Volkswagen Type 147 Kleinlieferwagen
VW Fridolin
The VW Fridolin, officially Type 147, is a small delivery of the Volkswagen brand, which was built in 1964-1974 mainly for the German Federal Post Office and by today's standards would be assigned to the case variants of the high-roof station wagon.
Request the Federal Post Office
VW was commissioned in February 1962 by the German Federal Post Office with the development of this vehicle since the car types used previously or currently on the market appeared to be unsuitable. The cargo area of the car should be able to hold two cubic meters and 400 kg payload and be directly accessible from the cab. Furthermore, sliding doors were required as folding doors were often too poor to open in the downtown area.
Production model
To keep costs low, under the name EA 149 (EA stands for development order) was assembled as far as possible from parts of other vehicles planned car. Thus came the axles, the engine and gearbox from the Beetle, Karmann Ghia from the chassis, headlight from VW Type 3 engine cover and other parts from the VW Transporter, the tailgate was borrowed from the T1, but shorter.
Was manufactured the car in the Westfalia -Werke in Wiedenbrück. End of 1963, some prototypes were developed first, and from 1964 ran the serial production. Until the cessation of production in July 1974 a total of 6139 vehicles of the type were built, of which a part was also sold to other institutions.
The charge capacity of the production version surpassed the requirements of the German Federal Post Office: The load volume is 2.3 m³ 0.6 m³ and more in addition to the driver's seat, ie 2.9 m³; the payload was stated by VW 410 kg.
As a major purchaser of the vehicle also appeared Swiss Post, which bought 1201 copies in a slightly different version. The main changes are the stronger 1.3 - liter engine with 44 hp ( 32 kW), as well as front disc brakes and a heater. Even outside this version differs from that of the German Federal Post Office: There was a skylight and ( from model year 1972) a three-part large rear windows. The outside rear view mirrors are not mounted on the doors, but on the front fenders, as in Switzerland, the driving is permitted with open sliding doors. In addition, a roof rack has been mounted by default, which increased the overall height to 1950 mm.
In 1968 the VW small delivery cost DM 6834 (including tax ), which is only about 360 DM less than the much larger VW Transporter panel van for 7195 DM
Today in Germany there are still around 40 vehicles of the type approved, with operations worldwide estimated to have around 200 copies.
Similarity with a new concept car
Volkswagen AG lodged in November 2011, the concept car Volkswagen eT! before. In the trade press a resemblance to the Volkswagen Fridolin was soon found.