In a message dated 12/14/00 2:41:50 AM Eastern Standard Time, Oxroad@AOL.COM
writes:
What's the deal on the VW 411 and 412 if I have the models right? These
replaced the squareback and fastback as far as I can remember, but have many
survived? Are they or were they decent cars in their day--and are they
usable
now if one can be found? Are they pricey if one can be found? Are they worth
it?
i had a rust free '73 412 squareback w/ 80k orig miles, Eberspaecher BN-4 gas
heater, roof rack, at, 1800cc FI engine, even had an 8 track Blaupunkt in
it..and i was lucky to get $500 for it.. they are like vw's "edsel"... vw's
first attempt at a "luxury car" (hah! :<) and were the most expensive in vw's
lineup at the time, exept for a fully decked out westy, maybe.
neat little car, but they didn't sell too well. people figured they could go
out and buy a nice '73 ford LTD detroit monster that had heat and power
windows for the same money.. thats why the 411/412 were only sold from
'71-'74. if you find a manual one, grab it if its in good cond. the manual
trannys are rare. i always wanted to find a manual one and drop a 2 liter
in there. they came stock with the 1700cc FI ('71-'72 411) and the 1800cc FI
- '73-'74 412). Most type 4's (411/412 are called "type 4") were automatics.
gas heaters were standard on all of them, and even have a preset timer
feature where they are connected to the clock in the car and you can set it
to come on at a certain time. that way, you can set your gas heater to come
on at 6:30am, and by 7:30 when you leave for work, the car will already be
burned to the ground .... :<)
chris