Consensus of past conversations, list and elsewhere, is that
VW never did six cylinder engines from the factory, altho as
Joel has documented, Oettinger did a brutally expensive
aftermarket six with Vanagon pistons. Porsche connection
deserves mention, tho.  One of the catalysts for my long
dream of a Porsche=powered Vanagon was a conversion done by
the Porsche factory, which I saw in the early eighties as it
passed through NJ on its way to CA, to the dealer who had
commissioned it.  It was a white Vanagon with grey interior,
Porsche gauges, and a Porsche six which you would swear had
been installed on a factory line.  Nothing about the engine
looked at all out of place or cobbled-up.

And in fact when I built mine, the Porsche engine went into
the Vanagon suspiciously easily.  Most tellingly, the oil
tank goes in in the proper orientation to the engine without
affecting ANY other mechanical systems -- not so much as a
taillight wire.  I have to think that the Vanagon was
designed with the then-current Porsche six in mind as an
option.  They just didn't poll the right wackos when they
did their market research to justify the model.

B.
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