Speaking of Porsche, maybe our first impression will be like this.
Or so it would be.
No matter how bad it should be.
But, have you ever imagined a Porsche would look like this?
Yes, this is our protagonist today, the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen, a military commuter vehicle launched by Porsche in the 1950s. The car will be officially auctioned off at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed. So, today we will talk about the history of this Porsche 597 Jagdwagen.
The Second World War that broke out in the 1940s turned the whole of Europe into ruins. Among them, Germany, a defeated country, was even razed to the ground. Germany, which should have calmed down and engaged in post-war reconstruction, was divided into two camps, East and West, because of the outbreak of the Cold War. Therefore, Germany, which should have been completely disarmed, was rearmed again, and it was also armed into two Germanys, which is somewhat similar to the situation in Japan during the Korean War. Therefore, the two re-armed defeated countries restarted the bidding for military vehicles. In this round of bidding, Mitsubishi Pajero, Nissan Patrol, and Toyota Land Cruiser were born in Japan. With this Porsche 597 Jagdwagen.
Unlike Japan’s three major off-road vehicles and Land Rover Series I, Germany, which has always been a leader in the automotive industry, has not copied the design of the American Willys Jeep in the development of military vehicles. On the contrary, the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen and DKW’s Munga that participated in the competition at that time still continued the design of the German Army’s Volkswagen Kubelwagen in terms of vehicle structure and design. This also makes the Porsche model an alternative in the history of post-war off-road vehicle development. It is precisely because of the existence of Porsche 597 Jagdwagen and DKW Munga that the world’s off-road vehicle development history has a different color. Of course, from here we can also see the unruliness of the Germans.
In the 1950s, the German Army, or rather the West German Army, needed an inexpensive light tactical commuter vehicle. The cheaper DKW Munga was the first choice of the West German Army. At the same time, Porsche also joined this plan, even though Porsche did not have the ability to mass-produce it at the time. However, for the needs of the military, Porsche still completed the design within the stipulated time.
The Porsche 597 Jagdwagen adopts a rear-mounted engine layout, with a 1.5L air-cooled engine derived from the Porsche 356 Sports Car installed at the rear of the body, and then upgraded to a 1.6L version. It is matched with a five-speed manual transmission and a part-time four-wheel drive system. The maximum output power of 1.6L power is 50 horsepower. Under the blessing of this power, the top speed of Porsche 597 Jagdwagen is 100 kilometers per hour.
Porsche 597 Jagdwagen uses a lot of plane design in the body shape, which also makes its production cost can be greatly reduced. In addition, the smaller body makes its curb weight only 990 kg, and the wheelbase is 2060 mm. The small body and the time-sharing four-wheel drive system make the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen have a very good climbing ability, and its design slope can be as high as 65%.
In order to further reduce the weight of the car, the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen is not equipped with doors, but forms a package for the passengers in the car by raising the threshold, and the passengers in the car need to cross this threshold to get on and off the car. Another advantage of this design is that the raised threshold enables the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen to provide greater body buoyancy during wading, making the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen more easily transformed into an amphibious vehicle. This has some overlapping design concepts with the Volkswagen KubelWagen of the year.
In terms of appearance, in addition to the flat flat design, the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen also adopts a front-mounted spare wheel, placing the spare wheel in the center of the front of the car, which looks similar to the Land Rover Series I back then, but more The proportions of the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen built by Germans who focus on design will be more coordinated. The round headlights on both sides adopt the standard headlights of Porsche and Volkswagen at that time. The front windshield adopts an integral folded form, and the convertible also adopts a folding soft top design, which is completely different from the Willys Jeep and Land Rover Series I of the same period. This folding design is used in actual use. Obviously more convenient.
Due to the rear-mounted engine layout, the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen inevitably has a rear-mounted engine compartment. sense. The short body and high ground clearance make the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen look very cute. The interior design of the vehicle is extremely simple, and everything is aimed at reducing weight.
In the three years from 1955 to 1958, only 71 Porsche 597 Jagdwagen were produced, of which 49 were put on the civilian market. Subsequently, Porsche also planned to lengthen the 597 platform, increase the wheelbase to 2400 mm, and lay out five body styles at the same time, thus creating a series of off-road vehicle families. However, this project was never put into action, which makes the surviving Porsche 597 Jagdwagen even rarer.
As for the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen, which will be auctioned at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, it has been used by individual users in Germany since it was put into production, and was collected by Japanese collectors until 2012. For this re-auction, the estimated starting price should be between £170,000 and £200,000, or about RMB 1.5 million to 1.76 million.
