German military vehicle Volkswagen Тур 82 Kubelwagen, captured by soldiers of the US 1st Infantry Division in Czechoslovakia. Western Front, World War II in Europe.
American Army Private Albert Goheen is driving the Volkswagen Тур 82 Kubelwagen. April 30, 1945.
Location: Czechoslovakia
Shooting time: April 30, 1945
Volkswagen Typ 82 Kübelwagen is a German military off-road vehicle, produced from 1939 to 1945, the most massive car in Germany during the Second World War.
History of the Volkswagen Typ 82 Kubelwagen:
The prototype of an army vehicle, maximally unified in terms of mechanical filling with the civilian KdF-Wagen model, was developed at the Volkswagen plant in 1938 (the first prototype was designed by F. Porsche back in 1936) and received the designation KdF Typ 62 or VW Typ 62. In the same year, the first 30 cars were assembled. After testing and improvements, the prototype received a new designation KdF Typ 82 or VW Typ 82. It went into mass production from November 1940, was standardized in the Wehrmacht as Kfz.1 (German: Kraftfahrzeug – “car”).
The Volkswagen Typ 82 Kübelwagen differed from the civilian model in a special lightweight open 4-door body with flat panels, rear wheel gears, an inter-wheel self-locking differential, increased ground clearance to 290 mm, 16-inch wheels (in the version for the African desert – with a larger tread width).