VW 276 Schlepperfahrzeug

The Volkswagen Type 276 Schlepperfahrzeug (tractor vehicle) was a derivative of the Kübelwagen Type 82 modified to enable it to tow a load, gun or a trailer, that would be deployed in a unit which comprised two modified Kübelwagen, a small caliber anti-tank gun (3.7 cm Pak 36), an ammunition trailer laden with 16 cases of three rounds of AP shell, and seven men (drivers included). The Type 276 only saw light at the end of 1944 and never went into mass production.

Apart from having a standard Wehrmacht tow-hook fitted to the rear cross-body member, the Type 276 differed from the standard Type 82 on the following points:

On the first model, the rear suspension was beefed-up, and the car shod with bigger tyres (BF 200C16) on 7.00C16 rims (with a smaller offset inwards: 13 mm. instead of 33 mm). These were the same tyres and rims fitted on the VW 166 'Schwimmwagen'.

To improve traction which proved to be grossly inadequate when towing off-road, these Type 276 were later fitted with different gears in the rear axle reduction boxes (14:29 = 1:2.07 instead of 15:21 = 1:1.4); this increased the ground clearance by 15 mm (19/32") at the rear, brought the top speed down from 80 km/h (50 mph) to 54 km/h (34 mph) at an engine speed of 3300 rpm, and lowered the mileage to 6.35 l/100km (37 mpg) on the road.

To prevent over-revving, especially when driving without a trailer, the engine was fitted with a governor on the generator shaft (as fitted on the Type 155 static engine).

With these modifications, the drawbar pull reached, on tarmac, 700 kg (1550 lb) when starting from a stand, and 500 kg (1100 lb) at a speed of 8 km/h (5 mph) and the Type 276 would pull a load of about 550–650 kg (1210–50 lb) at top speed.

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