Flood Project: 1973 VW Thing
Military-inspired vehicles have always found a place in the public car collective. From Jeeps to Hummers to G-Wagons, OEMs have always figured out how to provide some utilitarian designs to the masses. For sale in Philadelphia, PA, is Volkswagen’s attempt to do this in 1973: The Thing. This Thing is being offered for $3,999 on Craigslist. Many thanks to Mitchell G. for sending this tip!
Volkswagen’s Type 181, marketed to the US as “The Thing,” stands out as a vehicle that evokes fun and adventure. Inspired by Germany’s WWII Kübelwagen (translated to “bucket car”), this car was presented to the public as a light off-road adventure car in the late ’60s but wasn’t sold in the US until 1972. However, this car could not meet the new stricter safety laws enacted by the government in 1975 and was dropped from VW’s lineup in America that year. VW’s marketing team had fun with the Type 181 and gave it some great names in other countries. In the UK, it was named the “Trekker,” in Mexico and South America, it was called the “Safari.” Regardless of the name, the Thing has always been a cult favorite.
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the listing: This is a flood car that has been sitting since 2021 when it was in said flood. There aren’t any pictures of the tub to check for rust, but some rust is visible on the exterior body panels and doors. The seller also mentioned that there was water in the engine, but there is no mention of the electrical system’s condition. Generally, it is best to steer clear of flood cars, but due to this being a freshwater flood, the simplicity of these cars, and the vast air-cooled VW aftermarket, this car would be pretty easy to get back into good shape and cruise the beach in no time.
So, does the fact that this car was full of water turn you off? Or do you think this project is of good value and would be fun to take on? I spent a decade of my early career working at a VW shop specializing in transaxles and took apart many cores full of water. Due to the quality of the German steel, the vast majority of these were repairable. The only issue is if the water sits too long in the magnesium pieces, it can eat away the material and ruin the casings. Hopefully, this motor and transaxle don’t have too much water in them, and this bucket car will be saved. Check out this VW Thing here on Craigslist, and thanks again to Mitchell G. for providing this tip.
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Comments
You better hope that there aren’t any reproduction P-47s or P-51s roaming around, looking for lunch…
It was in a flood. The engine has water in it. No Key.
Good luck
$4K on Craigslist means show up with $3K in cash (or less) and it’s yours. How bad can it be? These are valuable and a few grand would go a long way toward restoring it, and much could be done “in the home workshop” (as Adam likes to say). If in California this wouldn’t last a day at this price.
Yep…sold mine less running engine here in Dallas to the first caller and guy to show up. Not made to many years and due to rust just not to many nice ones to build. Should be gone by now…..
Biggest problem with the engine is the pistons and cylinders which can be bought and exchanged easily. Valves, seats, and guides easy also and not expensive. Critical rust area is the inside of the doors and the seal area where the body sits on the pan. These are fun. Enjoyed the several years we had ours.
Its worth the money if the chassis is solid..engines come cheap but the body is where the value lies.I’d need to see pix of the underside on a rack to consider this
Yeah I think this is a good deal. You could probably take out the spark plugs, turn it over, squirt some lubrication in, spark plugs back and get it to run. Has a gas heater (bonus), I do see floorboards so they’re not totally gone. I’d be interested if this was out west. Like someone else said, the value is in the body. Motors, wiring harness can be found easily. Probably throw a painless wiring kit in it and call it a day.
So for 3 years it has sat with water in the engine and gearbox? VW’s are not that hard to drain fluids from. Why didn’t you do it? Didn’t even clean the sediment out of the engine bay. Maybe a thousand dollar car if it still has floors and chassis mount points. PASS.
Worrying about flood damage to a car that began as an amphibious vehicle aptly called the Schwimmwagen?! I’ll take flood over rust, fire, or collision any day. There’s a reason Things came with duckboards instead of carpeting. Would need to inspect for structural issues but from the pics appears to be worth a look.
The Type 181 “Thing” was not itself amphibious and almost entirely unrelated to the WWII Schwimmwagen, aside from both using some Type 1 “Beetle” mechanical parts, and the Thing having some superficial resemblance to a different, non-amphibious WWII vehicle, the Kübelwagen (basically Germany’s counterpart to a Jeep).
While not a true Kubelwagen, I can confirm my Dad and I floated one in Ocean Springs circa 1990 haha. We still had rear traction and backed out real quick. First engine I ever pulled, 14 years old out of our ‘74 Thing. Got my drivers license in that Thing. :)
Granted, the Schwimmwagen resembles a bathtub more than a Thing but I couldn’t resist the “Aqueous humor” (puns intended). Flood. Schwimm. I’m here all week, folks.
Flood. Schwimm. My attempt at “aqueous humor.” (Thanks, folks. I’ll be here all week.)
Wish I would have bought that pink ‘ 74 in Oxnard, CA, for $1,000 back in 2000.
No problem! Restomod time, Porsche power in the back! Simple rewire, aftermarket gauges and a spray liner paint job!
Heck, there’s still some pretty potent VW-based crate engines available that’d be more powerful than a period Porsche 356 engine swap.
Since you ruined my punchline with historically accurate facts, I’ll one up you and point out that the final year for the 356 was 1965, eight years prior to the Thing. Conceivably period but an apples to oranges comparison since in 1973 Porsche offered the 2.6L,130hp (911T) all the way up to the 2.7L, 210hp (Carerra RS). Nothing wrong w/ crate engines, but try to find a VW-based one w/ 2800cc. The largest commonly available is a 2,332cc. VW may be a “wannabe Porsche” due to inferior displacement but that just leaves more VWs for the rest of us!
Flood car. Ghost is now in the machine. Exit stage left .
It’s a couple hours from me at most I plan to go see it & see if the pan/sill rust is bad.
If it’s actually still out there & I get to it, I’ll get a better description & photos of the underside.