Raupenfuchs, a unique Austrian-made half-track vehicle for the Alps wilderness adventurers

Unique ONES If you look at the shape in general, there's really nothing special because it's an old VW T1 car model produced by a German manufacturer in quite extraordinary numbers, a total of 1.8 million units worldwide.

The Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs was built by an Austrian mechanic named Kurt Kretzner, whose worked on it for six years, from 1962 until 1968, and of the two units ever made only one has survived to this day. (Picture from: MeinAuto.de)

But once we saw this unusual figure of VW T1 appeared on the @aut0mob status on Twitter's timeline, we can be sure this is the only one that has ever existed. How come this VW T1 has such a unique shape?

The fully restored Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs while sat on display at Techno-Classica Essen 2023. (Picture from: Automobilista)

Seen its exterior, this unique-shaped VW T1 featuring a has four axles coupled with a caterpillar track drive on the rear axle. And it's said the car built with the aim of coping with the wilderness of the Alps, which is often covered by snow hence why caterpillar tracks are pinned. Even more unique, it also has two steering axles in fronts.

The Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs has a steered double axle with coarsely profiled 14-inch twin tires at the front. (Picture from: Autokult.pl)

Then who is the maker? Well, the unique vehicle named Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs ("Caterpillar fox") was built by an Austrian mechanic who at that time worked in the Volkswagen Vienna workshop named Kurt Kretzner, whose worked on it for six years, since 1962 until 1968, and of the two units ever made only one has survived to this day.

The Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs also has a twin axles coupled with a chain drive at the rear to ease it across the snowy terrain. (Picture from: de.Motor1)

As quoted from Autokult.pl, initially he offered his unique vehicle Raupenfuchs to mountain shelter owners, builders and servicemen of ski lifts, radio masts, gas pipelines, but also doctors, foresters and hunters who often work around the Alps.

The Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs built with the aim of coping with the wilderness of the Alps, which is often covered by snow hence why caterpillar tracks are pinned. (Picture from: Automobilista)

Unfortunately his efforts were in vain as there was no response, and most of them preferred the proven Haflinger (a small and light truck produced between 1959 to 1974 by the Austrian company Steyr-Puch) for its easier service. For your info, Volkswagen itself once built the first prototype of the off-road Transporter in 1975 based on the T2, and launched the production series of the Syncro version (i.e. 4x4) in 1984 in the T3 generation.

The Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs's interior finish and the selection of accessories are the VW restoration team's own invention, but they perfectly reflect the Kretzner guided idea. (Picture from: Automobilista)

The unique-shaped VW T1 KK Raupenfuchs that you see today is the only one left of its kind and is known to have gone through many ownership changes since it was first launched back in the 1968, and it wasn't until 2018 that the car was touched by a renovation process carried out by specialists in oldtimer departement of VW Nutzfahrzeuge (Utility) in Hannover. Due to the lack of original documentation, the wooden interior finish and the selection of accessories are the VW restoration team's own invention, but they perfectly reflect the Kretzner guided idea.

The Volkswagen T1 KK Raupenfuchs is powered by a VW boxer engine and made it capable to crawl on the snowy terrain at a speed of 35 kph. (Picture from: de.Motor1)

This renovation process was carried out for about four years, and finally the orange Raupenfuchs was able to crawl back on the snowy track at a speed of 35 kph in 2022. As comparison, by  using the same boxer engine, the regular T1 capable of driving in streets at a top speed of up to 95 kph. Theoretically you can even drive the Raupenfuchs (as it has registered too) on the road if its half-tracks are rubberized.

After the renovation process was complete, the Raupenfuchs returned to greet world automotive fans at the Techno-Classica Essen 2023 which took place from April 12 to April 16, 2023 along with many other unique classic cars. If you are still curious and want to see another car like this, let's see the 1922 Citroën Scarabee d'Or (Golden Scarab). *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | AUTOKULT.PL | DE.MOTOR1 | AUTOMOBILISTA | MEINAUTO.DE | SIHA.DE ].

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