LePkw Type 82 Kubelwagen

LePkw Type 82 Kübelwagen. The Kubelwagen has a 240 centimetre wheelbase and independent suspension on all four wheels. The tyres are a post war NATO pattern. The engine is a post war Volkswagen Beetle engine mounted in the rear of the vehicle. The body of the vehicle is a lightweight metal, with a flat base, allowing the vehicle to propel itself like a sled in sand, mud and snow.

Headlights and canvas headlight covers are mounted on the front wheel guards and a tactical travelling 'notek' light is mounted on the front panel of the vehicle, to the left hand side of the spare tyre, which is mounted centrally on the front panel. Stencilled in white on the front of the left wheel guard is the tactical symbol for a motorised artillery unit of the 15th Panzer Division. Mounted on the front of the vehicle is the number plate which is rectangular in shape. The plate has a white painted background with 'WH-129213' stencilled in black paint. A small circular 'feldpostnummer' for the 15th Panzer Division has been stamped in red ink onto the numberplate. Fitted to either side of the bonnet and the engine bay at the rear, are hooks to attach towing cables.

The vehicle is left hand drive and has a gearbox with four forward gears and one reverse, and a hand brake is mounted next to the gear stick. The vehicle has two front seats and a bench seat in the back. The seats have all had their original covers replaced with green canvas.

Stencilled on the two front doors is a vertical grey rectangle with Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK) palm tree over swastika emblem in white. Another DAK emblem is stencilled centrally on the engine cover at the rear of the vehicle. Stencilled in white on the engine cover is the symbol for towed artillery with the number 4 next to it. This signifies that this vehicle belonged to the 4th Battery of the 33rd Motorised Field Artillery regiment. The rear number plate, located on the left rear of the vehicle, is square shaped with the 'WH' over the numbers '129213'. On the upper drivers side door has been hand painted the name 'Karin'.

The Kubelwagen is incomplete, missing parts such as the dashboard, a windscreen wiper motor, both wiper arms, both side mirrors and all four door handles.

This particular vehicle served with the German Afrika Korps and was brought to Australia from Bardia in Libya. The markings indicated that it was attached to a field artillery unit of the 15th Panzer Division. The vehicle was completely restored in 2009. During this process the vehicle was finished in markings typical of the 33rd Field Artillery unit of the 15th Panzer Division during the period of the Siege of Tobruk between April and December 1941.

The Kübelwagen became one of the most widely used German vehicles of the war, with 52,000 built by May 1945.

This vehicle was previously restored by No.2 Base Workshop, Royal Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers at Moorebank, Sydney in the mid 1980's.