GT5 Transcripts/Volkswagen Schwimmwagen Typ166 '42

Motivated by how well the Kübelwagen was built, the German Army ordered the development of an amphibious vehicle based on the same car to Dr. Porsche in 1940.
The powertrain of the Volkswagen really proved its worth here. At the rear end of a bath tub-shaped body was mounted the horizontally opposed 3 cylinder engine. With the transmission mounted in front of this, along with another transfer mechanism, it was turned into a four wheel drive. This is a layout which is basically the reverse of Subaru's symmetrical AWD system.
Dr. Porsche succeeded in proving good traction in a rear wheel drive, but when moving from water to ground it was necessary to also drive the front wheels. And yet the Schwimmwagen still had one more item that needed to be driven - the propeller for movement in water. The propeller protruding from the rear end of the body was driven by the addition of a minimum number of gears from the engine. This car truly utilized all the merits of a rear engine layout. Because it was an amphibious vehicle, it was heavy and harder to control, but it also served as a trainer to teach driving skill. It was a car that required a complex mechanism, but it was easy to produce, and was the most mass produced amphibious vehicle in World War II.
The top speed of 50 mph on flat ground and 6 mph on water was high performance for its time, and with the added off road performance of the four wheel drive, it greatly improved the mobility of the German Army.
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