Editing Volkswagen Schwimmwagen (section)

==Development==
[[File:VW Schwimmwagen Typ 166.jpg|thumb|left|A Schwimmwagen demonstrated in 2004]]

The Porsche / Volkswagen Schwimmwagen used the engine and mechanicals of the VW Type 86 four-wheel drive prototype of the [[Volkswagen Kübelwagen|Kübelwagen]], also used for the Type 87 four-wheel drive 'Kübel/KDF' Command Car ([[Volkswagen Kommandeurswagen|Kommandeurswagen]]), which in turn were based on those of the civilian [[Volkswagen Beetle|KDF-Wagen]]. [[Erwin Komenda]], [[Ferdinand Porsche]]'s first car-body designer, was forced to develop an all-new [[unibody|unitized bodytub structure]], since the flat [[platform chassis|floorpan chassis]] of the existing VW vehicles was unsuited to smooth movement through water. Komenda patented his ideas for the swimming car at the [[Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt|German Patent office]].

The initial Schwimmwagen, Type 128 prototype, was based on the full-length ''Kübelwagen'' [[wheelbase]] of {{convert|2.40|m|ftin|abbr=on}}. Pre-production units of the 128, fitted with custom welded bodytubs, demonstrated that this construction was too weak for off-road use. It had insufficient torsional rigidity, and easily suffered hull-ruptures at the front cross-member, as well as in the wheel-wells. This was unacceptable for an amphibious vehicle. The large-scale production models (Type 166) had a reduced wheelbase of {{convert|2.00|m|ftin|abbr=on}} which resolved these issues.

Schwimmwagens were produced by the Volkswagen factory at Fallersleben /[[Wolfsburg|Stadt des KdF-Wagens]] and Porsche's facilities in [[Stuttgart]]; with the bodies (or rather hulls) produced by [[Ambi Budd]] in Berlin. 15,584 Type 166 Schwimmwagen were produced from 1941 through 1944; 14,276 at Fallersleben and 1,308 by Porsche; the VW 166 is the most-produced amphibious car in history.<ref>{{Cite web|title=VW Schwimmwagen – The Most Mass-Produced Amphibious Car in History|url=https://dyler.com/posts/467/vw-schwimmwagen-the-most-mass-produced-amphibious-car-in-history|access-date=2021-03-30|website=dyler.com|language=en}}</ref>
Only 189 are known by the Schwimmwagen Registry to remain today, and only 13 have survived without restoration work.<ref>{{cite web |first=Bart |last=Lemmens |url=http://www.vw166.com/schwimmwagen/registry/index.html |title=VW-Schwimmwagen type 166 - The VW-Schwimmwagen Registry |publisher=Vw166.com |access-date=2009-07-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515112612/http://www.vw166.com/schwimmwagen/registry/index.html |archive-date=2009-05-15 }}</ref>