When in 1938 Doctor Ferdinand Porsche ended the research about the construction of a "popular" vehicle started by order from the Fuhrer, he did not imagine that his creature would survive the catastrophe of the war to later become one of the most widely known cars in the world. And so, four decades later the Volkswagen "Beetle" continued rolling undaunted despite their mechanics being, at least regarding the 1200, practically identical to that from the car which Hitler tested and which he was enthusiastic about. It is true that the vehicle was not yet affordable to everyone, but it was expected, and probably with reason, that as soon as Germany had passed that transition period almost all of the German would be able to acquire one. On the other hand, the Volkswagen was not excessively expensive, at least regarding the production costs, and from the beginning it revealed itself as an exceptionally robust vehicle fitted with a highly reliable engine. Hence, there were a thousand of good reasons for the military to be sooner or later interested in the newcomer, as it promptly happened. In charge of developing a family of military vehicles, Doctor Porsche immediately began the work, which he also solved in the brightest way, many times by resorting to rather uncommon means and solutions, but which always fully satisfied the requirements demanded. To begin with, we should note that the development of this series of vehicles was carried out by starting from bases which were different to, for example, those used by the American Willys company for their Jeep. Whereas this one was a vehicle intended for "general purposes", the German technicians initially focused on a simple light vehicle for reconnaissance and liaison, directly derived from the first Volkswagen "Beetle" with a few modifications in the bodywork. Later, after the beginning of the campaign in Russia, when the Wehrmacht realized about the necessity of an amphibious vehicle capable of fording rather more than the few dozens of centimeters that a normal car could ford, it was prepared with Teutonic thoroughness a new transport which did not ford the rivers, but which crossed them by navigating at a speed of 12 kilometers/hour, little more than six nautical knots. The Schwimmwagen had been born. This vehicle was practically nothing else than a "bathtub" fitted with wheels, so it had a foolproof buoyancy; in the absence of the most minimal fissure water would never get inside. The passage points of the torsion bar suspension into the hull were sealed by watertight gaskets. To move on the water the vehicle used a propeller which was usually folded upward. In the moment of its utilization it was unfolded down and linked to a cap screw which was geared to the engine's transmission, and so the Schwimmwagen was turned into a small motor boat. To steer the vehicle during the navigation it was enough to turn the steering wheel, for the fore wheels served as rudders. The production lines supplied, from the second half of 1942 to the summer of 1944, 14267 units which, along with the 52018 Kubelwagen (the first reconnaissance vehicles), would be used by the German Army. Simultaneously, versus these 66285 reconnaissance vehicles, the American would manage to produce more than 640000 exemplars of the Willys Jeep, but this is a matter apart.