This old Kombi van has been restored into a tank.
And it might just be the best off-roading camper to ever exist.
Shipped to Austria in 1962, it lived as a totally normal T1 for years… until a Viennese mechanic got his hands on it.
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Volkswagen mechanic Kurt Kretzner desperately wanted a comfortable Kombi van that could tackle the mountains in rain, hail or snow.
When he couldn’t find anything on the market, he decided to build it himself.
Kretzner gave it four axles, two steerable front axles and two rear axles with chain drive.
At the front were 14-inch rough-tread tires.
And at the back, 13 inch tires mounted on chains – a design he created himself.
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As a result, the Half-track Fox was born, ready to tackle the snowy mountains of Austria.
Kretzner described his creation as “an ideal helper for everyone: mountain hut keepers, hunters, foresters, doctors, maintenance engineers for ski-lifts, TV and radio masts, pipelines and the like”.
The project took four years, but in the end he built the off-road camper of his dreams.
Almost 60 years later, the Half-track Fox came into the hands of VW’s Classic Vehicles department.
And thus began the Kombi’s second big transformation.
Under the guiding principle “remember – experience – preserve” the experts began the painstaking process of restoration.
The 60-year-old bodywork was stripped of paint, repaired, given a cathodic dip coating and repainted in the same bright orange it was loved for.
The team not only overhauled the exterior but also redid the interior and got the mechanics of the van back to as-new condition.
After its makeover, the four-axle T1 finally made its way back to the snow to show what it was capable of.
And the result was magical.
“The driver was more likely to capitulate on steep climbs than the Half-track Fox!” the team said.
It’s not the only VW mini bus to get headlines this year.
The iconic Kombi has also been reimagined as the ID Buzz.
Supercar Blondie got to check out the ID Buzz up close, you can watch the full video below!
