This thing looks for all the world like the love child of a Volkswagen Type 2 pickup and a catfish! It’s actually a Tempo Rapid, possibly the only one extant in the U.S., and while it needs a full restoration for which parts will be very difficult (if not impossible) to find, it’s a seriously cool piece. I hope someone is able to take this project on. If you think that could be you, check out the ad, which was sent to us by reader Keith, on South Jersey craigslist, where the asking price for this truck is only $1,500.
The ad gives a great history of this particular truck, which has been parked for the last 25 years and is in the hands of the second owner. It’s well worth a read; head here if the ad has been taken down. What the seller doesn’t seem to have is a lot of details on the history of Tempo and the Rapid, so let’s see what gaps we can fill in. For starters, this is a front-wheel drive, mid-engine truck! Yes, mid-engine; the engine is mounted just aft of the front axle, at the rear of the cab.
In the case of the Rapid, that engine is an Austin-built four cylinder. I’ve seen different sources that say these used either the 948-cc or 1497-cc BMC motor. In either case, finding parts for the engine may prove to be the easiest aspect of this restoration! Earlier versions of this truck, called the Wiking (or Viking in English-speaking markets) used a Heinkel two-stroke engine, while a few of the larger Tempo Matador trucks in the early ’50s used VW engines—until VW was about to start its own truck production and cut off the supply.
The Wiking/Rapid was produced through 1963, while the Matador soldiered on until 1966. After that, trucks built by Tempo were sold primarily under the Hanomag name; the Hanomag conglomerate was acquired by Daimler-Benz in 1971 and all of its brand names were phased out in favor of Mercedes-Benz by 1977.
With their novel front-drive engineering and…unique…styling, Tempos are an interesting footnote in the history of German commercial vehicles and the postwar Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle). This Rapid would be an ambitious project, but tells a story that very few people know—wouldn’t that make for great car show conversations?
Would be a good advertising prop for an orthodontist…
A great idea !
I was thinking it would look good setting along side of the road for a big fish farm!!!!! or a pay lake, like near Herculean, Mo.
I found a picture of what the truck should look like.
Wow…I also have a Tempo…oh wait..mine made by Ford…sorry
I thought I read Tempo Rabid, which seemed to fit . . .
Yep….Tempo RABID ! Looks like a dead catfish.
There’s at least one other at the Lane Motor Museum
Not sure I’m sad or glad it’s all the way over in Jersey.. I love it.
1953 Tempo Wiking 2 cycle truck in the US. It has a lil’ guppy-ish grille and is smaller than the ’58/’59 Wiking Rapid trucks and vans.
3 min video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmsxhntzecY
Walter Miller Literature has a 1958 Tempo Wiking Rapid folder available. Dutch text, but detailed illustrations are worth a look:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1958-Tempo-Wiking-Rapid-Van-Pickup-Truck-Brochure-Dutch-wq2443-DH65M8-/370770241950?rmvSB=true
Don Knotts as The Incredible Mr. Limpet.
Mr. Limpet has more character….
I haven’t seen that movie in years, I’d watch it again, I wonder if it’s as good as I remember?
Buy this to restore? Even the car has given up based on the “grim” looking front end.
Looks like the same designer penned this front, as well as the Daimler 250 Dart sports car. This thing looks like the child of the marriage of the Daimler 250 & the 1958 Packard Hawk!
About the only sane thing you could do is try hammering out the dents and putting it on the frame of another vehicle.
Kinda what I was considering. Find a box van and get creative. What could possibly go wrong.
Put a fish hook in that grille.
The one at Lane is a ’55 Viking, powered by a Heinkel-sourced 460cc two-stroke – hence, it’s not “Rapid.”
The love child of a Volkswagen van and a Daimler SP 250 Dart.
I know it looks hideous, but look what we were designing in the 50’s. Frowny faced, buck tooth Buicks, sad looking Kaisers, and Oldsmobiles and Chryslers,,, well, too easy. Seems the Europeans had some connection to fish, for some reason.( Daimler SP250, the Sabra, Citroen) No interest here.
I’ve seen two of these recently, both in California. The first was at the Bob’s Big Boy Friday Night Cruise-In in Burbank, the second was at one of the street shows in Carmel in conjunction with the Pebble Beach Concours. There was another Tempo vehicle in town that week also – an RV that showed up at the Lemons Car Show. So perhaps not as rare here as first thought.
I have a 1959 tempo rapid for sale. all original barn find. my grandfather had this truck and is in all original intact condition . i also have extra parts trucks, motor’s cab’s for sale.
@Lee – Please consider listing it here on the site: https://barnfinds.com/sell/ Thanks!
Lee Mayne, Where are you located? I have a 1959 tempo matador that I will likely need parts for. You don’t happen to have a running Austin 4 cyl do you?
gvillegiant@hotmail.com
Burlington Flats, NY. I’m his daughter.