Who Puts A Porsche 944 Engine In A Volkswagen Beetle?

"DailyTurismo" (thedailyturismo) 12/13/2013 at 06:01 • Filed to: Daily Turismo

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Some custom engine swaps are strange and others are just downright incomprehensible, but this Volkswagen with a Porsche 944 drivetrain up front is an undecipherable enigma.

Today's Porsche 944 powered Beetle may first conjure up recollections of a !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , but in this case the engine is in the wrong place...err...the front. Some lunatic inspired craftsman put a Volkswagen Type 1 body on top of a Porsche 944 drivetrain - who knows what is retained for suspension, floor pan, etc. Find this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for $3,000 via craigslist in Atlanta, GA. Link posted by !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

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The Volkswagen Type 1 was the original Adolf Hitler concept for the people's car, but we can't hate it for its Nazi origins as much as its lack of power, abysmal brakes and gross deficit in handling ability. In retrospect, the Type 1 is probably no worse a vehicle than a 1938 Ford Anglia, but Ford had the good graces to not build the thing for 65 years will almost zero changes.

Today's Beetle certainly looks the part of dozens of mildly modified examples putting around the world, but it isn't mild by any stretch of the imagination. Quite the opposite, as we struggle to describe this car as a Volkswagen Beetle with a Porsche 944 engine/trans/rear-end or a Porsche 944 with a Volkswagen Beetle body. Whatever it is, it now has a front mounted engine and a typical Porsche wheel bolt pattern all the way around.

Pop open what used to be the trunk/storage and now you are greeted by an oxidized lump of a 2.5 (2.7?) liter Porsche 944 engine. A quick interweb image search confirms this is an early 2.5 liter 8V engine (in essence, one half of the Porsche 928 V8) and should make about 150 horsepower. The seller claims the car only weighs 1900lbs, so performance should be decent.

The inside is a composite of aftermarket gauges, bondo, fiberglass and dynamat. Hard to tell what kind of car any of the parts come from but we have to assume it is a combination of Porsche, Volkswagen and Redneck.

Click !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! if ad goes away. See another front-engined Volkswagen? !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Originally posted as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

PS9 > DailyTurismo 12/13/2013 at 06:05

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Can someone explain why someone else would want to do this...?

Random Commenter > DailyTurismo 12/13/2013 at 06:29

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I once saw a Beetle that did the Porsche engine swap right... It was a wicked, customized dark metallic Purple Baja Bug, with dune buggy style suspension & wheels/tires, and dune buggy style exhaust coming off of (I believe) a 3.6 liter air cooled flat 6 from a 911... It was quite bad ass, and was built very well... Wish I had gotten a picture.

DConsorti > DailyTurismo 12/13/2013 at 07:07

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What about this: a '86 beetle, 3.0l, fuel injection, various chips and fuel maps, 9,5:1 compression, uses aviation fuel, 5 speed manual.

Best of all, prepared by a former Brabham mecanic and owned by no other than the tree time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet:

The Ghost of Oppo > PS9 12/13/2013 at 08:56

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Someone with more time and money than brains

webmonkees > PS9 12/13/2013 at 09:05

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Cheap. The measurements worked out. At first. That's how it always starts.

DailyTurismo > DConsorti 12/13/2013 at 11:47

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Seems like a much better car for $3k...wait...you say the owner would want more..hmmm

DailyTurismo > Random Commenter 12/13/2013 at 11:48

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http://forums.aussieveedubbers.com/viewtopic.php?…

Random Commenter > DailyTurismo 12/13/2013 at 11:57

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Yeah, that's close... It was missing the engine cover like that, but it had chopped fenders, dune buggy suspension which increased ground clearance and all-terrain tires, and one of those dune buggy exhausts that stuck out of the middle of the rear and pointed upwards. I wish I had a picture of it... I never managed to see it again though.

DConsorti > DailyTurismo 12/16/2013 at 05:42

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As far as I know, Piquet do not want to sell his baby!

He loves this Beetle.

But, if that is the caso, I assume he would want something between R$ 40 - 50 K (around $20- 25K)

Stef Schrader > Random Commenter 12/16/2013 at 21:42

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This...this would be Beetleporn.

I'll be in my bunk.

Stef Schrader > PS9 12/16/2013 at 21:43

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Masochism.

Pure masochism.