1943 | Volkswagen KdF - Kommandeurswagen
4WD chassis
4WD chassis
4WD chassis
4WD chassis
FIVA Pass
Original 4WD chassis
Authentic details
The VW Type 87, also known as the Kommandeurswagen, is a version of the KdF-Wagen with four-wheel drive that was built by Volkswagenwerk from 1941 to 1944, primarily for the Wehrmacht.
The four-wheel drive system and engine were adopted from the Schwimmwagen Type 166.
Since the Type 87 has 5.25-16 off-road tires, its fenders are wider than those of the KdF-Wagen. For this purpose, a strip of sheet metal was added to the inside of the fenders; the running boards are also correspondingly wider. Under the front hood, where the spare wheel is normally located, a 20-liter petrol can is housed in addition to the tank. The spare wheel sits above the 40-liter tank, whose filler neck was angled for this purpose. The body is bolted to the chassis. Almost all vehicles had a folding sunroof.
The off-road gear is engaged together with the front-wheel drive via a second gear lever in the center of the vehicle. With the front-wheel drive engaged, the gradeability is 75 percent.
The front wheels are individually suspended from two longitudinal links, one above and one below, with torsion-bar springs (the so-called crank-arm axle), while the rear axle is a portal swing axle guided by longitudinal links, with reduction gears on the outer ends of the half-shafts.
How many Type 87s were actually built is disputed. Estimates range from just a few individual vehicles to several hundred.
What is certain, however, is that four-wheel-drive Beetles were used both in Northern Europe and in the African campaign.
Our vehicle was painstakingly reconstructed in Norway at the end of the 1980s using an original four-wheel-drive chassis.
A photographic documentation of the work is included in the vehicle file.
It is certainly one of the most authentic Type 87s in the world.
All details, such as the matt light-absorbing paint, the blackout headlamp, the windows with forced ventilation and the large folding roof, were painstakingly restored true to the original.
At the beginning of the 1990s, the four-wheel-drive Beetle was sold to a collection in Germany, of which it remained part for the last 30 years.
It has German registration and a FIVA Pass.
This description has been automatically translated. Original language: German.

Have this vehicle inspected by experts!
Join 100,000+ subscribers getting hand-picked listings
Receive hand-picked collections of the most interesting cars, motorbikes, and auction listings on Classic Trader — straight to your inbox.