Volkswagen Schwimmwagen

The Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, meaning swim car, is a light four-wheel drive amphibious car that German ground forces used extensively during World War II. With over 15,000 units built it is the most-produced amphibious car in history. Prototyped as the Type 128, it entered full-scale production as the Type 166 in 1941, primarily for the Wehrmacht and with a small number for the Waffen-SS. It used the engine and mechanicals of the Type 86 four-wheel drive prototype of the Kübelwagen, which were in turn based on those of the civilian KdF-Wagen, and Erwin Komenda had to develop an all-new unitized bodytub because the flat floorpan of the existing VW vehicles was unsuited to moving smoothly through water. A screw propeller could be lowered from the rear deck. 15,584 were produced from 1941 through 1944, 14,276 at Fallersleben and 1,308 by Porsche.