That Time When Porsche Tried Building a Jeep

When West Germany was formed out of the ashes of Hitler's Third Reich in 1949, responsibility for its defense fell to the Western Allies. As tensions with Stalin's Soviet Union only seemed to be increasing, it was decided that the Bundesrepublik Deutschland should be allowed to arm itself, leading to the formation of the Bundeswehr, a new German defense force, incorporating a new army, a revived Luftwaffe, and a naval service simply referred to as Marine. The new service needed a Jeep, a role that had been largely performed during World War II by the Beetle-based Kübelwagen. DKW's awkward-looking Munga won the competition to serve as light-duty mobility for German troops, beating out upstart sports-car manufacturer Porsche's very interesting Jagdwagen.