A legendary boxer engine at the rear. A legendary name. And a controversial switch from air to water cooling. The Porsche 911 experienced this moment with the introduction of the 996 series in 1997. In case you were thinking of the VW Beetle, it too was on the brink, as our Brazilian colleague and VW expert Jason reports…
Wolfsburg, 2017 The purpose of the trip was to see the second-generation Tiguan, which was due to be launched on the Brazilian market the following year. And of course I took the opportunity to visit the Volkswagen Museum again.
But I’m not talking about the ZeitHaus, this modern and splendid building in AutoStadt, with five floors of gleaming classics from various marques. My starting point in Wolfsburg was about 2.5 kilometres away on the grey Dieselstraße, at number 35: the Volkswagen AutoMuseum Foundation.
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Opened in 1985, the AutoMuseum is a modest, poorly lit, single-storey building that has suffered the ravages of time. However, its collection includes several prototypes that were saved from the scrap heap after being developed and tested – God knows how. There are, for example, a handful of candidates for the successor to the VW Beetle that never made it into series production.
But back to the 2017 visit: walking through the main exhibition hall of the AutoMuseum, I noticed that an irresistible little door was open, leading to an area not accessible to the public: the Foundation’s technical reserve. There, protected from dust by thin transparent plastic covers, were dozens of prototypes and rare vehicles, unknown even to those steeped in VW history.
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One in particular caught my eye: a plain white “Fafá” VW Beetle, but with additional openings in the rear bonnet and a rectangular protrusion in the number plate holder. With the trembling hands of someone desecrating the tomb of Tutankhamun, I lifted the thin cover, opened the bonnet and… instead of the classic air-cooled boxer engine, there was an EA 111 – a water-cooled in-line four-cylinder that would power the Fox, versions of the Gol family and the estate after 2005 in Brazil, among others.
The EA 111 (EA = development order) engine series were three and four-cylinder in-line engines from the Volkswagen Group. Between 1985 and 2015, they were initially used in the VW Polo and Golf, later in the Lupo, Touran, Caddy, Scirocco and Passat, and since the 1990s also in the Group’s Seat, Skoda and Audi models. A slightly modified version of the EA 111 was even fitted under the bonnet of the Trabant 1.1 and Wartburg 1.3.
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What was this “water” engine doing in the greatest icon of air cooling? The AutoMuseum was pretty empty for a change. The few people who were there couldn’t tell me anything about the mysterious Beetle. I couldn’t find any information on the internet either.
Birthday present
Seven years later we went back to the AutoMuseum. It was my birthday, my only free afternoon in Wolfsburg and it was a bit chilly. Perhaps the caretaker was touched by the situation and agreed to open the exhibition just for me. The best part was that there was a surprise gift inside: the Water Beetle was on display this time! A small sign next to the car explained in German: “Beetle with Polo engine”. And there was some brief information:
“As the air-cooled Boxer had no future at VW for emission reasons, the installation of water-cooled Boxers began in the 1970s. The adaptation was successful in the T3, but the VW Beetle was the first to be tested”.
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“In the early 1980s, a Polo engine (EA111/VM 9581) was installed in a VW Beetle from Mexico. Among other things, the rear bonnet had to be modified. The EA 111 engine was later used in the Brazilian T2C estate, but not in the VW Beetle”.
On the same badge there is a sheet with some data. Year of construction: 1984; Engine: Four-cylinder in-line engine, water-cooled; Displacement: 1,043 cm³; Power: 45 hp; Top speed: 130 km/h.
A bit of history
Until the late 1960s, air-cooled engines were VW’s big selling point. “Air doesn’t boil” was the advertising slogan. But it didn’t really heat either, as many a customer would complain in winter. This culture began to change when the company bought Auto Union in 1965 and inherited the Audi F103 project.
With the advent of sealed radiators, electric fans, thermostatic valves and coolants that could better withstand extremes of cold and heat, an “air” engine was no longer so advantageous in terms of reliability. Controlling the ideal operating temperature had become easier, making water-cooled engines more efficient and environmentally friendly. From the early 1970s, exhaust emissions became increasingly regulated. Air-cooled engines were also noisier.
In Europe, both the Golf I (1974) and the Polo I (1975), announced as the successor to the VW Beetle, featured in-line four-cylinder engines with liquid cooling. And to improve the T3 Transporter, Volkswagen developed another solution: the Wasserboxer, an engine that retained the horizontal four-cylinder design but was equipped with water cooling.
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At the beginning of the 1980s, the good old Beetle was only produced in Mexico and Brazil, and still sold very well in both countries. Official exports to Germany ended in 1985. In an attempt to modernise the engine, the company even experimented with a halved water boxer in a Mexican VW Beetle.
Although the water-cooled two-cylinder boxer engine was manufactured by Cosworth, the British company known for supplying engines for the F-1, it only produced 34 hp with its 956 cm³. The most bizarre detail of the prototype was that the huge radiator ran close to the inside of the rear bonnet. In order to carry out mechanical work, the radiator had to be tilted to one side together with the electric fan. Of course, that didn’t work.
A simpler, cheaper and more realistic solution would have been to mount the Polo’s four-cylinder engine longitudinally at the rear. To test the feasibility of this idea, the white Mexican VW Beetle that now resides in Wolfsburg was assembled. In the seclusion of the museum (I was the only visitor, remember?) I was able to open the bonnet, lie down on the floor and take a closer look at the car’s technology. The doors were locked.
According to the data sheet, the 1,043 cc, 45 PS version of the EA111 was used, which was fitted to the entry-level Polo II at the time (there were also 1.1 and 1.3 models). Nevertheless, the special Beetle could reach 130 km/h (80 mph). Let’s not forget that the Brazilian Itamar from 1993-1996, with its 58 PS 1,600 cc boxer engine (fuelled by alcohol), reached a top speed of 140 km/h (87 mph) when the wind was favourable.
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A few tricks were needed to fit the engine ‘upright’ in the boxer’s crankcase. The rear cowl didn’t even need much modification. An inconspicuous projection on the number plate holder made it possible to fit everything in place.
Additional openings have been made on each side to reduce the interior temperature. The number plate illumination had to be raised a little. In the prototype of the Mexican “water-powered” VW Beetle, the expansion tank is on the left and the alternator on the right.
The biggest problem, however, was the Mexican prototype’s left-hand radiator, which protruded a few centimetres from the floor. A thick plate tried to protect it from stones, which further restricted the clearance. An electric fan pushed the airflow past the radiator and out through one of the extra grilles on the rear bonnet. Dr Ferdinand Porsche must be doing somersaults in his grave.
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All painted
However, the Water Beetle, designed in 1984, was abandoned in its infancy, and the Mexican “Vocho” with the air-cooled boxer engine continued to be built. In 1991 and 1992, the model was fitted with a catalytic converter and electronic fuel injection to reduce emissions. Production was discontinued in 2003.
The Brazilian VW Beetle did not even have fuel injection. It was produced here again between 1993 and 1996, retaining the classic boxer engine and twin carburettors. The biggest innovation was the catalytic converter, which was different from the Mexican version.
The closest thing to a factory water-cooled VW Beetle were the New Beetle (1997-2011) and the Beetle (2011-2019), which were actually Golf 4 and Golf 6 in Beetle guise. The Via Anchieta plant was the last in the world to produce VWs with the classic boxer engine. The estate disappeared from the scene in December 2005 to make way for the EA111-engined models.
