1946 VW Beetle Factory Pickup With Fifth Wheel Car Hauling Trailer Discovered

Paul Niedermeyer
by Paul Niedermeyer

Do I love the internet. I thought I’d seen every old VW oddity, but doing a google image search for “VW pickup” brings up this gem. I knew that in the early days the VW factory built a number of specialized vehicles to transport bodies and things around the grounds. But this goose neck fifth wheel trailer rig hauling another Beetle takes the cake. Another VW view of the same Volksamino follows:

Keep in mind that the VW engine made 25 hp at the time. But if the gearing is low enough, anything can be moved. And who was in a hurry in 1946?

Paul Niedermeyer
Paul Niedermeyer

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  • Tosh Tosh on Apr 13, 2010

    With diesel versions of the New Beetle going relatively cheaply used, I've imagined turning one into a squareback or trucklet.

  • Bluskymaster Bluskymaster on Aug 29, 2011

    I built an Electric VW Pickup. It was a 1972 vw beetle and It took 2 years. I recently found this site and I am dumbfounded to see my creatation is so close to the 1946 VW Truck. I call mine an e-Trug Voltswagon. 15kw of power 30-40 mile range.

  • Theflyersfan I wonder how many people recalled these after watching EuroCrash. There's someone one street over that has a similar yellow one of these, and you can tell he loves that car. It was just a tough sell - too expensive, way too heavy, zero passenger space, limited cargo bed, but for a chunk of the population, looked awesome. This was always meant to be a one and done car. Hopefully some are still running 20 years from now so we have a "remember when?" moment with them.
  • Lorenzo A friend bought one of these new. Six months later he traded it in for a Chrysler PT Cruiser. He already had a 1998 Corvette, so I thought he just wanted more passenger space. It turned out someone broke into the SSR and stole $1500 of tools, without even breaking the lock. He figured nobody breaks into a PT Cruiser, but he had a custom trunk lock installed.
  • Jeff Not bad just oil changes and tire rotations. Most of the recalls on my Maverick have been fixed with programming. Did have to buy 1 new tire for my Maverick got a nail in the sidewall.
  • Carson D Some of my friends used to drive Tacomas. They bought them new about fifteen years ago, and they kept them for at least a decade. While it is true that they replaced their Tacomas with full-sized pickups that cost a fair amount of money, I don't think they'd have been Tacoma buyers in 2008 if a well-equipped 4x4 Tacoma cost the equivalent of $65K today. Call it a theory.
  • Eliyahu A fine sedan made even nicer with the turbo. Honda could take a lesson in seat comfort.
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