Over half a century, the Volkswagen Golf has accumulated many stories to tell, even that of a concept car capable of navigating on water at up to 40 km/h. It is called Volkswagen See-Golf (See means lake in German) and, although it may seem like something unique, it has a very particular ancestor of the same brand behind it: the Type 166 Schwimmwagen, an amphibious vehicle used during the Second World War.
The Volkswagen See-Golf, however, is not an idea of the house. It was born from the will of a German science professor, called Ernst Fialawho managed to build it in three years and, after various tests in the reservoirs near Wolfsburg, brought it to the Wörthersee GTI meeting of 1983 in Hamburg, at the Kieler Yacht Harbor in the Bay of Kiel (southwest of the Baltic Sea).
A cabrio unlike any other
The basis of the Volkswagen See-Golf is a Golf Cabriolet, on which the following have been mounted: two large floatsThe hull and power unit (1.8-liter, 150-horsepower four-cylinder) were sealed to protect them from water ingress, and the interior was covered in a special, easy-care leather.
A shaft independent of the axis was used to drive the propeller and in water a speed of 22 knots was achieved, equal to approximately 40 km/h.
Volkswagen
Volkswagen See-Golf (1983)
The technical specifications
Today the See Golf is on permanent display in the Golf section of the Volkswagen AutoMuseum in Wolfsburg, Germany. Let’s recap all the features:
- Two fiberglass pontoons (floats) connected to a hydraulic system that raises and lowers the floats;
- Waterproofing for both bodywork and transmission;
- “Snorkel” exhaust pipe;
- Special leather interior;
- Drive shaft connecting the rear propeller to the transmission;
- Secondary “gearbox” that couples/uncouples the driveshaft;
- 150 HP engine;
- Speed in water 22 knots (equal to approximately 40 km/h).
Source: it.motor1.com
