VW Restores 60 Year Old ‘Half-Track Fox’, A 4-Axle ‘Danfo Bus’ With Tank Tracks

This 4-axle half-track 1962 Volkswagen T1 bus built for alpine duty is one of the coolest van of all time.

This unique creation, dubbed the “Half-Track Fox”, was built by ingenious Viennese Volkswagen mechanic.

It was designed to be used in his country’s mountainous terrain. He spent 4-years building his mountain climber.

Volkswagen’s Commercial Vehicle Division VWCV Classic Vehicles has fully restored the “Half-Track Fox”, four years after it began restoring the unique van that is based on the 1962 Volkswagen Type 2 T1.

The “Half-Track Fox” was built 60 years ago by Kurt Ketzner, an ingenious Viennese Volkswagen mechanic, who designed the van to be used in his country’s mountainous terrain.

“At first, I had a look around, but couldn’t find the vehicle i was dreaming of. So, i decided to build it myself,” wrote Ketzner in marketing materials from the era.

Kretzner spent four years designing and building his Volkswagen T1 microbus-based mountain climber. He converted his T1 into a van with 4 axles, consisting of two set of tyres at the front – to steer the vehicle – and a pair of chain-driven tracks at the back.

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“And thus, he created what is probably the most off-road-capable Bulli ever to be seen on the mountain slopes of this world,” Volkswagen shares.

“An ideal helper for everyone : mountain hut keepers, hunters, foresters, doctors, maintenance engineers for ski-lifts, TV and radio masts, pipelines and the like,” Kretzner later wrote in the sales literature for the Half-track Fox.

The restored Volkswagen Half-Track Fox maintained the standard T1 engine of the time – a 1.2L flat-four that churns out just 33 horsepower.

“The Half-track Fox reached a top speed of 35 km/h [21mph] and was thus only slightly slower than the animal kingdom member from which it got its name.”

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