Bojan Vrbnjak
Number "597” might sound like the internal codename of a sports car Porsche from past years. However, behind these three numbers lies a completely different concept. Porsche Type 597 "Jagdwagen” (hunting vehicle) was the company's response to the tender Bundeswehr or the German army in the phase of its establishment after 1955.
Model 597 was designed in the 1950s as A Porsche project for the Bundeswehr tender. With switchable all-wheel drive and bodywork in tub shape was up to almost any terrain – on on land and in water. Despite this, they were only produced 71 copies of this off-road vehicle.
Leta 1953 are Porsche's developers based on a tender it later published German army, started preparing off-road vehicle for the army. The requirements were: fast, agile, light weight with the largest possible payload, off-road capabilities, safe handling and easy maintenance. Porsche was next to the company Auto Union (DKW) and Borgward's subsidiary company Goliath one of three German manufacturers involved in the process.
They are developers guy 597 equipped with a modified four-cylinder engine Boxer from the model Porsche 356, which was placed at the back. This is how the car develops on the road 50 BAM and despite its off-road capabilities, it shows its driving dynamics: with a maximum speed of up to 100 km/h it's a Porsche Type 597, which weighs approx 870 kg, for a bucket-shaped vehicle (the Germans called it Kübelwagen) extremely agile. Some because visual similarities they try to associate the 597 with Volkswagen Type 181 (“The Thing” in the United States), but it is VW came onto the market much later, in the late 1960s. Nevertheless, it is model 181 made a career in the German armed forces as “bucket” (bucket).
Although he was Porsche already known for its high-performance vehicles, were at model 597 important above all agility and the possibility of driving off-road. He only weighed 870 kilograms and had a special four-speed manual transmission with field gear. It resembled a super sports car 959 with four-wheel drive from the eighties of the last century, which also had a short "G", "field gear".
Boxer engine it drives the rear axle via a synchronized four-speed gearbox with an additional off-road gear. Because optional drive it's on the front wheel 3,60 meters long model 597 became the first four-wheel drive car with the name Porsche. In four-wheel drive mode, the car at 1.000 rpm per minute climbed the slopes to 65 percent. With its compact body, the Jagdwagen was also suitable for use on I said, where it could be towed across the water. The early version of the vehicle therefore also had no access doors.
That January 1955 are producers in Bonn-Hangelar presented the first prototypes to demonstrate the operational suitability of their vehicles to the government. Porsche Jagdwagen met with great interest and was also presented at locations in the following months British and French troops in Germany. At the car show in Geneva in March 1955 the latest Porsche development was presented to the professional public.
Simple look model 597 it hides complex technology. Porsche equipped the car with independent suspension, telescopic shock absorbers and optional all-wheel drive with the help of an innovative clutch on the front axle. Air-cooled engine was optimized to prioritize reliability over maximum performance. Power was transferred to front axle through the front axle differential, which was rigidly connected to the body and connected to the wheels via swing shafts.
Porsche is a type 597 “Jagdwagen” developed for the next few years until it was ready for series production: in the version from the end of the year 1957 the car had a steeper front end and now also four steel doors. Despite successful testing, they are Goliath and Porsche dared the German army, which was officially established 12. November 1955, deliver only 50 more examples for test drives. It is for financial and labor market reasons main order got company Auto Union from Ingolstadt with model F91 Mungo. Porsche canceled the project. Porsche built a total 71 copies. According to estimates, during these years it was preserved approx 50 copies, and most of the current owners belong to probably the smallest Porsche club in the world - Porsche Jagdwagen Registry eV. There were only civilian vehicles 49, the remaining 22 however, it was manufactured to military specifications.
Because these vehicles are today very rare, their value rose sharply. At the auction in Monterey it is a few years ago RM Sotheby's sold 597 in military specification for a high sum $ 665.000.
Although he was model 597 technically the brand's first car Porsche with all-wheel drive, is the founder of the company Ferdinand Porsche had already been preparing a four-wheel drive vehicle half a century earlier. Fully electric Lohner-Porsche from 1900 had motors in the hub of four wheels and was also the first passenger car with four-wheel brakes. In the same year, the model was presented as the first functional hybrid in the world Semper Vivus (Latin for "ever-living"). The Semper Vivus model was designed differently. He had two single cylinder engines with internal combustion, which acted as generators, driving hub motors and a small battery. Both internal combustion engines were running independently of each other and produced 2,5 BAM. The maximum range was set at 200 kilometers, the maximum speed at 35 km/h, and the weight is 1.700 kilograms.
A year later, a serial model was presented Lohner-Porsche Mixte with a 5,5-liter four-cylinder engine Daimler with power 25 BAM. It also functioned as a generator that supplied electricity to a pair of motors in the wheel hubs. Compared to the model Semper Vivus was about 500 kilograms lighter due to the smaller battery. With engines Daimler was only produced seven cars, before switching to engines from 1903 Panhard & Levassor.
