I'm tracking the Kubelwagen.



What else was there?  Anything that gave the jeep a run for it's money?



If not, what was the best of the also rans?

Mule?
That halftrack bike thing?

Kettenrad

WC-56 Command Car.

The Jeep's big brother.

Love me some Dodge weapons carriers.

 

+1  The 4x4 reminds me of a WWII Hummer.

Tag for Schwimmwagen photos...

If someone posts a good representative list, I'll do a poll.

Fuck the Kubelwagen, it's not even a 4x4

Who makes a military 2 wheel drive off road vehicle



how about the 6x6 DUKW

Dodge WC 51/52

Dodge WC 63 (6x6)

Dodge WC 56 (Command Car)

CCKW (Deuce)



Just some ideas. Don't know anything about Brit, Russkies, or Kraut vehicles...



 

There's one of those at a car lot not too far from me, I am sorely tempted.



 

That's a cool one...







 

There's also the GAZ-67.





But...yeah it kinda sucked from everything I've read.




 

Horch 108. Built by Ford Germany.



The Sdkfz 222 armored car was also based on this chassis.

What's German for "doors are for faggots?"



 

The translation loosely sounds like "motherfucker won't float if it has doors because it would leak and we would sink" or something like that in Deutsch.

Krupp Protze Kz69


M29 Weasel


CWT-15


Land Rover

EM-50 urban assault vehicle

Rover production began in '48, so no Rovers in WWII - Def no Pink Panthers. SAS used Jeeps

 

 


















































 

Learn something new everyday.

I'll just stick with the jeep since I already have one...

Did the Brits just use lend lease jeeps?

Other than the Quad and the Light Utility Car (Tillys), which werent staandardized, Brits relied on US designs. After 43, Jeeps were the utility vehicles in most  line units. There was nothing as good -anywhere .














 

More schwimmwagon. Doors just another potential leak.  I wish they would make a new one, but probably wouldn't be legal in the US for highway use

LOL

No.
I like my front pumpkins....







Plenty of VW buggies saw my tow-strap and rear bumper though

KdF Wagen


Tatra 57b


Italian SPA T37


OM36

 






 

well......you can't fix STUPID

LOL


The most fun I ever had was with my 1988 Suzuki

that thing was light, and would go anywhere, underneath, it was very much like the original WWII jeep.

after I installed a 3" spring lift, I could jump it all day like this.
It swam good too.

My favorite WWII vehicle, although there were tons of cool designs running a close second.

Here is one of them-






The Post-war Sugga was even cooler.

Class 11 agrees with you....

Rumor has it the guys who mastered operating the Schwimmwagen were captured with the Kraut rocket scientists and were forced to train these guys how to get in and out of a car. Every 70's cop show was a success because of ex-Nazis. Fact.







 

I'm kind of laughing right now because I've seen all these vehicles before, but I couldn't for the life of me recognize them except from above, at 200mph.  

Metalclozen ze asspokin.

how about a Schwimm with a Flak30 in the rumbleseat??

The British had the Bren Carrier.  Even the Germans used them whenever they captured them.  

Now that I have time I'll expand a bit. Challenge for most of the armies during WWII - not only did they not have a suitable light Recce/Command vehcicle - most armies hadn't even conceptualized one. That's what made the Jeep head and shoulders above everything else - its hard to oversate that (and I'm a Land Rover guy). It created the class of lightweight general use overland vehicles. Prior, you had stripped lorrys (Canadian Milatary Patterns a good example) or modified sedans - as the Czech 57B, Brit Morris/Austin Tillys, Fiat 508s used by various nations, etc. Pressing passenger vehicles into the light overland role wasnt very successful - they were primarily open diff 2WD, anemic, enclosed, often fragile expedients. The Kubelwagen was probably the second best example of the class executed.  That said, the three following were much more developed towards a true overland solution than most, esp the Skoda.

The 57B Tatra was more a staff car than utility jaunt.-The 57K on the other hand was much more along the lines of a light offroad utility vehicle. A modified "automobile" rather than a purpose built light offroad vehicle, the Czechs were on the right path. It was produced in fair numbers - not by US standards, but IIRC @ 6k over the war for use by various German forces.

Construction was novel and serious - like most Czech stuff.

The Poles were heading in the right direction with thier revamp of the Fiat 508 (First pic is a 508/518). In the same vein as Bantam, the Poles took an existing light passenger vehicle, stripped it down, added some mobility features (low range, difflock for the sole driven axle at rear) in the attempt to make useful light utility truck. But 2WD, anemic powerplant and light construction hampered its abilities. Good start - 5 years before Bantam - but the Poles never quite got there... before the Germans did. Like most things, it was pressed into Nazi service, but wasnt all that capable.

This thing on the other hand, was a 10 pound sledge on a finishing nail. Skoda Superb 3000 typ 956 - Rommel and Guderian had Kfz 21 command car versions, but if they'd produced this variant past prototype - may have been the best of the class...after the Jeep. 85hp I6, 4WD, 4 speed transmission, low range transfer case, backbone frame like a Pinzgauer (or the 57K) - lot of innovation. They made 5. Too heavy and complicated compared to the Jeep, but it was quite a design. Wish there was a better pic.
The real question is what made the Jeep so uniquely sucessful? Take a swing at that later.
ETA - I frikin love Suggas too











Before they got Jeeps, this is how LRDG rolled - some good pics on Wikipedia.






 

There's lots of things that the Kubelwagon had on the Jeep - it was lighter, very simple to build, and was much more efficient to run (about 80% better than the Jeep, tho half the power) the 30 liter tank gave it similar range to the Jeep. It had better interior space and supposedly a better ride (anyone who's been in a Class 11 Bug laughs at this). It was only 2WD, but with the weight over the rear axle and a locking diff - its not nearly as bad off road as you'd think. For the Wehrmacht - the Kubel was likely a better fit, from the standpoint of resource allocation - when you start screwing around with wood-gas-generators, like above, you have resource issues. That said, the Jeep had two huge advantages - power and build quality.

Type 82s didnt tow very well,or work well overloaded - and stuff like the  Kfz 2were about twice as heavy. Neither worked well in mud/muck/sand. Jeeps did better - being lighter than most of the vehicles that had that kind of power.The Go Devil wasn't just more powerful  - Willys had spent a good deal of time and money getting the engine right prior to the war (its predecessor had a abysmal reputation). The L134 as well as the Dana running gear just put up with more abuse. Beat to shit, they just kept running. Given the realities of WWII field use, this was a major advantage.

What was the German vehicle in the opening scene of Inglorious Bastards?



ETA   Mercedes-Benz 170 VK?

Ford GTB.



I had one of these a few years back - sold it on Ebay.  Dude who bought it was from England and jumped through all the hoops to ship it there.

It was quite the truck.

From what I've read very few survive on this side of the world. It was for the most part a one way trip into China and once they were there that was it.

Oddly enough I know of two in Oklahoma, a VFW display piece and another in a salvage yard.

Loved all the old Dodges of that era... in fact many of the common stuff posted had so much more 'soul' compared to many of their later versions

Might as well. Pretty neat IMO


It was treated like a jeep anyways.
"We need something new to do this"
"We'll we already make this, We could cobble up from that chassis."

Something like half a dozen different iterations off the same truck.

I've seen several. A lot on the Western States, and two in Hobart OK.

Cool trucks, they were used by Compagnia Sahariana as the LRDG used the Chevy and Ford 1.5 ton trucks. In the desert. But like the Ford F30, which fell out of favor for exactly these reasons, the weight and complexity hampered their effectiveness. What made the Jeep, Type 82,  etc unique and useful was the combination of light weight and traction. They went overland much easier than heavier trucks.