VW Commercial Vehicles: Newly born at 60
FOUR-AXLE WITH TRACKS Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has restored a 60-year-old unique vehicle back to new condition. The T1 "tracked fox" was produced at the Hanover plant in May 1962 and sent to its buyer in Austria.
After a brief period of life as a normal T1, the vehicle was transformed under the hands of a resourceful Viennese Volkswagen mechanic into a model suitable for the Alps. Kurt Kretzner converted the Bulli into a T1 with four axles - two of them equipped with a chain drive, two steering by twin tires.
Highly off-road capable transporter
The shrewd remodeler noticed that there were too few highly off-road capable transporters in the mountains of Austria. In the sales literature for the "Caterpillar Fox," he touted "an ideal helper for everyone: Mountain hut host, hunter, forester, doctor, maintenance personnel of lifts, television and radio installations, pipelines and the like." Kretzner spent more than four years designing and building his Gipfelstürmer. Two "Foxes" were built by 1968, but production of the third faltered.
Modest engine power of just 34 hp
The double front axle steering resulted in a turning circle of less than ten meters. Each wheel is equipped with a brake, and an automatic limited-slip differential ensured evenly distributed propulsion even in heavy snow. Drive power was provided by a standard 34 hp boxer engine with 1192 cm3 displacement.
However, the caterpillar car was rarely seen on the road or off-road. In 1985, the T1 appeared for the last time in Vienna before it was purchased by the Porsche Museum Gmünd in the early 1990s.
At some point, it finally became the property of the Bullikartei e.V. - a community of enthusiasts of the first Bulli generation. In 2005, they launched a first attempt to restore the high-alpine special vehicle.
Volkswagen-commercial-vehicles.com
