| All Porsche enthusiasts, and probably most car | | | | remaining cars were not amphibious, but could |
| enthusiasts, are familiar with cars bearing the | | | | ford deep water using special equipment. |
| Porsche name. Not so familiar, however, were the | | | | Suspension of the 597 was contemporary to |
| non-automotive designs of Dr. Ing. H.C.F. Porsche | | | | VWs and Porsches of the time, modified to suit |
| KG - the gun platforms and tanks of World Wars | | | | the purpose of the vehicle. Trailing arms with |
| I and II, diesel engines stationary power units, and | | | | transverse torsion bars were used up front, with |
| jeep-type (Jeep, Kubelwagen and Land-Rover) | | | | a chassis-mounted differential and half-shafts (with |
| off-road vehicles. | | | | four universal joints) to drive the front wheels. |
| In 1953, one of Porsche's chief designers, Franz | | | | The rear engine/transaxle was the familiar |
| Xavier Reimspiess, began work on a | | | | Porsche 356 system, but with reduction hubs at |
| four-wheel-drive car which was given the Porsche | | | | the outer axle ends i.e. VW Kombi, which provided |
| engineering number 597. The Jagdwagen (roughly | | | | the desired additional ground clearance |
| translated as hunting car) made its debut at the | | | | Power for the Jagdwagen came from a detuned |
| Geneva auto show in March 1955. The type | | | | 356A engine producing 55 hp with a displacement |
| Porsche 597 was created to hopefully gain military | | | | of 1488cc (in late 1955 it was increased to 1582 |
| contracts from the German army alongside the | | | | cc) located in the rear of the car. Together with a |
| Goliath Type 31 and the Auto-Union-built DKW | | | | vehicle weight of 990 kilograms a maximum |
| Munga, now that it was a full partner in NATO | | | | speed of around 100 kilometer per hour could be |
| and had the obligation of European defense. The | | | | achieved. The transmission was a 5-speed manual |
| Production costs of the Porsche 597, however, | | | | gear box. Unlike the Kubelwagen, the driver could |
| were too high and Porsche could not easily supply | | | | engage or disengage the front wheel drive of the |
| the numbers of unit needed in the proposed time. | | | | Jagdwagen on the fly from his driving seat, via a |
| Porsche entered the ring with what today would | | | | "dog-clutch" at the front on the driveshaft. With |
| seem like an unusual project for Porsche to be | | | | its short wheelbase of 2,060 mm, the vehicle had |
| involved, but this would be one of the first major | | | | the ability to climb steep grades of up to 65%. |
| projects assigned to young Ferry Porsche by his | | | | However, the Fagdwagen's suspension is |
| father. The design would be of the WW II | | | | extremely firm riding, and there are few creature |
| German army's jeep-type car, the Type 82 | | | | comforts to be found, except perhaps for the |
| Kuebelwagen. Based on early VW running gear, | | | | simple folding top. |
| this vehicle was further developed into the | | | | Even though Porsche had designed man military |
| amphibious VW Schwimmwagen (Swimming Car). | | | | vehicles, this was the first time the company was |
| Both vehicles were very successful, and they | | | | also prepared to build its own designs for a |
| extensive use throughout WW II. | | | | military vehicle. |
| A resemblance of the Porsche 597 Jagdwagen | | | | Porsche tried to recover some of its substantial |
| can be identified to both the Type 82 Kubelwagen | | | | investment in the car by offering the Jagdwagen |
| of WW II, and the Volkswagen Thing. It is neither, | | | | to the public. There wasn't another car like this |
| but there are similarities. | | | | being sold anywhere in Europe, and so there was |
| The prototype body was manufactured in | | | | no real customer base to advertise to. Production |
| Porsche's own Stuttgart Body Works with later | | | | of the 597 quietly expired in 1958 after just a |
| versions coming from the Karmann coachworks. | | | | mere 71 units had been produced. Today it |
| The shell had no doors and high sills, passenger | | | | seems like a great tragedy that at least a few |
| needed to climb over them to enter and exit the | | | | more Jagdwages weren't made, because if any |
| vehicle. The 597 was visually similar to the earlier | | | | one car could illustrate how diverse the Porsche |
| Kuebelwagen, and the body was made of | | | | Company really is, then that car would probaby |
| stamped steel with heavy embossing for extra | | | | be the Type 597 Jagdwagen. |
| rigidity, Radios, lights, and other military equipment | | | | If the rugged little 597 had gone into large-scale |
| were powered by two 12-volt batteries and a | | | | production, the Porsche company might be as well |
| dynamo. A little-known fact about the 597 is that | | | | known today for its off road vehicles as it is for |
| the first four cars were fully amphibious, complete | | | | its sports cars! Production began in 1954 and |
| with a folding propeller much like the WW II | | | | ended in 1958, and as irony would have it these |
| Schwimmwagen. These 597's are therefore the | | | | cars were built ... of all places ... in the race shop |
| only Porsches to come from the factory with | | | | alongside 356 GT's and 550 Spyders destined for |
| canoe paddles as original accessories! The | | | | the racetracks of the world. |