Rumor was that the heater could melt 4-6 inches of snow off the body in a few minutes. A friend who ordered a smaller version ($700 - $800 option) when he bought a 911, c. 1970, claimed he could only run the catalytic heater for a minute or two because he was afraid his shoes would burst into flame. Seriously.
You would appreciate this...
I drove my VW bus out to Oklahoma City once (many years ago...from NC). 80-90 miles east of Fort Smith on I-40...normally a tank, the old girl’s engine blew. Nothing to do but walk and thumb as I was out in the middle of NOWHERE.
A trucker pulled over, offered me a lift, said he was from NC and had seen a VW back aways with a NC plate...thought it might be me. He said he thought there was a place up ahead I could go to see about my vehicle...he’d seen a VW on a pole. I thought he was talking about the VW symbol on a sign at a dealership. He starts slowing down along the interstate, points ahead...and sure enough, there was a VW beetle ON TOP OF A POLE...in a neighborhood that backed up the the highway. He let me out, I crossed the interstate, climbed the fence and found a couple of guys in the garage next to the VW pole.
The guy that owned the house was a VW mechanic. He called a wrecker and we drove to my bus to meet the wrecker. He opened the rear end, took about 5 seconds to fiddle with it, told me the problem, said he could fix it...the engine would need rebuilding. He said it would be roughly $750. I was kind of stuck, so I agreed to let him fix it. The wrecker towed it to his house.
He asked me how I was going to get to OKC, and I said I would rent a car. He volunteered to drive me to the airport in Fort Smith. He walked with me to the Hertz counter where I tried to rent a car, but I didn’t have a charge card (wasn’t something I used back then). I had several thousand dollars on me (that I was not flashing around), but Hertz wouldn’t budge. No card, no rental. The mechanic reached in his billfold, pulled out an American Express Gold, tossed it on the counter, and told the rental agent to rent me a car. He also told me that I’d better not abuse the gesture...”No sir, I won’t.” Got the rental car...off the OKC.
A couple weeks later, he called, said it was ready, I was able to get back to pick it up.
It was a frigging rocket. The guy was a master at what he did. Never had another problem with the engine.
There are still a lot of good people in the USA.
I knew about it, but as you said, they didn’t all have it.
Knowledge is one thing. Financial capability is another. I priced the heater to be installed (retro fit) and it was about $1100. I was working full time, going to school full time, and had nothing left for such a luxury.
My mom had a '60 Corvair. It had a gas heater, as well! It worked great, and came from the factory as standard equipment. But, such was not the case on the VW buses of the '60's and '70's!
I also owned a '63 356B, without the heater.
It's time for the Nationwide race, so my 'puter will be monitoring Racebuddy!