In a message dated 11/29/00 10:29:02 PM, vanagon@VOLKSWAGEN.ORG writes:

<< Want the engine for the Vanagon
It�s a W 12 yes a 12 cylinder in the shape of a W ! >>

David,

This W-12 may be from the same gene pool as the WBX, but I think the next 
element in the permutation of the flat four would be an X-8.  Sort of like 2 
WBX's half-lapped together.  Henry Ford was doing his damnedest to develop 
one to power the Model A.  Then there is the experimental 1935 Hoffman X-8 
which may have had Ford'$ backing.  Rear-engined (more precisely, 
mid-engined), H2O-cooled, X-8 and, if you squint when you look at its 
profile, Beetle-like.

Rich