Panzer reconnaissance - Other vehicles.
In order to offset the limitations of the motorcycle, new types of vehicle were introduced into Panzer service and the armed forces generally. They were the easy to maintain VW Kϋbel (Bucket) and its amphibious variant, the VW Schwimmwagen. Both vehicle variants could be produced economically by the Germans and also in large numbers. Although less manoeuvrable than the motorcycle combinations, the VWs had the advantage of being able to transport four or five men with extra weapons, ammunition and equipment. The Schwimmwagen with its amphibian characteristics, some of which detracted from its cross-country performance was of great advantage at river crossings. So useful was the vehicle that it earned the unofficial title of Kradschϋtzenwagen!
Full scale production of the Type 82 Kübelwagen started in February 1940 as soon as the VW factories had become operational. No major changes took place until production ended in 1945 with only small modifications being implemented—mostly eliminating unnecessary parts. Prototype versions were assembled with four-wheel drive (Type 86) and different engines, but none offered a significant increase in performance or capability over the existing Type 82 and the designs were never implemented. As of March 1943, the car received a revised dash and the bigger 1,131cc engine that produced more torque than the original 985cc unit. When Volkswagen production ceased at the end of the war, 50,435 Kübelwagen vehicles had been produced and the vehicle had proven itself to be surprisingly useful, reliable and durable.
When the German military took delivery of the first vehicles, they immediately put them to the test on- and off-road, in snow and ice, to test their capability at handling European winters; several four-wheel-drive vehicles were used as reference points. The two-wheel drive Kübelwagen surprised even those who had been a part of its development, as it handily out-performed the other vehicles in nearly every test. Most notably - thanks to its smooth, flat underbody—the Kübel would propel itself much like a motorised sled when its wheels were sinking into sand, snow or mud, allowing it to follow tracked vehicles with remarkable tenacity.
Additionally the air-cooled engine proved highly tolerant of hot and cold climates and was naturally invulnerable to bullet holes due to the absence of a radiator. Only for starting under winter conditions, was a specially volatile starting fuel required and this fuel was contained in a small auxiliary fuel tank.
The body of the vehicle could easily be modified to special purposes, since it was not a load-bearing part of the structure of the vehicle. The Kübelwagen could reach a top speed of 80 kilometres per hour.
In November of 1943 the American military conducted a series of tests on several Type 82s they had captured in North Africa; they concluded that the vehicle was simpler, easier to manufacture and maintain, that they were faster, and more comfortable for its four passengers than the American Jeeps!
Kradschϋtzen were eventually absorbed into Panzer Grenadier or reconnaissance battalions. By 1944 armoured reconnaissance companies replaced motorcycle companies and were transported either in 1-ton SdKfz 250 armoured personnel carriers or Volkswagens, leaving only a small proportion still on motorcycles.
Other reconnaissance vehicles included armoured cars such as the four wheeled SdKfz 221/2 , the eight wheeled SdKfz 231 and the eight wheeled SdKfz 234/2 mounting a 50cm gun which was also known as a Puma. These and a signals variant with the familiar frame aerial were the principal types in the service of the Panzer Aufklärungsabteilungen.
Of these vehicles, our group is proud to display a genuine 1943 Kübel, originally a signals vehicle during the war, it has during the course of its ‘lifetime’ been converted back to a passenger carrying version before coming into the hands of its present owner.
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