VW Fridolin

Volkswagen
VW Fridolin
Fridolin
Production period:	1964-1974
Class :	Utilities
Body versions :	Panel van , high roof station wagon
Engines:	Petrol engines : 1.2–1.3 liters (25–32 kW)
Length:	3970 mm
Width:	1670 mm
Height:	1730-1950 mm
Wheelbase :	2400 mm
Empty weight :	935 kg

The VW Fridolin , officially type 147 , is a small delivery van of the Volkswagen brand , which was built between 1964 and 1974 mainly for the Deutsche Bundespost and according to today's standards would be assigned to the box variants of the high-roof station wagon .

Requirement from the German Federal Post Office

VW was commissioned by the German Federal Post Office to develop this vehicle in February 1962 , as the types of automobiles used or on the market appeared unsuitable. The cargo space of the car should be able to hold two cubic meters and 400 kilograms of payload and be directly accessible from the driver's cab . Furthermore, were sliding required as folding doors were often open in the downtown area too bad.

Production model

In order to keep costs low, the car planned under the name EA 149 (EA stands for development order) was composed as much as possible from parts of other vehicles. The axles , the engine and the gearbox came from the Beetle , the chassis from the Karmann Ghia , headlights from the VW Type 3 , engine flap and other parts from the VW Transporter , and the tailgate was also borrowed from the T 1, but shorter.

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  Front view

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  Side view with sliding door

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  Rear view

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  Spartan dashboard

The car was manufactured in the Westfalia works in Wiedenbrück . At the end of 1963, a few prototypes were initially developed, and series production began in 1964 . By the end of production in July 1974, a total of 6139 vehicles of the type had been built, some of which were also sold to other facilities.

The loading capacity of the series version exceeded the requirements of the Deutsche Bundespost: The loading volume is 2.3 m³ and a further 0.6 m³ next to the driver's seat (the foldable passenger seat could be swiveled forward under the dashboard), so a total of 2.9 m³; the payload was specified by VW as 410 kg.

VW 147 of the Swiss Post with three-part rear glazing, built in 1974

The Swiss Post PTT also acted as a major buyer of the vehicle, buying 1201 copies in a slightly modified version. The most important changes are the more powerful 1.3-liter engine with 44 HP (32 kW) as well as front disc brakes and auxiliary heating . On the outside, too, this version differs from that of the Deutsche Bundespost: There was a two-tone paint job in a darker yellow than the German Post yellow with a silver roof area, a skylight and (from model year 1972) a three-part large rear glazing. The outside rearview mirrors were not mounted on the doors, but on the front fenders, as driving with open sliding doors is permitted in Switzerland. A roof rack was also fitted as standard , which increased the overall height to 1950 mm.

The Lufthansa used the vehicle as a run-up venture.

In 1968 the VW small delivery van cost 6834 DM (including tax), which is only around 360 DM less than the much larger VW Transporter panel van for 7195 DM.

Today around 40 vehicles of this type are still registered in Germany, and an estimated 200 examples still exist worldwide.

Similarity to the new concept vehicle

In November 2011, Volkswagen AG presented the Volkswagen eT! in front. A similarity to the Volkswagen Fridolin was soon discovered in the specialist press .

→ Main article : Volkswagen eT!

literature

• Rüdiger Etzold: The Beetle II - A Documentation. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-7168-1613-2 , pp. 202-203.
• Jürgen Pander: 60 German cars: the VW Fridolin . In: Der Spiegel . June 8, 2009, ISSN  0038-7452 ( online [accessed October 12, 2013]).
• Diether Rodatz: A van to send , Auto Bild Klassik , VW Fridolin, February 25, 2014
• Gaby Sonnabend: "Type restrictions and special vehicles - The Volkswagen at the German (Federal) Post", Ed .: DGPT in Das Archiv - Magazin für Post- und Telekommunikationsgeschichte , ISSN  1611-0838 , 1/2008, p. 19 ff.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Diether Rodatz: A Van to Send ( Memento from March 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} VW advertising brochure from 1970, with data sheet and technical drawings
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Information sheet of the Swiss Post (PTT) from 1975 with technical drawings
4. ↑ 60 German cars: The VW Fridolin on spiegel.de from June 8, 2009, accessed on January 25, 2016
5. ↑ VW Fridolin can be seen in the background on this picture
6. ↑ this would correspond to a current purchasing power of 12,986 euros
7. ↑ VW Transporter price list August 1968
8. ↑ this would correspond to a current purchasing power of 13,672 euros
9. ↑ VW resurrects transporter legend Fridolin. In: Die Welt - Online. November 11, 2011, accessed October 7, 2012 . 
10. ↑ Volkswagen reinvents the Fridolin. In: auto motor und sport - online. November 18, 2011, accessed October 7, 2012 . 

Web links

Commons : Volkswagen Fridolin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official profile of Volkswagen AG for the Type 147
• Interest group VW Fridolin
• The Fridolin as a mail vehicle