Like ‘Beetle’, ‘Fridolin’ was never an official name for Volkswagen’s rather eccentric and little-publicised small van of the 1960s and 1970s. Its formal title was the Type 147 Kleinlieferwagen (small delivery vehicle). Translated, its nickname approximated to ‘little toddler’, which seemed a much more suitable description for the gawky but cute and diminutive appearance of what, in many respects, was a truncated Transporter. Production was strictly limited, with sales almost entirely confined to local postal authorities. It was only after the model’s demise that it escaped into the wider enthusiast world, becoming a cult air-cooled favourite in the process.
Boxing clever
The Fridolin wasn’t Volkswagen’s first foray into small vans. During WW2, a one-off prototype Beetle-based van was created during 1940/41 and designated the Type 81. Up to the B-post, it was pure Beetle, probably one of the pre-war VW38 or VW39 pre-production cars. But the rear of the vehicle was replaced by a boxy cargo area. The conversion job was quite neatly done, but its shortcomings were revealed when the rear door was opened. The load
