Page 80 - History of War - Issue 18-15

HITLER’S ENGINEER

Lohner’s willingness to examine the worth of military manoeuvres. Porsche and his vehicle Right: To power his tank,
Porsche designed the Type
electric vehicles sat perfectly with Porsche’s impressed Franz Ferdinand, who Porsche had
101,apetrol-fuelledair-
own interest in the motor vehicle and potential chauffeured, and the archduke later had one cooled V-10 engine
of wheeled power (Porsche had himself of his assistants write to Porsche to express
invented his own electrocycle for his commute “how satisfi ed His Most Serene Highness was
to work) and likewise Lohner was impressed in every respect.” Ferdinand Porsche’s move to
with the young Porsche’s ability to fi nd solutions garner interest in his vehicles from the military
to seemingly tricky problems. For example, had worked, and it would soon spawn a 40-year
Porsche foresaw the switch of engines to the career working for the armed forces.
front of a vehicle, where they could be cooled By the outbreak of World War I, Porsche
much easier when in motion. was already winning admirers with his ground-
Porsche soon left VEAG and went to work for breaking designs for military vehicles. He’d
Lohner, where a variety of vehicles powered by designed powerful tugs with four-wheel drive
both batteries and engine-driven dynamos were for towing artillery through fi elds (fi rst the
built. The clout of the electric Lohner-Porsche 50-brake-horsepower M 06 in 1906 followed by
vehicle quickly gained momentum with Vienna’s the 80-brake-horsepower M 08 in 1910, then
elite, and by 1901 Ferdinand was looking at the ‘Hundred’ M 12 with 100 brake horsepower
what would today be known as hybrid vehicles. in 1912). These heavy-duty designs were
Borrowing a 5.5-litre four-cylinder internal welcomed at a time when there were rising
combustion engine from auto manufacturers tensions inside and outside the dual Austro-
Daimler, Porsche made his fi rst ‘Mixte’, a Hungarian empire.
French expression to defi ne the blend of both This paid dividends: after the assassination
petrol and electric powertrains. The petrol of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Bosnian militia,
engine of Porsche’s vehicle drove a dynamo
under its front seats, which then sent electricity “BY THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR I,
to its front-wheeled motors.
his new vehicles into hillclimb competitions, PORSCHE WAS ALREADY WINNING ADMIRERS
With a revised chassis, Porsche entered
record for the hill at Austria’s Exelberg hillclimb WITH HIS GROUND-BREAKING DESIGNS FOR
winning the large car class and setting a new
Sarvar to take part in Austria-Hungary’s 1902 MILITARY VEHICLES”
in April 1902. From here, he drove down to

THE SCHWIMMWAGEN

PORSCHE’S AMPHIBIOUS CAR WAS NEEDED FOR THE GERMAN ARMY’S FUTURE MARITIME MISSIONS
Internally named the Type 166, the 87,andtheGermanarmyspecifiedatopspeedon modified version of Volkswagen’s Kübelwagen,
Schwimmwagen (or swimming car) was borne land of 50 miles per hour and six miles per hour in the vehicle became doorless, while weight was
out of the need to take machinery – and the water.Thetransitionfromwatertolandalsohadto trimmed and rear stowage space sacrificed to
battle – across waters in what was evidently be achieved without the occupants exiting. help seat four occupants.
a new maritime frontier for the German war The Schwimmwagen took approximately three Watertight seals were fitted to both axles
initiative. Ferdinand received a request for an months to develop and witnessed various changes and all mechanical cables, including those for
amphibious version of the all-wheel drive Type toitsdesigninthatshorttime.Essentiallya the brakes. An engine-driven propeller was
positionedattherearofthevehicleafterinitially
beinghoused.Aftermuchtesting,thewheelbase
wasshortenedtoaidagility,particularlyingetting
inandoutofthewater,aresultofincreased
funding of the project by the Waffen SS.
TheSchwimmwagenhadfour-wheeldriveand
was propelled by a 25-brake-horsepower engine
with air-cooling pipes placed well above the water
line, while the exterior metalwork was treated
to ‘panzergrau’ (green-grey) paint. No weaponry
was mounted to the Schwimmwagen, though the
vehicle’s unrivalled versatility in land and water
meantitprovedavaluableasset–particularlyin
occupied territory – to Germany in World War II.
Buoyed by additional funding from Himmler
and the Waffen SS, Ferdinand sent his son Ferry
topresentthefinalSchwimmwagentoHitlerin
1941, who was impressed with what he saw.
Aftervarioustestsinavarietyofterrains(on
landandatsea),theFührerpromptlyorderedthe
buildof100cars.Inall,nearly14,276Type166s
were built up to 1944, by which time production
attheWolfsburgfactoryhadslowedrightdown
duetodamagefromheavybombardment.

Left: The amphibious car was based on the design of
the Beetle and boasted an all-wheel drive system

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