Porsche 597 Jagdwagen: The Jeep That Porsche Built
Daily Slideshow: Decades before anyone ever thought the Cayenne would be something other than a pepper, there was this off-road behemoth.
Rough and Tumble
When you think of rough and tumble military off-roaders, you probably think of Jeep and Willys. Which exist, of course, because the American military asked for them to be built. A similar situation occurred in 1950s Germany when the country realized it too needed a vehicle that could traverse both land and water. Thus, the Porsche 597 “Jagdwagen” was built to answer that call.
Do It All
The Willys military Jeep and Porsche 597 share an eerily similar path to creation, in fact. Both were built to be light, agile, and fast, yet also carry a suitable load capacity and be capable of traversing tough off-road conditions.
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Heated Competition
Also, like the Willys military Jeep, Porsche wasn't alone in their quest to win a military contract. Both Auto Union (formerly DKW) and Goliath, a Borgward subsidiary, were involved in the tendering process.
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Well Rounded
Porsche, of course, was able to reach into their proverbial parts bin to make the 597 a reality. They started with the 356's four-cylinder engine, modified to produce 50 hp. But that engine choice also allowed the 597 to weigh in at just 1,918 pounds and reach a top speed of 62 mph.
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First AWD Porsche
Of course, the 597 also needed an all-wheel-drive system to conquer the toughest of trails. The flat engine delivered power to the rear axle via a synchronized four-speed transmission with an additional off-road gear. Interestingly enough, this switchable front-wheel drive system made the 597 the first all-wheel-drive vehicle to bear the Porsche name.
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Climb and Float
The extra traction provided by this system allowed the 597 to climb a steep 65% incline at just 1,000 rpm. And because the 597 was built using a monocoque bodyshell, it was also capable of floating across rivers with ease.
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Drawing Interest
The first prototypes were ready by January of 1955 when they were presented to the military at the Bonn/Hangelar airfield. In addition to the German military, both the French and British expressed interest in the rough and rugged off-roader.
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Constant Improvement
Porsche continued to tweak its original design by modifying the front end, giving it a sharper slope. They also added four steel doors. But regardless of their efforts, the German military eventually went with Auto Union's creation, citing both financial reasons and the current labor market policy.
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Rare Find
In addition, the government only permitted Porsche to build an additional 50 units for testing after their initial run of 21. Thus, only 71 597s were ever built. And only around 50 of those are known to still exist.
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Exclusive Company
According to Porsche, most of today's “Jagdwagen” owners belong to the Porsche Jagdwagen Registry e.V. Which, as you might imagine, is the smallest Porsche club in the world. But at least they can claim to own a slice of Porsche history that few, even today, know exists!
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