I started this website so my Friends and Family could see the entire process and the journey we have taken in searching, acquiring, shipping & Finally restoring our 1943 Vw Schwimmwagen.
During WWII the German Army was in need of a reconnaissance vehicle and thus in 1940 the Schwimmwagen was born. Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to build him a vehicle that could be driven on all terrains. The first set of prototypes built were called the Typ 128 and were quite a bit wider, longer and overall bigger than the latter Typ 166. Mass Production started around 1943 and about 15,000 complete Schwimmwagen's were built between 1943 and 1944.
Our particular Schwimmwagen was built on October 31st 1943 and delivered to the Heereszeugamt Kassel Division of the Army in Germany. We don't know anything further about it's activity during the war.
When we were looking for a schwimmwagen to buy I knew it had to be a project. There was no way we could afford to buy one that was already restored. I posted a WANTED ad on thesamba.com stating that I was looking for a schwimmwagen project. It took just over a year before I had an offer from someone who actually had a real Schwimmer. I got an email from a man named Daniel who lived in Germany and had a Schwimmer he wanted to sell. As luck turned out we were headed over to Europe for a Holiday so made a little detour to go see the Schwimmer in Person.
It was perfect. Just rough enough around the edges to keep the price down but still very complete and definitely restorable. I paid him a deposit and when we got back home we wired the rest of the money to him and started to make arrangements for Shipping the car back to Canada.
During WWII the German Army was in need of a reconnaissance vehicle and thus in 1940 the Schwimmwagen was born. Ferdinand Porsche was commissioned by Adolf Hitler to build him a vehicle that could be driven on all terrains. The first set of prototypes built were called the Typ 128 and were quite a bit wider, longer and overall bigger than the latter Typ 166. Mass Production started around 1943 and about 15,000 complete Schwimmwagen's were built between 1943 and 1944.
Our particular Schwimmwagen was built on October 31st 1943 and delivered to the Heereszeugamt Kassel Division of the Army in Germany. We don't know anything further about it's activity during the war.
When we were looking for a schwimmwagen to buy I knew it had to be a project. There was no way we could afford to buy one that was already restored. I posted a WANTED ad on thesamba.com stating that I was looking for a schwimmwagen project. It took just over a year before I had an offer from someone who actually had a real Schwimmer. I got an email from a man named Daniel who lived in Germany and had a Schwimmer he wanted to sell. As luck turned out we were headed over to Europe for a Holiday so made a little detour to go see the Schwimmer in Person.
It was perfect. Just rough enough around the edges to keep the price down but still very complete and definitely restorable. I paid him a deposit and when we got back home we wired the rest of the money to him and started to make arrangements for Shipping the car back to Canada.
One of the Original German Registration Papers for the Schwimmer
Here are some Photos of the Schwimmwagen in Germany before we bought it