The 1943 Volkswagen Typ 166 Schwimmwagen, the famous amphibious vehicle created by Ferdinand Porsche based on the popular Beetle, has joined the permanent collection of the Museu do Caramulo, reinforcing the section dedicated to the Second World War. This acquisition is aimed at realising a major immersive exhibition, unprecedented in Portugal, which will open this summer and mark 80 years since the end of the greatest conflict in history.
Developed from the experience gained during the Polish campaign and intended to support the planned invasion of England, the Typ 128 featured a boat-shaped body, four-wheel drive, and torsion bar suspension. It was built in 30 units in 1941 for evaluation by the German army. A demonstration at Hitler’s headquarters prompted curious but positive reactions, leading to the approval of the next version: the Typ 138, produced in 100 examples, and finally the definitive Schwimmwagen Typ 166.
More compact, lighter, and nimbler, the Typ 166 was initially hand-built in Stuttgart, with the first 125 vehicles known as Vorserienschwimmwagen (pre-series amphibious vehicles). The body, resembling a ribbed steel bathtub, allowed the vehicle to be lifted manually by two or three soldiers. Mass production began in the autumn of 1942, with the Schwimmwagen mainly equipping Waffen SS reconnaissance divisions, replacing the BMW R75 and Zündapp KS 750 motorcycles with sidecars to notable advantage.
The Schwimmwagen Typ 166 could carry four fully equipped soldiers and proved highly effective off-road, capable of tackling terrain that only tracked vehicles could otherwise manage. Despite its amphibious abilities, this was not its chief advantage in combat: its combination of lightness, all-wheel drive, self-locking differential, and 26 cm of ground clearance endowed it with unbeatable mobility. Curiously, many vehicles developed leaks due to deliberately poor welding by French and Italian workers.
Produced until the end of 1944, with over 15,000 units built, the Schwimmwagen was widely captured and reused by the Allies. It was lighter and more agile than its American counterpart, the Ford GPA, and after the war, many examples were adapted for civilian use in roles as diverse as police patrols, farming, or hunting. One of the pre-series vehicles, without a propeller, was used by the Porsche family as a Jagdwagen (hunting car), even supporting the testing of the first Porsche 356 in Egypt, in 1949.
Today, only around 180 examples are thought to remain worldwide, with the very Volkswagen Typ 166 Schwimmwagen now arriving at the Museu do Caramulo being the oldest known model of the German marque in Portugal.