percentage and heritage, vw/porsche Options

[TROJANMAN]

what percentage of a stock 914-4 are volkswagen parts?

[lapuwali]

QUOTE (ArtechnikA @ Oct 12 2005, 08:52 AM)

this came up in another, unrelated thread. The Geo Prizm and some kinda Toyota are the same car. are they all Geo's, or are they all Toyotas?

Toyota Corolla, and they're all made at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California. So, they're not even "Japanese" cars...

Back to the subject at hand...

Part numbers alone don't mean all that much. The steering column surround, keyswitch, and turn signal stalk on my '71 914/4 look astonishingly like the same parts on my '69 VW Type III. The 914 parts all have 914 part numbers, and the Type III parts all have 311 part numbers, but they're completely interchangable as far as I can tell.

Some of the people on the 912 board will really get their backs up when you suggest that the Type 616 (the 912 engine) is a VW engine. It's not, it's a derivation of the 40hp Type I. Lots of changes, but the bloodline is very clear. And the original Type I was designed by Herr Doktor Porsche, so why get upset when someone suggests it's a VW? It's considered sheer heresy to install a pumped up Type I into a 912 (or a 356), yet you can barely tell the difference between the two engines from 5 feet away. With the engine lid down and the car running, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference at all. Heresy...

In any case, none of this is really directed at you, Trojanman. Your original question sounded exactly like the usual opening gambit for someone who has a bug up their ass about the whole VW/Porsche thing. Usually, it's the Porsche people who are overly sensitive about the connection, for no good reason.