I admit having to look this one up! Tempo made a large variety of small commercial vehicles in Germany and elsewhere, with the Viking Matador (big name for a small vehicle!) being made from 1953 to 1963 according to one source. This one is available from Malmo, Sweden and is available here on eBay with an opening bid of $9,700 and no reserve. I found this brochure on eBay to see what one should look like:
That seems like a lot of money to me for a vehicle that is missing a tire and a driveshaft, but I loved the seller’s honesty in the description when they listed the number of cylinders as “3 or 4”. I’m not sure if that means an engine is not included or if it’s just lost a cylinder?
Anyway, it does give us an excuse to publish this great picture of the front looking like a fish with gills! As far as I can tell, there’s a lot of rust and not a lot to recommend this little vehicle, but I’m sure there’s a Barn Finds reader out there who knows a lot more than I do about this little van with the big name. Please tell us about these in the comments below!
What was it someone said about the Chevette earlier this week? Oh YES…rarity does not always equal high price. And to that I add beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I’m sure the seller thinks there’s SOMEONE out there that has fond memories of the family van and is willing to sink big bucks into restoring this poor hulk…
I’m at a loss on this one. Pretty sure it should have a vw engine in a front engine layout.looks like the motor was swapped. I have not seen the vans, but I have seen a few restored trucks and yes these are commanding huge money.
I agree with Mark E.
These were always the stepchildren in German vans.
If you could not afford anything else, then this was your last choice.
They all but a few got worn out and trashed, and this one isn’t far away from that.
If this gets anywhere near the asking price, than I am doubling my “least I’ll take price” on my Mercedes Van.
It looks like every component on this vehicle needs replacement or to be re-worked.
Other than that it’s a piece of cake.
Yes Cory, the engine was in the front and the Van came with a VW engine or later with a little stronger “Standart Engine” from England. ( 4 Cyl. water cooled)
You could load the vehicle from the back or from the side. Since the engine was in the front, the loading area was very low and much easier to load then the “brother” from VW.
One more bad thing about this “transporter”, the VW engine in the front was so loud, you hardly could under stand what your “Co” was saying.
It gives new meaning to “Euro Trash.” A good candidate for the crusher.
From the makers of the Golli Dreirad!
This Tempo Viking is the lighter brother of the matador. and was equipped with a Heinkel two-cylinder 460cc two-stroke engine