Volkswagen 166 Schwimmwagen

A military amphibious vehicle based on the KdF-Wagen ('Kraft durch Freude'), the car that would later become known as the Volkswagen Beetle.

This Schwimmwagen has a retractable screw at the rear. When used in water, it was coupled to a shaft connected to the rear-mounted engine. The exhaust was mounted high on the car so that water could not enter. A spade and paddles (!) were included as standard equipment. The vehicle has four-wheel drive, a four-speed gearbox and off-road gearing. The air-cooled, 1.131cc, 25 hp engine enabled the vehicle to reach a top speed of 80 km/h. On water the Schwimmwagen could reach a speed of 10 km/h. More than 14,000 of these amphibious cars were built. After the war many were scrapped due to the great demand for steel; however, some were bought by fire brigades, police forces and farmers. Nowadays it is a very rare car.