Due to its extremely different climate and conditions, Australia has always been a challenging market for carmakers. As such, the Australian army was looking for a vehicle suited to Australia’s unique landscapes. Volkswagen Australasia felt they were up to the task, and as such designed a vehicle, which would be available to both the army and the Australian public.
The intended vehicle was given the development name Kurierwagen and was designed and developed at VW Australia’s factory in Clayton. The concept stage began in the early 1960s, with the first prototypes being built in 1965. The three prototypes built were tested from 1965 through 1967, with over 50,000 km of road testing conducted in these two years.
The Kurierwagen was based on an Australian-made type 1 chassis, with all the bodywork also produced and constructed in Australia. The front and rear overhangs on the car were extremely short, in order to improve the approach and departure angles while off-road. The engine used was the ubiquitous Volkswagen air-cooled, four-cylinder boxer engine, also taken from the Type 1. The car also borrowed parts from the Type 2 van and the Kübelwagen.
The now renamed Country Buggy was launched in 1967, being unveiled to the public in March at the Melbourne auto show. The car was initially supposed to be released in 1967, but due to issues with the initial prototypes, the car wasn’t released to the public until early 1968. The sales for the country buggy were low, but on track with Volkswagen’s predictions. However, heavy losses at VW Australasia halted production of Australia-specific cars, and one of the many projects killed by this change was the Country Buggy, with only 842 cars built.
However, the Country Buggy found a new lease of life in the Philippines, where a few earlier imported models had proved relatively successful. As such, the Country Buggy was renamed as the Sakbayan and imported to the Philippines. However, due to the strict import laws in the country, Volkswagen would ship the cars as a CKD kit from Germany, to be assembled once in the Philippines. This interest meant that the car managed to stay in production until 1980, with nearly 2000 Sakbayans imported.
The Country Buggy, and later the Sakbayan were not extremely popular, but they were based on a concept that Chrysler had used with the Willys Jeep and GM would use with the HUMVEE- a car built for the army, sold to the public. If nothing else, this car proved that Volkswagen was capable of building unique cars, such as the Country Buggy and its European cousin the VW 181.
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