112Close Combat

Jeep

Kfz 1 Kübelwagen

Weight 986 kg (2,170 lbs) Maximum speed 80 km/h (50 mph) Engine 1,131 cc (69 cu. in.) 25 hp

4-cyl (rear-mounted, horizontally opposed, air-cooled)

Built by Volkswagen, the simple and reliable Kübelwagen (“bucket car”) was the German equivalent of the U.S. Jeep. This nimble four-seater, based on Ferdinand Porsche’s original “People’s Car” design of the 1930s, used the same rear- mounted, air-cooled engine driving the rear wheels. Some standard models mounted an MG 42 machine gun, giving the innocuous Kübelwagen a deadly sting. Other variants included the amphibious Schwimmwagen, as well as radio communications, maintenance, ambulance, and survey versions. The Kübelwagen design survived the war to reappear in the 1970s as a Mexican-built Volkswagen sport- utility model called “The Thing.”

Weight 1,090 kg (2,400 lbs) Maximum speed 105 km/h (65 mph) Engine 2,200 cc (134.2 cu. in.) 72 hp 4-cyl

First produced for the American armed forces in 1940, the Jeep probably derived its name from the designation “GP” for General Purpose vehicle. Small and nimble but stoutly constructed and relatively powerful, this four-wheel-drive open vehicle served with American, British, and Soviet forces in every theater of operations. It could haul a half-ton load over nearly any surface or terrain, and many carried a

.50-caliber Browning machine gun, which gave the humble Jeep a long reach and a powerful punch. More than 650,000 Jeeps were produced from July 1941 to the end of 1945. U.S. Army Chief of Staff George Marshall said the Jeep was America’s greatest contribution to modern warfare; Eisenhower believed that three basic tools helped to win the war for the Allies: the Douglas Dakota (DC3/C47) aircraft, the landing craft—and the Jeep.

Page 113
Image 113
Microsoft Close Combat manual Jeep, Kfz 1 Kübelwagen