I've been reading Karl Ludvigsen's book, 'Porsche - Excellence Was Expected' recently. According to this book up until 1973, 40% of Porsche's engineering effort was geared towards Volkswagen, sadly the book doesn't really go into much detail about this part of Porsche history, it tends to concentrate more on the competition and production Porsche models. The Volkswagen 411/412 hardly gets a mention other than in the VW/Porsche 914 section and there it is only referenced as the source of that car's 4 cylinder engine...
There is an interesting section on the Type 745 engine from 1962, it is described as a prototype engine for a car that eventually turned into the Porsche 911. A 2 litre produced 120bhp as 6500rpm and a 2.2 produced 130bhp at the same speed. Look at the following pictures:
A big pushrod engine which produced its power and torque at relatively low revs (compared to the OHC Porsche engines)? That low profile cooling system? I can't help wondering if it was developed with the big Volkswagen in mind more specifically the EA141 Variant model which needed a reasonably low load platform over the engine...
I also found this list of Porsche project type numbers on the internet:
http://www.porsche356klubb.se/pint_nr.htm
The Ludvigsen book has a similar list of type numbers and descriptions, although it also lists Type 913 as a 3-cylinder, DOHC, air-cooled engine for Volkswagen and in addition to the 914 car it lists a DOHC, air-cooled, 4-cylinder engine as part of the 914 project.
Does anyone know what Porsche project numbers the 411/412 fell under??
Best wishes!!
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