4 door Variant mistake...

[412s2]

I remember getting my copy of the 1990 Genuine VW Parts Catalogue and seeing an illustration of a 4 door Variant on the cover. I thought 'Surely not??!' and quickly flicked to the body panel section, no 4 door Variant however

[vonkr]

Hey, I've got the same book, but never noticed that.....

[tuna]

They should have made that body style too.... it looks great.

Tuna

[albert]

nice this book but i thing it was made for the production 75 and wend vw stop the 412 production in 74 all the paper was made for the model 75 ,,that is my oppignion ,,,

[champagne superbeetle]

I don't remember the chronology of it all but in separate cases, there were plans for a four-door wagon and a convertible in Type 4 configuration. If I can find the documentation, I will quote it or scan it. (I need a new all-in-one for the latter.)

Volkswagen was certainly schizoid during the mid-'70's. They introduced the curved-screened Super Beetle (1303) in 1973. They also redesigned the the Type 4 (412) that same year. The remaining three Type 3's were all dropped after the 1973 model year. Karmann Ghia's and the Type 4's were dropped after the following year and yet, VW added rack and pinion steering to the 1303 at the same time. Except for convertibles, the Super Beetles were then dropped the following year -- finally signaling a commitment to their water-cooled cars.

To this day, Volkswagen seems unsure on how to address the US market.

[wildthings]

To this day, Volkswagen seems unsure on how to address the US market.

This is certainly true with buses. Mexico, Brazil, and South Africa all got proven power plants, we were given the waterdripper.

How about advertising the noble Type 181 as a toy and renaming it The Thing.

[412s2]

I once wound a 2.5 litre diesel Izuzu up to 140km/h whilst driving across South Africa, when I noticed a double grilled white blob approaching fast in my rear view mirror before passing me like I was standing still, what was even more surprising was that the vehicle that passed me was towing a huge trailer! As you might have guessed, it was one of those South African built 5-cylinder T3 buses! This one was only the baby 2.3 however, not the beefier 2.5 or later 2.6.

Although I do admire those powerful South African buses, I still prefer the engineering elegance of the wasserboxer engine. It's designed for the rear engined T3, like the type 4 engine is designed for the 411/412, and helps to give the T3 such a well balanced chassis. Those South African T3s must be very tail heavy with that long, tall and heavy cast iron block slung out the back! From what I've heard the weakest link in the reliability of the wasserboxer is the competence of the person in charge of its maintenance. If the engine is maintained in accordance with the instructions laid down by Volkswagen (i.e. using the correct antifreeze!) it will give years of trouble free service.

What I wish Volkswagen had put into production, was the flat-6 engine they contracted Oettinger to design! (http://www.wbx6.com/index.html) Or even mass produced Oettinger's 2.5 litre flat-4...

Getting back to Type 4s, I have seen pictures of the 411 cabriolet, but I have never seen or even read about a prototype 4-door variant. If someone does have information or pictures of such a car, I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd love to hear about it!

I believe you can see the 411 cabriolet at Karmann's factory Osnabrück, Germany. http://www.karmann.com/__C1256DF700512B ... 262e6.html

[func412]

Have you seen this 5 door project website?

http://www.rastall.com/412/412topics-prj.html