Volkswagen Schwimmwagen (1943)

The Volkswagen Beetle, otherwise known pre-war as, "people's car', lived up to its name becoming an all-time best seller and even today continues to be produced in its current and slightly more modern guise. An affordable, small saloon that could carry a German family of five at 100kph along the country's new Autobahns was the design brief. The man tasked with materialising the sceptical idea was one of Germany's foremost engineers, none other than Dr Ferdinand Porsche. Ferdinand the perfect choice had already worked on several similar projects with motor companies such as Austro-Daimler, Daimler-Benz and Steyr.
To promote Volkswagens new "peoples car" (the Type 60) a number of prototypes, many of which with military applications were created to tour the country. When the war broke out a small number of Type 62 Kübelwagens (open utility vehicle) were already in service and later modifications saw the Type 82 created. Possibly the most wondrous variant of them all was the Schwimmwagen. Unlike its other Type 60 variants with small changes and improvements, this model was almost totally re-engineered to become the most mass successful amphibious car ever. Porsche's colleague Erwin Komeda headed the design utilising four wheel drive, and a take-off from the engine used to power the retractable propeller. Three different variants were produced starting with the Type 128 Model A, which with later development became the Type 138 Model C and later again the 166 Model C.