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I beleive that it would be incorrect to label as "Type IV" the Brazilian
Type 3 vehicles shown in the pictures I submitted to the Type 3
Scrapbook. The German (and South African) built Type 4 vehicles
produced during the 1969 to 1974 model years were a totally different
vehicle compared to the Type 3. The motor was a totally different
design made of a different alloy and there are no parts
interchangeable. The Type 4 had Mcpherson strut coil front suspension
and coil-sprung rear. Type 3s had torsion bars at front and rear. But
most important of all, the Type 4 did not have a floorpan like Type 1
Beetles and Type 3s. Instead, the Type 4 had a monocoque or unitary
body - a radical departure for VW at the time. Type 3s and Type 4s are
as different as chalk and cheese.
Some potential confusion may lie in the styling of the nose on the last
two years of Type 4 production, namely the VW 412 of 1973 and 1974 model
years. This is the so-called "Leiding-nose" (named after the man who
was VW's CEO in Wolfsburg from 1971 to 1975 who had also been CEO of VW
do Brasil from 1968 to 1971). This nose styling treatment is also to be
found on the VW Brasilia (a Type 1), the 1973-1977 Brazilian Type 3s,
the Brazilian VW Variant II and the Brazilian VW SP-2 sportscar. So,
just because a car has a front-end which vaguely resembles the nose of a
VW 412 does not make it a Type 4.
Likewise, because the headlight treatment or style on the 1969-model VW
411 is similar to that on the 1969 Brazilian VW 1600 4-portas does not
mean they are the same sort of vehicle. Again, the two vehicles are
poles apart in engineering design and construction. That style of large
oval headlight was something that VW stylists tried out at the time and
obviously found was not very useful in marketing their cars. In fact,
my own 1969-model VW 411 is quite ugly because of it. (For a picture of
my own 1969 VW 411 see:
<http://www.type4.org/pictures/various_411/411_simonglen/view> ).
The Brazilian VW "Brasilia" (or VW "Igala" in Nigeria) was built on a
wide Type 1 Karmann-Ghia floorpan with Type 1 front and rear torsion
bars and an upright fan Type 1 motor like that found on the usual Type 1
Karmann-Ghia coupe. Given these basic design parameters it was clearly
a Type 1 in terms of floopan, suspension and motor.
All the other Brazilian Volkswagens shown in my Type 3 Scrapbook photos
have the basic design parameters of what constitutes a Type 3: a wide
rectangular-shaped floorpan, uniquely Type 3 front torsion bars which
cross each other, Type 3 'horns' and torsion bars included in a separate
subframe. This is the basic Type 3 floorpan onto which was bolted
either a Notchback, a Fastback, a Squareback or a Type 34 Karmann body.
In the case of the Brazilian vehicles there was no two-door Notchback
but instead a four-door Notchback (1969-1972 models), and known as the
"1600 4-portas" in Brazil. There was a two-door Fastback (1970 to 1977
models) and also a four-door Fastback (1973-1977 models) generally known
as the "1600TL" in Brazil. And, there were two-door Squarebacks (1973
-1977 models) which were given the "Variant" name also used in Europe
for Squarebacks. They had the standard basic Type 3 features including
the flat 1600 pancake engine with twin-carburettors but were only
available with swing axles at the rear. An exception here is that the
1968 - 1970 four-door "1600 4-portas" was fitted with an upright fan
Beetle-style motor with either one or two carburettors - an odd uniquely
Brazilian feature that lasted for only three years.
VW do Brasil had a fair amount of autonomy and so produced its own
styling for Type 3s but some of the body features of these Brazilian
Type 3s are shared with German ones such as the doors on two-door
models. However, the prototypes of these Brazilian versions were
originally constructed and tested in Germany. Code named "EA97", one of
these prototypes can be seen in the VW Museum in Wolfsburg and other
pictures in my book ("Volkswagens of the World") and in Etzold's "The
Beetle - Chronicles of the People's Car Volume 2".
Like the German Type 34 Karmann Ghia, the independent Brazilian company,
Karmann-Ghia do Brasil, also built a coupe version of the Brazilian Type
3 called the "1600 TC" (1970 - 1976) and some pictures of this model are
shown in the Type 3 Scrapbook. Also shown in the Type 3 Scrapbook are
pictures of the unique Brazilian Volkswagen sportscar the VW SP-2 (1973
- 1976) the body of which was also built by Karmann-Ghia do Brasil.
Both these vehicles are typical Type 3s in terms of floorpan, suspension
and flat pancake motor. (See the VW SP-2 web site:
<http://www.amplus.com.br/vwsp2/galeria/index.htm> )
The two-door Brazilian VW "Variant II" had a more modern body compared
to the earlier Brazilian and European Type 3s but it still had the same
basic Type 3 floorpan and a flat pancake 1600 twin-carburettor motor.
However, unlike all previous Brazilian Type 3s, it had CV-joint rear
suspension/drive (IRS) and, uniquely for any Type 3, it had McPherson
strut front suspension. Unfortunately, it was only in production from
late1977 until 1981.
Simon Glen
Toowoomba, Australia.
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