They don’t need roads: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles celebrates 40 years of the all-wheel drive
The Bremen Classic Motorshow opens its doors on 31 January, marking the start of the 2025 classic vehicle season. Volkswagen Commercial Oldtimer vehicle division will travel to Bremen on Germany’s still wintry roads with some all-wheel drive treasures that are perfectly suited to the weather: a freshly restored T3 syncro 16” flatbed truck – only 60 units of which were ever built – and a record-breaking T4 Multivan syncro. There’s a good reason for this: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is celebrating ‘40 years of the all-wheel drive’ in 2025. The motto: “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” There is no doubt that the T3 and T4 syncro, as well as the later T5 and T6 4MOTION, have made a significant contribution to the fact that the VW van has become an icon for globetrotters, tradespeople and campers who often have to drive their vehicles on unpaved terrain. In Bremen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is now looking back on 40 years of all-wheel drive and, at the same time, looking to the future. This is because the seventh generation of the Bulli – the Multivan, California, Transporter, Caravelle and ID. Buzz – is also available with all-wheel drive.
Off to the Sahara in the T2: The first T3 syncro went into series production in 1985. However, the story of all-wheel-drive adventures with the VW van began much earlier – in the 1970s, with the head of development for the Transporter product line: Gustav Mayer (1925–2014). He loved travelling and challenging himself, a passion that kept leading him back to the Sahara Desert in a T2 time and again. However, the T2 was only available with rear-wheel drive at the time. At some point, though, Gustav Mayer had had enough of shovelling his van out of the sand in the deserts of North Africa, so he and his team simply built an all-wheel drive T2. The tests of the first prototype went well, including a few again in the dunes of the Sahara. In 1978, construction of five T2 test vehicles with a selectable frontwheel drive began. However, the T2 – launched in 1967 – was already approaching the end of its life cycle at that point. That’s why the T3 became the first VW van to be equipped with all-wheel drive.
The T3 syncro made its debut in 1985: From the very beginning, the T3 was not only intended as a commercial vehicle, but also as a vehicle for travelling the world. There was simply no other vehicle offered the same level of spaciousness. The floor structure of the T3, first introduced with rear-wheel drive in 1979, allowed space for a propshaft and a front axle differential right from the outset and thus for all-wheel drive. But it took time to develop it to the desired level of perfection and apparently ever-lasting durability. The waiting finally came to an end in 1985: the first Transporter vehicles and the first Caravelle syncro were launched onto the market. Volkswagen had entered into a cooperation with Steyr-Daimler-Puch for series development and construction of the syncro variants. The company was renowned within the industry as a highly competent specialist for the development and production of all-wheel drive vehicles. This is why final assembly of the T3 syncro took place at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant in Graz.
A VW van as an off-road vehicle: In contrast to the T2 test vehicles, the T3 syncro did not have a selectable all-wheel drive, but – much more conveniently – a front axle that was permanently integrated via a propshaft. A viscous clutch was used for integration. This proved to be very robust and delivered perfect performance under almost all conditions. Another advantage of the Visco clutch was the fact that the otherwise standard intermediate differential, which usually compensated for the speed differences between the front and rear axles, could be omitted. This task was now also performed by the silicone oil-filled clutch. A multi-part underbody guard protected the all-wheel-drive technology from damage during off-road adventures. Different springs and harder shock absorbers were also used. As a result, the body of the syncro models was 60 millimetres higher. When it came to choosing a gearbox, the engineers opted for a 4+G gearbox, which had four classic forward gears and a very short off-road gear for driving on rough ground. Differential locks on the front and rear axles as well as a rough terrain package were also available as options. The latter included features such as reinforced drive shafts, a vibration damper in the drivetrain and various body reinforcements. With this equipment, the syncro models impressed with a ground clearance of 215 millimetres at the front, a ramp angle of 22 degrees and a breakover angle of 24 degrees. In terms of drive technology, the VW van had reached the level of an off-road vehicle – but with much more space and comfort on board for life’s great adventures.
T3 with 16-inch wheels as a flatbed truck: From 1987, the T3 syncro was even available with 16-inch wheels and extensive modifications to the chassis and body, larger brakes and a rear axle lock as standard, catering to the most extreme off-road use. The reinforcements increased the off-road payload to one tonne. The ground clearance increased to 246 millimetres (+25 mm). A total of 2,138 of these heavy-duty all-wheel drive vehicles – out of the total 45,478 T3 syncros built – left the Graz production halls up until 1992, becoming companions to adventurers, world travellers, forestry workers and tradespeople. Only around 60 of these Volkswagens at expedition-vehicle standard were built as flatbed truck with a load bed, but the additional costs for the syncro drive and the 16-inch conversion were around 50 percent higher compared with the rear-wheel drive platform body. Today, it is almost impossible to track down such an early all-wheel-drive pickup as a classic vehicle. However, it is still possible to see one of these needles in the haystack of all-wheeldrive VW vans: at the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles stand at Bremen Classic Motorshow.
The T4 syncro arrives in 1993: A genuine world record-breaker will be standing right next to the syncro dropside at the Bremen Classic Motorshow: a T4 Multivan syncro from 1999, in which, 26 years ago, a team from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles completed the legendary Pan-American Highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego faster and more easily than any other traveller on four-wheels had ever done before. But before this adventure could begin, the T4 had to be developed. A brief flashback: when the new T4 Volkswagen van made its debut in 1990 – by now in its fourth generation – it was a technical revolution with a new design, new drive, new engines and a new concept. The boxer engine had stepped out of the ring. It was replaced by modern, water-cooled four- and five-cylinder engines, which no longer worked at the rear but at the front, powering the front wheels – offering advantages across the board: the load compartment in the T4 was lower and more accessible. And most importantly, the driver and front passenger seats were now located behind the front axle, which improved passive safety. In 1993, Volkswagen completed the range with the new T4 syncro, whose Visco clutch now transmitted power from the front to the rear.
A record-breaking drive for the Multivan T4 syncro: As already mentioned, the fact that Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles once again had one of the world’s best vehicles for adventures in its the range in the form of the all-wheel-drive T4 was demonstrated when the inventor of the VW van took it on a world record-breaking drive from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego in 1999. Two teams set off from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska on 25 September with the aim of reaching Ushuaia in Argentina via the longest north-south connection on the American continent – the Pan-American Highway. Apart from a larger fuel tank, additional headlights on the roof and plexiglass lenses in front of the headlights, the technology of the vehicles was the same as a production vehicle. The challenges faced by both man and machine included the fact that the Pan-American Highway was in far from ideal condition due to an earthquake in Mexico and a great deal of unrest in South America. Nevertheless, the first T4 Multivan syncro – registration number WOB AZ 152 – with professional globetrotters Andreas Renz and Matthias Göttenauer on board reached its destination after exactly 15 days, 14 hours and 6 minutes and 22,880 kilometres, securing its place in the Guinness Book of World Records. The second T4 Multivan syncro also reached its destination a few days later after getting caught in severe storms. The record drive undertaken by the Multivan T4 syncro was the final impetus for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles to design even more powerful all-wheel-drive vehicles. The T4 syncro thus became the initial trigger for the development of the PanAmericana models – first as a special edition model (T4), then as a special series (T5) and since the T6 as an all-terrain equipment version.
The T5 as 4MOTION arrives in 2004: In 2003, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles presented the T5 as a world premiere. More powerful engines and, above all, the Electronic Stability Control (ESC) called for a new all-wheel drive system. This was available from 2004 onwards under the new designation 4MOTION. The central element of the 4MOTION system was now an axially compressed multiplate clutch running in an oil bath. The pressure was generated by two pumps. The more pressure that was applied to the plates, the greater the power transmission and thus integration of the rear axle. Thanks to the multiplate clutch’s quick reaction time, it was now possible to integrate the rear axle steplessly only if one of the front wheels started to lose traction. In normal operation, the 4MOTION models available as a Transporter, Caravelle, Multivan and California therefore had front-wheel drive, which helped to save fuel.
4MOTION gets electronic controls: In 2010, an enhanced version of 4MOTION made its debut with a new multiplate clutch and an electronically controlled high-pressure pump, which provided a constant oil pressure of 30 bar in a reservoir. Slip on the front axle was thus no longer needed to persuade the rear wheels to step in. The ESC sensors provided the high-pressure pump with information when the wheels were practically only just starting to show a loss of traction. Within a hundredth of a second, the power was delivered to the wheels that needed it. In addition, the new 4MOTION system was able to cover virtually all driving conditions with confidence. Furthermore, it was able to move forward even when a wheel was hanging in the air – with an optional rear-axle locking differential coming in helpful here. From 2015, the 4MOTION system with the electronically controlled multiplate clutch was adapted for the sixth generation of the product line (T6) and used in the T6.1 from 2019.
Three all-wheel-drive van product lines for the modern age: Due to completely new requirements relating to the variety of drive systems and usage scenarios, the seventh generation of the Bulli is now divided into three product lines: the Multivan including the new California based on it, the all-electric ID. Buzz, including the ID. Buzz Cargo commercial vehicle version, and the new Transporter including the Caravelle designed as a shuttle bus. And Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles naturally also offers various derivatives of all three product lines as all-wheel drive versions: the Multivan and California have been available since autumn 2024 with the first new plug-in hybrid all-wheel drive (eHybrid 4MOTION) from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles; as an innovation, the rear axle is powered purely electrically here. The rear axle of the newly developed Transporter TDI 4MOTION and Caravelle TDI 4MOTION is integrated via an electronically controlled differential. And in the case of the all-wheel drive ID. Buzz Cargo Pro 4MOTION and ID. Buzz GTX models, all four wheels are driven exclusively by electric power. Nothing will therefore stand in the way of a trip in a VW van to the Sahara in 2025. These models also don’t necessarily need roads either…
Classic T1 model to serve thirsty visitors in Hall 5: A trip round the show browsing some deliciously perfect examples of automotive history – from the prospective Bulli to the perfect all-wheel drive model – is thirsty work. That’s why Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Oldtimer division will once again be bringing an important cult vehicle from its large collection to the show on the banks of the River Weser: the ‘Beck’s Bus’. And that’s exactly where you’ll find the famous Bremen beer that shares its name with this T1 bus. The option of an alcohol-free version for motorists goes without saying. For a long time now, the ‘Beck’s Bus’ has been a popular and well known meeting point at trade fairs – like Bremen’s beloved get-together for classic vehicle fans. Simply head to stand D08 in Hall 5. Spread across 424 square metres, the stand not only has classic vehicles from Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, but also numerous classic icons from Audi Tradition, Škoda, Autostadt Wolfsburg and Volkswagen Classic. So, one trip to this stand is worth it five times over.
