From 1969, with the idea of a front-wheel drive, front-engined philosophy well in place, Volkswagen made its first steps, ironically with an air-cooled prototype. Somewhat boxy in appearance, the EA276 was a hatchback design with a front-mounted air-cooled engine as the powerplant and MacPherson strut suspension. Again, it never made it into production in Germany but was used as a testbed for the up-and-coming Beetle killer „ the Golf. Eventually, the basic design was shipped to Brazil and adapted into the VW Gol (not a spelling mistake). This was a hatchback between the Polo and Golf in size, which began life with a front-mounted air-cooled engine. Subsequently, its appearance morphed so that it looked more like the Golf (though smaller) and was converted to use water-cooled powerplants.
Source: www.ltv-vwc.org.uk
Images: www.volkswagen-automuseum.de; Volkswagen AG
