Volkswagen 181 1968 - 1983 - History of cars

Volkswagen 181

Volkswagen 181

Originally made for the Wehrmacht, in the 60's it became a favorite of the flower generation and today the beloved oldtimer.

Volkswagen 181

Volkswagen 181

Night. Occupied city. Mirko and Slavko are sneaking into the diversion, when they are suddenly jumped by a German patrol. 'Halt! Ausweis! ' Our heroes quickly draw their guns, but they only have fifteen bullets, which they use to kill as many enemies. However, there is always more of them on patrol than ammunition for partisans, so they shout out loud: 'Bandit!' As our uninjured heroes run to the safe shelter of the nearby forest, the barracks door opens and crowds of Germans hatch out of them, who start chasing them in some strange, angular open vehicles, which sound like a VW Beetle. Halt! Let's stop the shot! Yes, it’s the Kübelwagen, the vehicle we’re writing about. This unusual vehicle was truly developed on the basis of the Volkswagen KdF (Kraft durch Freude - power through joy), introduced in 1938 and named Käfer (Beetle, or Beetle) in the 50s. It was produced in two versions: Typ 82 Kübelwagen (off-road version) and Typ 166 Schwimmwagen (amphibious vehicle). Both were very successful military vehicles, so it is all the more strange that Volkswagen waited as long as twenty-five years after the end of the war for the presentation of the civilian version, the 181 model. ten 'is often cited as an explanation of insistence Volkswagen on Bubi and Bubi alone, but it cannot be accepted as entirely true.
The market for all-terrain vehicles or leisure cars was a minor one until the late XNUMXs, almost in its infancy

Dr. Heinz Nordhoff had no need to supplement the range in a situation where the Beetle was the best-selling car in the world for years, but VW early began to play an important role in the specialized market segments of vans (Typ 2) and sports cars (Karmann Ghia). It is worth remembering that the market of SUVs or leisure cars until the end of the sixties was minor, almost in its infancy. At that time, no one had reason to believe that such cars would one day take over the city streets. As a result, Volkswagen did not even compete for the 1954 Bundeswehr official vehicle, although military leaders wanted a modernized and improved Kübelwagen. The competition was won by DKW with the Mungo model, which will be produced in a total of 46.750 copies, both military and civilian, in twelve years - these figures were probably irrelevant from the point of view of the Wolfsburg manufacturer.

Volkswagen 181

Volkswagen 181

The factory brochure clearly shows how it was possible to remove the door, for an even more relaxed ride in nature on weekends.

Volkswagen did not decide to produce a 'military' vehicle until 1969, and the newly introduced Typ 181 was strikingly similar to its absent predecessor for a quarter of a century. There was no way to make a living from military supplies even then, the Bundeswehr will buy a total of only 15.200 units, but the free spirit of the 181s created a new class of customers, especially in California, and Nordhoff considered the modernized Kübelwagen to be a vehicle to suit their needs. And he wasn't fooled: although the 140.768 was not a mega-successful model, XNUMX were sold over ten years, much more than anyone initially expected. U Volkswagen 181 were fitted with the classic Bubini air-cooled boxer engines of 1493 and 1584 cc, which developed between 44 and 48 hp. Its chassis is also based on the Buba, with a solid chassis and rear-wheel drive, the field possibilities of this model were relatively limited, but that did not prevent its wide application among foresters, hunters and, of course, soldiers. As early as 1992, the Bundeswehr had about 181 units in service, and this vehicle, assembled in both Mexico and Indonesia, was used by many other armies. Certainly, because of its resemblance to its wartime predecessor, these cars have been extensively reworked into stage props, replicas of Kübelwagen, and sometimes even unprocessed to play Wehrmacht vehicles in countless films, with, at least in partisan ones, each explosion of one of these vehicles for peaceful hunters and fishermen killed at least ten Germans, crammed into XNUMX as in an Indian bus.

Volkswagen 181

Volkswagen 181

Much more frequent, however, was its civilian application, especially in the United States, where, in the traditionally original Volkswagen advertising campaign, it was sold under the name THING. And otherwise, Volkswagen gave different names to this model in different markets, so in England it was sold as a Trekker, in Italy as a Pescaccia, and in Mexico as a Safari. Fortunately, it was nowhere sold under the brand name Mehrzweckwagen (multi-purpose vehicle)… The hedonistic experience (as opposed to the predominantly military, serious impression of a Jeep or Land Rover) further emphasized the use of orange 181s in the 181s in Fa factory advertisements, with nude female models in them… Classically high-quality and 'unbreakable', like all air-cooled Volkswagens, the 181 has been preserved in a considerable number of copies, and we have several of them. It is very popular in the circles of fans of air-cooled Volkswagen, cheerful and very numerous companies that organize many meetings where you can have a good time, so this car is a sure ticket to an interesting and pleasant subculture. A few thousand euros is enough to buy a solidly preserved specimen abroad, and it can be serviced by almost anyone who knows how to service Buba. In other words, the VW XNUMX is a really cute little thing: a reliable, inexpensive and fun oldtimer of exceptional personality.

Text: Dino Milic-Jakovli
Retrieved from: autoportal.hr


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