Volkswagen LT

LT at a glance

The LT belongs to our Volkswagen catalogue. Its successor has its own article on Crafter generations and load space, and the smaller van of the same era is covered in our Volkswagen Transporter overview.

Volkswagen LT generations

LT1: the forward-control van of 1975

The first LT was launched in Berlin in 1975. It was a forward-control design, with the cab above the front axle, and it was offered in an unusually wide range of weights and wheelbases. The light LT 28, LT 31 and LT 35 covered 2.8 to 3.5 tonnes gross weight. The heavier LT 40 to LT 55 used a solid front axle, and the 5.6-tonne LT 55 arrived about two years after the 1983 facelift.

Three wheelbases were available: 2,500 mm, 2,950 mm and 3,650 mm, all with a body width of 2,085 mm. The longest wheelbase was 1,150 mm, or 46%, longer than the shortest. Bodies included panel vans, window vans, pickups, double cabs, platform trucks and chassis cabs for special bodies, with standard and high roofs.

Production started with 6,608 vehicles in 1975 and peaked at 34,383 in 1980. Totals differ: Wikipedia gives 471,221 for 1975–1996, while its yearly table adds up to 467,919.

Facelifts of 1983, 1986 and 1993

The 1983 update brought a new interior and dashboard, a new engine cover in the cab, a turbodiesel and a six-cylinder petrol engine. In 1986 rectangular headlamps replaced the round ones. A final change in spring 1993 added a grey plastic grille and rear lamp trims, and new diesel engines replaced the older ones.

LT1 4x4 and special versions

All-wheel-drive LTs began with the conversion specialist Sülzer, which built 156 six-cylinder LT 40 and LT 45 4x4s. Volkswagen took over in 1985 and built about 1,250 more as Typ 29. The transfer case was a New Process 208, replaced by the 241 in 1993. The Dutch firm De Vries built three 4x4 LTs, and one of them took part in the 1983 Dakar Rally. Steyr-Puch also used LT underpinnings for its Noriker. Above the LT, Volkswagen and MAN built a heavier joint range from 1979 to 1993, the MAN-VW G series for 6 to 10 tonnes gross weight.

LT1 engines

The 2.0 petrol four was related to the Audi 100 engine. The first diesel came from Perkins; from 1978 it was joined by a Volkswagen six-cylinder diesel derived from the Golf engine family, and the Perkins unit was dropped in 1982.

LT2: the Sprinter-based van of 1996

The second LT appeared in 1996 as a product of the commercial-vehicle cooperation between Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz. It shared its body shell with the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter, but Volkswagen fitted its own engines and gearboxes. The layout changed completely: instead of a forward-control cab, the LT2 had a longitudinal engine under a short bonnet and rear-wheel drive.

The weight range was 2.6 to 4.6 tonnes. Volkswagen offered panel vans in three wheelbases, platform trucks, crew cabs and chassis for special bodies, plus a special-order articulated XLT.

Over its ten years the LT2's most powerful diesel more than doubled the output of the base SDI (116 against 55 kW). Production ended in September 2006 after about 350,000 LT2s. A third LT generation had been planned but was cancelled; its place was taken by the Crafter, launched later in 2006. A competitor of that era is described in our Mercedes-Benz Sprinter overview.

Key specifications: LT 35 2.8 TDI (2002–2006)

Campers and conversions

The LT was a common base for motorhomes. On the LT1, Westfalia built the Sven Hedin and Florida campers, and Karmann built more than 3,000 of its LT-based Distance Wide. LT1 chassis also carried fire-brigade bodies and minibus bodies; one Dutch minibus maker used the LT 50 chassis.

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