The sad fate of the cutest Volkswagen you’ve never heard of

If, like me, you grew up in West Germany in the 1960s and ’70s, then there’s every chance this cute, little, and cheerfully bright yellow VW Fridolin is already familiar to you.

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But for the rest of the world, the Volkswagen Type 147 Kleinlieferwagen (literally, Small Delivery Van) or VW Fridolin remains an oddity, a Franken-Volkswagen that is, in reality, not a single vehicle, but rather an amalgam of four distinct Volkswagen models melded into one, practical, cute-as-a-button postal delivery van.

The story goes that in the early 1960s, Deutsche Bundespost (the German Postal authority) was looking for a new mail delivery van as a replacement for the incumbent Goggomobil Transporter that had been in service delivering the nation's letters and parcels since the 1950s.

DB approached Volkswagen with some very specific requirements, the new delivery van needed a cargo area measuring two cubic metres and with a payload of between 350-400kg. It was to feature large sliding doors (for ease of loading and unloading) and its overall dimensions needed to fit somewhere between a Beetle and Type 2 Transporter.

Volkswagen enlisted the help of Westfalia, the Wiedenbrück-based company that specialised – and still does to this day – in transforming Volkswagen Transporters into campervans.

Their solution was to take the existing architecture and components of several VW models to create a bespoke model that would suit DB’s practical needs.

Now with its own distinct Volkswagen number – Type 147 – as well as an informal nickname – VW Fridolin – the new van’s recipe included the chassis of a Karmann Ghia, the rear-end from a T2 Transporter, a 1200cc air-cooled engine and running gear from a Beetle, and headlight assemblies and bonnet treatment from a Type 3 Notchback.

Inside, the driver’s seat, instrumentation and steering wheel came straight out of the VW Beetle while the windscreen came straight off a Type 3.

It was, in every respect, a parts bin special, but one that admirably filled Deutsche Bundespost’s brief.

Volkswagen and Westfalia built a total of 6139 Type 147s, with around 85 per cent of them pressed into service by Deutsche Bundespost. The balance ended up in either private hands for use as delivery vans or with smaller government departments.

Additionally, a special batch of around 1200 Type 147s – fitted with VW's more powerful 1300cc air-cooled engine as well as some very cool-looking wrap-round side windows – were commissioned by the Schweizer Bundespost (Swiss Postal Authority).

Production ended in 1974, and while many of the decommissioned and cheerfully-coloured delivery vans ended up in private hands, a total absence of any rust protection whatsoever sealed (or unsealed, as it were) their fate. Sad.

Today it’s estimated fewer than 200 Type 147s survive, a scarcity that has seen values climb over the years. Earlier this year, a heavily modified and fully restored Type 147 sold on Bring A Trailer for $US74,500 ($AUD110,000). We wonder what Briefträger Bernd would make of that today.