The Volkswagen Type 4 was a mid-sized 2 or 4-door sedan or 2-door station wagon built by Volkswagen. It was produced between 1968 and 1974. It was larger than the Volkswagen Type 3 and had a more powerful engine (1.7 to 1.8 litre). The Type 3 and Type 4 were the last of VW's air-cooled models and preceded the massively successful Golf/Rabbit and Dasher/Passat.
The Type 4 introduced many firsts to the Volkswagen lineup. These firsts included: unibody construction, MacPherson strut front suspension, rear suspension with coil springs and trailing wishbones, hydraulic clutch (for models equipped with a manual transmission), and one of the first fully automatic transmissions (the first was in the 1969 type 3 models) in a Volkswagen (previous cars used an automatic (vacuum-actuated) clutch, but still had to be shifted manually). It was also Volkswagen's first 4-door sedan. The MacPherson strut front suspension was later successfully used in the Super Beetle (1302/1303).
The Type 4 included the 411 (produced from 1968 to 1972) and the optimized 412 (produced in 1973 and 1974). Each model included a sedan (fastback) and a station wagon version. Both models were fuel injected (except the 1968 model with 68 HP), one of the first mass production vehicles to include this electronic feature after the Volkswagen Type 3 (which also received fuel injection in 1968).
The Type 4 was reputedly a favorite project of Volkswagen head Heinz Nordhoff, who felt that the larger vehicle would be attractive to families in North America. However, the car was quite unsuccessful in many countries since people already preferred the modernest constructions in this class.
While the Beetle's battery was located under the rear seat, the Type 4's battery was located under the driver's seat. In the rear of the car was located a gasoline operated heater (Eberspächer BA4) that was fired by a glow plug accessible from a hidden rear window deck plate.
The design of the Type 4 was used when the Volkswagen Brasilia was produced for the Latin American market.
While the Type 4 was discontinued in 1974 when sales dropped, the Type 4 engine became the power plant for Volkswagen Type 2s produced from 1972 to 1979, and continued in modified form in the Volkswagen Vanagon (air-cooled from 1980 through mid-1983). The engine that superseded the Type 4 engine in late 1983 retained Volkswagen Type I architecture, yet featured water-cooled cylinder heads and cylinder jackets. The Wasserboxer, VW speak for a water-cooled, opposed-cylinder (flat or boxer engine), did not enjoy the reputation for longevity that the original air-cooled design forged. From the very start, the engine suffered cylinder-to-head sealing problems, mostly due to galvanic corrosion, often a result of slack maintenance schedules. Volkswagen discontinued the engine in 1992, when it introduced the Eurovan.
In contemporary German vernacular, the 411 was called "Langnase" ("looong nose") or "Vier Türen elf Jahre zu spät", meaning "four doors coming eleven years too late" because it was Volkswagen's first 4-door sedan
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