the time, and even to this day) horseless

the current was reversed). The system

Looking back, most readers will familiar with the technological

masterpiece that is the 959, the ultimate 1980s four-wheel-drive supercar, and likewise

carriage known as the Lohner-Porsche (and please note the correct spelling: Lohner, not Lbhner...). rn in 1875, Ferdinand Porsche left his home town of Maffersdorf and travelled to Vienna to

With vehicles like the and 4 in the current line-up, you could forgiven for thinking that the words 'Porsche' and 'four-wheel-drive'

relatively recent bedfellows. But you'd wrong. In part of twopart archive feature, Keith Seume looks at the early days of Porsche's foray into the world of all-wheel-drive, starting with the Lohner-Porsche... Words: Keith Seume Photos: Porsche Archiv

the ' 4' moniker which first appeared the 964 back in 1989 But did you know that

the first all-wheel-drive Porsche-designed vehicle was built as far back as the 19th century? that amphibious Porschedesigned military 44

\ swam rivers in World War 117 And how about post-war 'Jeep' with air-cooled, four-cylinder Porsche engine located in the 7 Ferdinand Porsche's

first foray into the world of four-wheel-drive technology took the form of amazing (for

take up employment with Jacob Lohner, who entrusted him with the task of developing electric drivetrain for his

coaches. Porsche's design was

brilliant, yet in ways remarkably simple. The rim of each wheel was attached directly to the rotor of electric motor, the stator (the part that normally spins in electric motor) forming the axle. When power was turned , the rotor (with rim attached) revolved around the hub, propelling the vehicle forward ( backwards, if

Above: Porsche-designed NSU 32 was of the Volksauto prototypes. There were thoughts about building fourwheel-drive version of this , to tackle road conditions in ! areas, but it never materialised

proved to remarkably efficient (achieving as much as 85 cent efficiency, it is said) and created quite furore in the press. The system provoked

sufficient interest to pompt order fom British coachbuilder, W Hart, for system to propel four-seat vehicle of running both petrol and electricity - the world's first hybrid that also just happened to the world's first four-wheel-drive vehicle. The date? 1898. Powered

what was known as the System LohnerPorsche, Hart's '' was enormous, weighing some four tonnes, with each motor weighing in at 14Skg! However, this allwheel-drive propulsion system was sufficiently advanced in concept to

the inspiration for the lunar rovers built NASA when exploring the surface of the in the late 1960S. Ferdinand Porsche was

fascinated the technology and went to apply it to commercial vehicles, too. In 1906, he was appointed technical director at Austro-Daimler

railway, and featured hybrid driveline, with sixcylinder 100 horsepower petrol engine running in conjunction with hubmounted electric motors. Each 'train' consisted of number of wagons (five the road, up to ten the track), along with generator . Each wagon could five tonne payload. The sixcylinder engine was connected to 70kW generator, which provided power to the electric motors fitted to every second axle of the train. This multi-wheel-drive

system meant that the Landwehr Train could tackle nine cent slope, considerable achievement either

road rail at the time. Moving ahead,

Porsche's fascination with all-wheel-drive continued even when his work took him into the realms of developing People's . Among the first of his Vo/ksauto projects was the NSU 32, the sole surviving example of which still seen in Volkswagen's Autostadt museum in Wolfsburg. Although it reached

prototype stage as engined, rear-wheel-drive saloon, in 1934 Porsche's chief designer, Karl Rabe, penned design for four-wheel-drive version, his drawing showing driveshaft exiting the font of the transmission casing and heading

in Vienna and there, six years later, was responsible for the design and development of the 'Landwehr Train' (named after Ottokar Landwehr, the person who pioneered the concept). This gargantuan eight tonne machine was designed to run both road and

Below: 'Landwehr Train' was powered hub-mounted electric motors fed

petrol-driven generator mounted in ofthe wagons. This colossal commercial vehicle could road rail

"The world's flrst hybrld vehlcle, whlch

also happened to the world's flrst

four-wheel-drlve vehlcle ... "

PORSCHE ARCHIVE

Above: Porsche designed fourwheel-drive version of the KubeLwagen, called the 87 Right and below: Illfated fv1ercedes 80 Rekordwagen was six-wheeler, with the four wheels powered h V-12 engine. 4WD allowed 80 to gain traction despite narrow tyres ...

forward to differential unit mounted in the front axle assembly.

In this instance, the design never made it off the drawing board, but it paved the way for what was to prove of the most remarkable military vehicles of all time: the 5chwimmwagen, the roots of which traced back to designer

the of Hannes Trippel, who had previously drawn designs for amphibious military vehicle with buoyancy tanks to keep it afloat. Late in 1939, Porsche's

design team in Stuttgart drew up plans for amphibious version of the two-wheel-drive military

lwg (also known as the 82). This was at the behest of the Waffen 55, which had

asked Porsche if it would possible to fit of his four-cylinder air-cooled engines into motorcycle frame to produce lightweight all-terrain vehicle for their use. Porsche was

unimpressed this suggestion and instead began to sketch out some ideas for sophisticated machine. The resultant prototype was known as the 128, the first example taking to the water in 1940. Work also commenced fourwheel-drive system (known as Types 86 and 87), the technology behind which eventually led to the final version of the amphibious 5chwimmwagen. The 128 first took

to the water in the firepond at the KdF factory (what is today known as Wolfsburg), where it showed potential, even if the 'crew' did have to

rescued than occasion when it broke down. The main

was the shape of the body, which was little different to that

from which it was derived and allowed the interior to

swamped. second version was

much improved, featuring as it did boatshaped body which resulted in better stability and manoeuvrability in amphibious mode. the end of September 1940, several examples of the revised 128 had

built and extensively tested in the Max-EythSee, close to Stuttgart. Mechanically, it was

almost identical to the Jeep-like lwg, with the exception of four-wheel-drive system, with drive taken from the nose of the gearbox to differentiallocated between the torsion tubes of the front axle.

rear-mounted

propeller used chaindrive off the crankshaft, while hinged coupling allowed it to pivoted out of the way when the vehicle was to driven

dry land. The 128 proved

success and order was placed for some 30 improved prototypes. As consequence,Porsche was given the go-ahead to develop the design still further - the result was the 166 5chwimmwagen, which appeared late in 1942. This was very similar to

its immediate predecessor but had shorter wheelbase

(2000 as opposed to 2400) and narrower body to make it agile in battle conditions.

overcome the losses

associated with the allwheel-drive system, the engine size was increased to 1131, and power output fom just 2 . sh to heady 2Sbhp. The 166

5chwimmwagen was another of Porsche's

success stories, for it earned great respect from soldiers both sides of the front line. Indeed, captured 5chwimmwagen prized trophies among Allied troops and among the most soughtafter of all historic Volkswagens today. Porsche also developed four-wheel-drive version of the KdF-Wg, known as the 877. Commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as the 87 (that

designation really refers to prototype four-wheeldrive version of the

lwg), this versatile vehicle known as the Kommandeurwagen, and was intended for use officers in the field. However, this avenue

was never fully developed, largely because the body panels were in short supply, production at the factory having turned from the KdF-Wg to the supply of the versatile Types 82 and 166. Of the latter, than 14,000 examples were built before the end of hostilities. The late Major Ivan Hirst

(REME), the British officer credited with getting the VW factory back in operation after the war,

the most successful of Porsche's early four-wheel-drive designs was the 128, which ultimately evolved into the legendary

l Schwimmwagen (bottom left).

had 877 assembled from parts discovered at the factory. Speaking to the author few years ago, he recalled how badly the behaved : 'It felt like the front and wheels were constantly fighting against each other. It was virtually impossible to drive in straight line.' But then, with

differential- and certainly nothing as sophisticated as viscous coupling between the front and

axles, that's not much of surprise! Before we head off into

the post-war period of four-wheel-drive, there is another rather intriguing machine for which Porsche was responsible, and that's the mighty, but ultimately ill-fated, Merecedes 80 Rekordwagen. This Leviathan was actually six-wheeled streamliner, of which just the four wheels were driven. Sanctioned Adolf

Hitler, work the project began in 1937, with targeted speed of ssoKm/h (342mph), although this goal was ultimately increased to some 7soKm/ h (46smph)

the outbreak of war two years later. Power was povided huge 44.s-litre DaimlerBenz D60 'inverted' V12, derivative of the engine used in the wartime Messerschmit

"It felt llke the ft d rear wheels were

sttl flghtlg glst each other.

It was vlrtually lmposslble to drlve ... "

Bf109 fighter plane. This was mounted behind the driver, feeding power to transaxle unit, alongside which were two wheels, with another pair separate axle mounted at the , driven shaft off the end of the gearbox. The massive V-12 powerplant was modified to produce in the region of h, almost 100 cent increase over that of the original aero-engine! The onset of hostilities

meant that the ambitious project had to put hold, although the did survive and is currently display, unrestored, in the magnificent MercedesBenz technological museum in Stuttgart.

the war was over, people's thoughts t urned again to motorsport, among them was Karl Abarth - he later changed his to Carlo Abarth, having relocated to Italy from his native Austria. Abarth was married to the secretary of Anton ih, Porsche's lawyer, and ultimately established regular contact with Ferdinand Porsche mail. third person entered the scene at this point: Rudolph Hruska, Austrian engineer based in Italy. As the three-way

relationship blossomed, Porsche enquired whether Abarth and Hruska would like to his agents

in Italy, not to market cars, but to promote his studio's design skills. Abarth's contacts

led to project to build Grand Prix for Tazio Nuvolari, the famed pre-war Italian racing driver, the prospect of which excited Porsche. The only was

of funding. The solution to

this 'minor' matter [ in the hands - rather, the bank account - of Piero Dusio, head of the Cisitalia in Italy. Dusio had made his

fortune supplying boots to the Italian and, despite lack of engineering knowledge, he was enthusiastic sponsor behind ambitious project to build

racing . It was easy task for

Porsche to design new from scratch, the restrictions placed upon German citizens the occupying forces in the immediate post-war period meant that all engineering projects had to given the - even

racing . The outcome was the 60 Grand Prix , pretty little mid-engined single-seater powered

amazing 1.s-litre flat12 engine. This was projected to produce in the region of 400 to

4sobhp, giving top speed of around

m/h, with the engine turning at up to

12,. But, as was so often

the case in the days of narrow tyres, traction was clearly going to

. combat this, the Cisitalia 60 was equipped with selectable four-wheel-drive - the would normally driven with rear-drive only but when accelerating out of tight corners, up hill, the driver could push lever and engage drive to the front wheels, too.

In addition, the Cisitalia 60 also featured sequentially-shifted synchronised gearbox designed Leopold Schmid. Impressive stuff for 1947 ... Sadly, this all-wheel

drive engineering masterpiece never took

to the track, Dusio turning his attentions to producing Cisitalia sportscars for road and competition use. had other ideas, too, including the production of lowcost (to build), high-price (to sell) sportscar based relatively simple driveline. Inspiration for Porsche's s6? Undoubtedly... With the formation of

NATO in 1949 the need for simple, massproduced vehicle in the style of the wartime US military Jeep and Porsche was German vying for the opportunity to equip NAO with suitable off-road vehicle. The two other companies which expressed interest in designing such

machine were Goliath and DKW. Now the idea of

Above: 166 front axle, showing wt-t"Ofd driveshafts and differential. Below left: AH-wheel-drive

166lent itselfto use in situations! Below right: 877 was

KdF-Wg with Schwimmwagen drivetrain

Porsche again entering the military 'market' might seem strange, but this was period when every manufacturer was looking for work of kind in order to generate muchneeded revenue - the aforementioned Cisitalia project is proof of that. Porsche was also in strong position, having access to pool of the finest engineers. Goliath,

offshoot of the Borgward , struggled as manufacturer of small

'

" engaging simple dog-clutch

pushing lever, drive could transferred

to the front wheels... "

. ~Il!

vans and was in financial state. This was last chance for the to survive. DKW had also fallen hard times, its passenger cars with their puny twostroke engines lacking mass appeal.

Goliath's design was doomed from the start, for the powers that in

NAO doubted the had the wherewithal to fulfil military contract. DKW, the other hand, submitted

interesting lightweight design, which promised to

cheap to build, but was powered yet again two-stroke motor. Called the Munga, it was to prove Porsche's Nemesis.

comparison, Porsche's design, known internally as the 597, but later popularly as the Jagdwagen ('hunting '), was far sophisticated than rival efforts, with part-time four-wheel-drive, torsion

left and below: Amazing Cisitalia Grand Prix featured part-time four-wheel-drive Left: 597 Jagdwagen was designed ( NAO. Front axle assembly was similar to that of l

suspension and five- was exhibited at the speed transmisssion Geneva motor show in equipped with ultra- March 1955, with the low ratio for serious off- promise of civilian model road use. The first cars becoming available for were fitted with 1488 those who wanted the engine, but production best in off-road vehicles . models relied 50bhp There was even sales

1582 unit, detuned brochure printed, 356 engine, with lower proclaiming that the compression and single Jagdwagen 'will four Zenith 32NDIX two-barrel passengers over hill and carburettor. dale to hunting lodges

' normal road and fishing spots'. conditions, the Considering that at the Jagdwagen in - time the 'opposition' in wheel-drive, but this market comprised engaging simple dog little than the clutch pushing lever crudely-equipped British forward, drive would Land Rover, the type 597 transferred to the front could have wheels for off-road use. It legend like the Britishwas simple system built off-roader has. without the benefit of But it failed at the last free-wheeling hubs but hurdle - the cost of perfectly adequate for production was simply too the intended military use. high, and the simple,

The bodywork best cheap DKW Munga won described as basic, the NAO contract. with ribbed body panels It was bitter - and for strength, and seating costly - pill for Porsche to for four five soldiers. swallow. With just 71 The spare wheel was examples built, the located vertically at the Jagdwagen fell into the front of the vehicle, 'what might have ' providing some protection category in Porsche in the event of collision history. It would as well as placing some than decade before much-needed weight over Porsche ventured the front wheels. again into the world of all

' testing, the wheel-drive, and that is Jagdwagen proved subject we'lllook at in superb. military version next month's issue ... PW