Type 82 Kübelwagen

The Type 82 Kübelwagen (a contraction of Kübelsitzwagen, bucket seat car) was designed by Ferdinand Porsche for the German Wehrmacht in 1938 as a light-weight utility vehicle, similar to the design criteria for the US military’s Jeep. The car was based on the chassis and drive train of the Volkswagen. With its air cooled, four cylinder engine and self-locking differential, it was versatile and dependable in different terrain and weather conditions. The car was assembled at the Volkswagen plants in Stadt des KDF-Wagens, present day Wolfsburg. From 1940 through 1945 50,400 of the cars were built. Interestingly, the bodies for the Kübelwagen were made by the American owned firm, Ambi Budd. I’ve found one source that said that the company had been nationalized by the German government before the war. This model is based on the late 1943 version of the car that was used by the 65^th infantry division of the Wehrmachtheer in Italy.