In a message dated 98-11-20 12:35:35 EST, scholten1@marshall.edu writes:

<< It brings up a good question: did the 411/12 version of the Type IV
 pancake, back in the early '70s, have more power than the 1700 in the
 '72-'73 bus? If memory seves, those fuel-injected 1800s had some spunk.
 (There was one-ONE- in town.)
  >>

'71-'72 VW 411  1700cc FI
'73 VW 412  1700cc FI
'74 VW 412  1800cc FI
these cars were actually "before their time"...and unfortunately never really
went over well in the US.  they had front and rear struts/springs, and most
came with an automatic, but there were 4spds available.
this was VW's first attemt at the "luxury car " market.
a gasoline based heater (Eberspacher BN-4) was standard equipment on all
models. it had a unique feature built into the clock, where you could actually
preset the gas heater to come on at a specific time. they were available in 2
door "squareback" styles, "fastback" styles, and a 4 door version. they were
set up similar to the type 3's, where they had a front and rear "trunk" but
they had the type 4 pancake ( late bus) engine.
they are quite comfortable to drive ( i used to own a harvest gold metallic
'73 412 squareback) but have problems w/ rust thru under the drivers seat
(batt located under the drivers seat)...

all in all, i think they were cool looking cars...and it was the biggest
engine vw ever put in a small car....they could move pretty well.

chris
ex '73 vw 412 owner