Many folks simply refer to these engines as "flat-four" or "boxer" engines because ... There are historical ties to some notable personnel in the air-cooled VW's history, for better or worse.

For decades, the massively popular Volkswagen Type-1 Beetle and the Type-2 VW Microbus or Transporter were powered by a unique air-cooled boxer engine ... a 1.2-liter boxer four-cylinder that ...

The original Volkswagen flat-4 air-cooled engine was in production for decades ... though they can have some issues. Modern VW forum users explain that they can last a long time but do require ...

The blue VW Kombi Last ... with an air-cooled 1.2-liter flat-four mounted in the rear that made 28 horsepower, but by 2005 it was running with a 1.4-liter water-cooled engine.