Volkswagen Kübelwagen

The Volkswagen Type 82 Kübelwagen (listen^ⓘ), or simply Kübel, contractions of the original German word Kübelsitzwagen (translated: 'bucket-seat car' — but when the contractions are translated literally a back-formation of 'bucket' or 'tub'-car results), is a military light utility vehicle designed by Ferdinand Porsche and built by Volkswagen during World War II for use by the Nazi German military (both Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS). Based heavily on the Volkswagen Beetle, it was prototyped and first deployed in Poland as the Type 62, but following improvements entered full-scale production as the Type 82. Several derivative models, such as the Kommandeurswagen, were also built in hundreds, or in dozens.

The four-wheel drivetrain that was prototyped in the rejected Type 86 version went into mass production in the Schwimmwagen. The Type 86 performed better in comparative testing, but the additional costs of the more complex four-wheel drivetrain (both financial, as well as making the light car heavier and thirstier) did not outweigh the benefits from the German viewpoint. The Kübelwagen was intended to be able to be manhandled by its crew if they got stuck. Easily seating four men, the 725 kg (1,600 lb) empty weight Kübel was easier to lift than the 300 kg (660 lb) heavier jeep. The rear bench would seat three in a pinch, for a total of five inside.

Kübelwagen is a contraction of Kübelsitzwagen, meaning "bucket-seat car". Before the war, this term became popular in Germany for light open-topped cross-country and military field cars without doors, because these were typically equipped with bucket seats to help keep occupants on board, necessary in an era before the adoption of seat belts. This body style had first been developed by Karosseriefabrik N. Trutz in 1923.^: 78 The first Porsche Type 62 test vehicles had no doors and were therefore fitted with bucket seats as Kübelsitzwagen, later shortened to Kübelwagen.^: 136 Despite later acquiring doors, and more regular, lower seats, the name "Kübelwagen" was retained. Besides the Volkswagen plant, Mercedes-Benz, Opel, and Tatra also built Kübel(sitz)wagen, though they were all rear-wheel drive models only.

The Kübelwagen's rolling chassis and mechanics were built at what was then the Stadt des KdF-Wagens, ("City of the 'Strength through Joy'-Car") – renamed Wolfsburg after 1945 – and its body was built by U.S.-owned firm Ambi Budd Presswerke in Berlin. The Kübelwagen's role as a light multi-purpose military vehicle made it the German equivalent to the Allied Willys MB "jeep" and the GAZ-67, after previous efforts to mass-produce standardized military four-wheel drives for the Wehrmacht had largely failed.