VW Thing Just bought one.
 

Any of you out there have one? Tell me more....

subscribed... hard to find a nice one...pics?

No pics yet. Money has not been exchanged. Tomorrow maybe. The situation is... I am buying it from a neighbor who's wife recently passed away. Its been non-op since 1990, stored outside, but under a tarp. Saw it for the first time tonight. Looks promising. No rot, everything seems to be there, some hideous add ons, blown motor, and transmission locked in one gear. None of this scares me. The price was right. The body is close to perfect. No rust what so ever. Minor infractions include after market oil cooler mounted to the fiberglass hardtop and through body panel, after market fog lights mounted to top, funky interior lights mounted to same, and a rear mounted spare tire carrier. Overall, I am looking forward to this project. I already have a 1969 Bug in my garage for a resto that I have not touched since the day I bought it two years ago. :rolleyes: I never bonded with that one.

its a bug with a different body and a gasoline powered heater. cool cars. Easy and relatively cheap to fix.

There is a guy who drives one by here every once in a while. I'd love to have one. I know wht you mean about not bonding with the '69 VW. I had one & never cared for it. I had a '65 VW with a sun roof I just loved driving to work. Got stolen though.

I owned one years ago, but would love another at some point, and drop a 914 engine in it..

181's are the best. One day I will have another.

Maybe you could use the bug engine and trans for the thing.

My very first car was a 1973 VW Thing. Yellow with plastic windows and black top. Loved it !

Would think they would be rare, unique and going up in price....A nice one in the barn down the road from me. Guy won't sell. It was his mother's and she died of breast cancer when he was a kid. I fully understand...

'73 or '74?

The first rule of acquisition is you keep your mouth shut until it's in your driveway.

My very first car was also a 1973 Thing.

Anyway, I had the car in high school and lived on Skyline Blvd above Woodside. Back in those days there were lots of old logging roads I could drive on. (Now they are hiking trails) I used to take the doors off, put the top and windshield down, and take off through the woods. Very fun car.

The best mod I made was to place thick pillows behind the rear seat to muffle the engine noise. It was a very loud car on the highway, but the pillows helped.

VW Thing - so ugly they are very cool. Love them. There is a nice one I occasionally see in my town. Anxious to see your pics.

add SC motor

Thom, Its a done deal. :D
Its a 1973.

Here it is!



http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238286.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238342.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238397.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238445.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238526.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238589.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238671.jpg

cool! looks a lot better than some of the ones I was looking at... I like the green

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238771.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238829.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238888.jpg

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http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345239053.jpg

Its been repainted at some time in its life. We will be having it repainted too, but back to the original avacado green. Its hard to see past all the dirt and cob webs right now. :) I haven't had a project since I did my 87 Carrera 3.4 twin plug car.
My wife and daughter are crackin me up. They are already doing all the research on parts, paint, mats.....etc. etc. I already heard my daughter (13) say the words..."My car!" Haha

→Editted by Syncroid's daughter :)

my catalog is a little out dated at 20+ years old but it looks like they are still in business. they specialize in parts for vw things. THETHINGSHOP.COM

Awesome.

Great buy! I actually kind of like the roof mounted oil cooler. There is a cartoonish illustration of a hot-rodded Bus in the John Muir book: How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive that showed a roof mount oil cooler.

too bad you guys are so far away.. I'd give you 1 and 1/2 74 things just to get them out of my yard

pix!!!!

I was just looking through the workshop and parts manuals that came with it. Apparently "avacado green" is a 1974 color only. Hmmmm, Maybe Thom will chime in on this one. Its been so many years since I was up on the vin numbers and date codes.

→Edited by Syncroid's daughter :)

Yes. Pics for sure Johnco.

I have a local buddy that has two and a lot of oem parts.....hard to find parts. Let me know if you need a referral.

I think the earmuffs make it a '74

You are correct. I just found the vin number chart in one of the books. Its a 1974.
1842468***


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345241040.jpg

Too bad you are so far away I would take you up on that.


Nice get, I love those things

Good score Dan, Love the hard top, except the oil cooler. You could mount a wing just to plug the holes in the roof. :-)
Does look to be in pretty good condition. Even the in the engine room!
Won't be surprised if you have it running in a week or two.
Cool your girls are into it!

Have fun,
Richard

If it really is Alvocado Green, then you probably have the only one in existence. That would be a major score. The other ones are Avocado Green. :)

_

I wonder if the add on oil cooler toasted the engine,
due to lower oil flow ,
ditch it when you rebuild the engine
Cool project you have there

It looks nice, complete, and mostly original. Get rid of that oil cooler - that's a desirable hardtop.

What did you end up paying for it?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345238526.jpg

Busted! I don't ever use spell check. :D
Yes, I think I scored too. That oil cooler is going to be the first thing I rip off the car! That and there is a complete umbilical cord add on wiring harness going from front to rear for hokie lights, switches, plugs...etc.
I am not planning on this being a quick restoration. I want to take my time and have fun. I will post progress and pictures as I go though.
I love it too that my girls are totally into it. BIG TIME!

I found out after more digging through the paper work that I am the second owner. It has been stored since 1990. From 1990 to 2009 it was in a sea freight container. From 2009 till now, it was stored outside under a tarp.
I think the Thing Shop is going to be getting alot of business in the near future.
I will need to find someone local who is good with fiberglass to fix all the drilled holes in the hardtop.
Thom, I don't want to post what I paid for the general public. I will PM you what I paid. Trust me! Your jaw will hit the floor! Lets just say it was a very good deal. The man I bought the car from is a neighbor. His wife passed away recently and it was her car. He wanted to get on with life and it bothered him to have to walk by the car every day. He was happy that it is going to a good home and someone who is enthusiastic about fixing it up. Win! Win! For both parties.

I owned a 73 for about 15 years. Picked it up in Santa Fe M and drove it back to LI in 1991.

It had a date match set of 1959 356 rims.

Sold it a few years after picking up the Targa.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345257810.jpg

Your daughter is a lucky gal.

This as a first car, in this day and age, will change her forever!

here's an avocado green 1... for inspirationhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1345259297.jpg

super cool, looks like the girls are kind of iffy on it

^ thats what I remembered. I'd stick with the color it is now.
But you are talking restoration, so i guess that originality is the point.

Have Fun Dan
Richard

Syncroid's daughter here,

We look a little iffy? Really? Quite the opposite if you ask me. My mom was just trying to check out the car as well as hide from the camera. :) Haha. I soooo can't wait to start working on the car. I'm sure (correction: I know) my dad will keep you guys updated!

Lucky.... I'll be in louisiana next week..... Must.... Resist... Temptation...