Maybe wouldn't agree with your first point, but your second comment is spot-on!
We all know their body strength (remember TG dropping one?) but jack up a rear wheel on a 99 or 900 hatch and none of the doors would open or close properly. If you felt the need to jam your finger between the bottom of the door and the (inboard) cill, as you bowled along, you could readily feel the constant flexing.
Did you know the throttle linkage included a length of rod that passed from the pedal, behind the crashpad below the dashboard, and over to the left-hand side?
A jolly jape, as a passenger, was to hook a toe up behind said panel and assume control of the car's accelerative properties. Oh, how we laughed!
My Audi 100GL had a similar setup , where the throttle linkage went through the firewall , then a rod transferred it to the other side . I think contemporary VW's were the same .