military four-wheel drives for the Wehrmacht had largely failed. History Although Adolf Hitler discussed with Ferdinand Porsche the possibility of military application of the Volkswagen as early as April 1934, it was not until January 1938 that high-ranking Heereswaffenamt officials formally approached Porsche about designing an inexpensive, lightweight military transport vehicle that could operate reliably both on- and off-road, in even the most extreme conditions. This implied that the Beetle could provide the basis for such a vehicle. Porsche began work on the project immediately, having a prototype of the vehicle ready within the month, but realized during development that it would not be enough to just reinforce the Beetle's chassis to handle the stresses that military use would place on it. In order to guarantee adequate off-road performance of a two-wheel-drive vehicle with a 1,000 cc FMCV 1 engine, it would have to be lightweight. In fact, the army had stipulated a gross weight of , including four battle-dressed troops, which meant that the vehicle itself should not weigh more than . Porsche therefore sub-contracted Trutz, an experienced military coachbuilder, to help out with the body design. Developmental testing by the military began after a presentation of the prototypes designated as Type 62 in November 1938. Despite lacking four wheel drive, the vehicle proved very competent at maneuvering its way over rough terrain, even in a direct comparison with a contemporary standard German Army 4x4, and the project was given the green light for further development. The vehicle's light weight and ZF self-locking differential compensated for the lack of a four-wheel drive. Further development of the Type 62 took place during 1939, including a more angular body design, and pre-production models were field-tested in the invasion of Poland that started in September that year. Despite their overall satisfaction with the vehicle's performance, military commanders demanded a few important changes: the lowest speed of the vehicle had to be reduced from to as an adjustment to the marching pace of soldiers. Second, it needed some further improvement of its cross-country mobility. Porsche responded to both requests by mounting new axles with gear-reduction hubs, providing the car with more torque while at the same time increasing its ground clearance. Revised dampers, wheels, and a limited-slip differential, as well as countless small modifications completed the specification. In order to reflect the changes, the vehicle was renamed Type 82. Full-scale production of the