The history of the “Half-Track Fox” off-road vehicle began exactly 60 years ago, when Kurt Ketzner, a talented car mechanic and an avid skier from Vienna, got the idea to create a mountain off-road vehicle.
In order not to “invent a bicycle” from scratch, he decided to build his child on the basis of Volkswagen T1 “Bulli” van. This is how his modification “Half-Track Fox” was born.
Unlike its parent, the SUV received two additional axles with 13-inch wheels, with the rear wheels “shoeing” in tracks made of aluminum and rubber, which significantly increased the cross-country ability of the van. The front axles (with 14-inch wheels) consist of twin “sparks” with a special tread pattern. Each wheel was equipped with a “personal” brake.
For even distribution of torque between the wheels when driving on snowdrifts, Ketzner equipped his SUV with a self-locking differential. Without wisecracking, he decided to leave him the native 1.2-liter engine with an output of 34 hp. Kurt was not wrong – it was enough to overcome mountain slopes and drive at 35 km/h.
