You Need This: a Saveiro, an air-cooled, front-engine VW pickup

Party up front, business in the back.

No, not an El Camino but a Volkswagen Saveiro, the pickup version of the Brazilian-market Gol wagon. Power came from a front-mounted, air-cooled VW engine paired with a front-drive layout.

So it’s from the ’60s or ’70s, right? No, the Saveiro came out in 1983, the same year as the Great Video Game …

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Hopefully this remains in the greater Daytona area so we can see it. 

So, does the engine bolt to a "normal" transmission with some sort of bellhousing adapter, or does it use some type of torque tube to transmit power to a rear mounted differential?

This is the first time I've ever seen a FRONT - mounted VW flat four driving the rear wheels. Interesting.

Something seems definitely off.  Looking at the BAT Auction Listing that seems like a FWD.  Image 49/58 shows the exhaust traveling down the center tunnel with no driveshaft.

I thought these were FWD? So far as I know, the only VW that can claim front engine RWD is the LT van/truck from around the same time. 

Mr_Asa said:

Something seems definitely off.  Looking at the BAT Auction Listing that seems like a FWD.  Image 49/58 shows the exhaust traveling down the center tunnel with no driveshaft.

Also from that listing:

Power is sent to the front wheels through a four-speed manual transaxle.

Keith Tanner said:

Mr_Asa said:

Something seems definitely off.  Looking at the BAT Auction Listing that seems like a FWD.  Image 49/58 shows the exhaust traveling down the center tunnel with no driveshaft.

Also from that listing:

Power is sent to the front wheels through a four-speed manual transaxle.

(To tell the truth, I started looking for underbody pics cause the first few results showed up in Portugese, then just continued looking at pics and not bothering to read)

Pics are more fun than reading, and make you feel like more of a detective :) You're not wrong, there are pics of a tunnel with just an exhaust in it.

Good eye to all of you. Everything I'm seeing also confirms it's front wheel drive. I've fixed the text.

A rear-wheel-drive Saveiro would be pretty rad, how hard would it be to make it that way?

There's a Gol in Colorado Springs for sale on FBM, just under $10k OBO.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/983344027131616/

Colin Wood said:

Good eye to all of you. Everything I'm seeing also confirms it's front wheel drive. I've fixed the text.

A rear-wheel-drive Saveiro would be pretty rad, how hard would it be to make it that way?

I think earlybronco got the easiest ways.  Id go torque tube and beyond the torque tube to the rear, use front suspension for the back.

Me, I'm wondering if you can get a rear driveshaft to come out the front transaxle and make it AWD

VW also had some local built utility trucks  with Aircooled motor and front wheel drive ,

They were called VW Hormiga  in Mexico , which was ant in spanish,

Here is the WIKI page that shows the Hormiga and other local built utility trucks

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen_EA489_Basistransporter

Mr_Asa said:

Colin Wood said:

Good eye to all of you. Everything I'm seeing also confirms it's front wheel drive. I've fixed the text.

A rear-wheel-drive Saveiro would be pretty rad, how hard would it be to make it that way?

I think earlybronco got the easiest ways.  Id go torque tube and beyond the torque tube to the rear, use front suspension for the back.

Me, I'm wondering if you can get a rear driveshaft to come out the front transaxle and make it AWD

Vanagon Syncro for a parts donor! Just have to make it run backwards :)

VW still sells the Saveiro, sadly not here.

As far as air-cooled 25-year eligible Brazilian VWs go,  the little p/u is cute but please make mine a SP2

I went over to marketface after reading this article and the first suggested item was a saveiro. 
https://m.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1130306304925425/?ref=browse_tab

I love the look of that back end!  This Brazilian market VW pickup sure beats the ones we got for style.  Why do sexy cars have to go to other markets??  Yes, I do think this little truck is "sexy."

VW sure built some wild cars.

I wanted to make one of these from a Fox wagon. Still do actually.

Update: Looks like it reached $15,000 but went unsold.

It reminds me of a fox wagon, weird that they built such similar models with such diverse drivetrains 

If they took off those awful wheels it may be easier to sell.

As a point of interest, there were a couple older trucks that used a flat four air cooled VW engine mounted in the front - the Tempo Matador built in Germany in the early 1950s, and the Hormiga built in Mexico in the 1970s

mechanicalmeanderings said:

It reminds me of a fox wagon, weird that they built such similar models with such diverse drivetrains 

Its the same platform which originates from the original Dasher. 

In reply to aw614 :

I wondered.

cool