'm sure many (including me) would love to see the photos of the junk yard. That's every vintage VW persons dream!
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http://www.cascadekombis.org/vintage-meet

[eggman95]

Great story! I'd love to see some of those old pictures.
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Henry

[Blue Baron]

As a teenager who was infatuated with old Volkswagens, I remember reading Mr. Connor's letter in Volkswagen Greats and learning about the old cars. It's amazing to see him respond to this thread, and that he's in the process of getting another Kubel ready.

Don't be a stranger to this site. Some of us would like to meet you when you return to the states and hear your stories first-person.

[Jim Bear]

I own a 74 bus now and the oldest I've owned was a '67 bus. I visited this forum on a lark and I am so glad I did. This is an awesome story and very interesting for a very armature history buff like myself. Thanks to all for sharing...
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STOP FRACKING

"You're either on the bus, or you're off the bus." ~kk
'74 Weekender
Ophelia

[messerschmittfan]

As a footnote to my post on the 82E I just wanted everyone to know that I just picked up my 43 Kuebel that was restored in the CR at two different locations. One did the body, the other the chassis and drive train. The workmanship of both firms is better than the old German craftsmanship of 40 years ago. They have small companies that are not afraid of producing limited production items. The only problem I have with the Kuebel is that it is probably better made than when it was new. I need to get a new wiring harness and then get the body painted before I can put it back togeather. I am not sure of how to post a photograph so if anyone can tell me how I would be thankful. I am using a Macbook Pro as the iMac died on me. Harry

[Blue Baron]

Post pictures when you can.

[splitjunkie]

I'm posting these for Harry with his comments.


Still on my trailer. The chassis was done by KdF Osnice and it was completely rebuild. New tires on trued up rims, the entire axles front and rear completely rebuild, new brake lines and cables, the transmission to include the special limited slip differential. The Body was done by Lehar Military Vehicles


I just installed the seats, wooden floor boards and wooden battery box to check fit. I will have to take the car apart to get it painted. But everything fits great.


View of front of tunnel where the brakes can be seen.



Newly rebuild front king pin and axle.


Detail photograph dash area



Another view of the dash area



View of the rear of Kuebel and engine compartment.



View of the transmission area form the bottom rear
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Chris