1973 Volkswagen Thing **original Unrestored Condition** on 2040-cars
College Place, Washington, United States
Body Type:Convertible
Vehicle Title:Clear
Engine:4 cylinder
Fuel Type:Gasoline
For Sale By:Private Seller
Make: Volkswagen
Model: Thing
Options: Convertible
Drive Type: 4 speed
Mileage: 66,713
Exterior Color: Orange
Number of Doors: 4
Interior Color: Black
Warranty: Vehicle does NOT have an existing warranty
Number of Cylinders: 4
Trim: original
Up for bid is an ORIGINAL UNRESTORED 1973 Thing. It was reciently pulled from it's 22yr resting place. "Barn find" is highly overused these days but as you can see from the pictures, that's exactly where it came from. It is in original unrestored condition. It does show it's age with some bumps and bruises but nothing bad enough to detract from it's original patina. I have tried to capture all of the dents and scrapes in the pictures. The original orange paint was buffed out and the top and seats conditioned to bring it back to the present polished state.
The motor is a 1600 dual port with dual Kadrons. It has a remote oil filter you can see in the pictures. New dual exhaust installed just before parking. It does have some exhaust leaks, I haven't taken a close look at it so assume they will still be there at the end of the auction. It does run ok when warmed up but could use a good super tune by you. New NAPA battery installed.
It has new tires on the rear and an old set of michelins on the front. I kept the wheels just as they were because they just kind of fit the unrestored look. I will leave that to your discretion.
Brakes seem to be fine. I haven't had it above 50 mph but the brakes brought it to a safe stop. There is a spare rear drum.
The top is in perfect condition. All the fastening loops are in place and you can actually see out the plastic rear window. It also comes with a carpet kit still in the shippers box. Also in the box are seat belt harnesses.
The trunk carries the original(?) polyglass spare tire, and jack. I didn't find a lug wrench. The gas heater seems to be complete and unmolested. I have no idea on the working condition of the heater. I have never had any experience with these and I figured this wouldn't be a great time to learn! I will leave that one to you too.
There is a small rusted area under the battery. I showed it in the pictures with a standard business card lying next to it for reference. That is all the rust I found.
It has a 4 pt cage you can see in the pictures.
It comes with the side curtain frames. The vinyl and windows are toast. They will need new coverings.
Overall this is a great unrestored, original daily driver, show and shine attention getter. If you don't like to be talked to or are offended by people following you and taking pictures with their iphone, this isn't for you! It is an incredible attention grabber. Park it next to a restored muscle car or hot rod and people will look at this THING first!
Please bid with confidence that you are buying an ORIGINAL UNRESTORED VW Thing. They are only original once! Thank you for looking.
Volkswagen Thing for Sale
1973 vw type 181 thing solid daily driver
1974 vw safari thing quality restored professionally interiorhard topno reserve
1973 thing - exceptional condition with soft top and removable hard top
1973 vw thing
1974 volkswagen thing base 1.6l convertible
Vw thingAuto Services in Washington
Trafton & Maier Foreign Svc ★★★★★
Taylor Automotive ★★★★★
Tacoma Auto Removal ★★★★★
Smokey Point Pontiac Buick GMC ★★★★★
Skagit Mobile Repair ★★★★★
Shop ★★★★★
Auto blog
World Car Of The Year down to its final four
Wed, 13 Mar 2013
Judges for the World Car of the Year Award have narrowed down the finalists to just four vehicles. Out of a total of 42 entries, only the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Porsche Boxster/Cayman, Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT-86 and Volkswagen Golf remain standing. For Volkswagen, this marks the second consecutive year the company has had an entry among the finalists, and the fourth time since 2009. In order to qualify, a vehicle must be on sale on two continents during the span of time between January 1, 2013 and May 30, 2013. A panel of 66 journalists from 23 countries then vote on the finalists.
Three vehicles have made the cut for the last round of voting on the 2013 World Performance Car as well, with the Cayman/Boxster and FR-S/BRZ/GT-86 running against the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta. Meanwhile, the Renault Zoe, Tesla Model S and Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid are duking it out for the World Green Car Award. Finally, the World Car Design of the Year Award is up for grabs between the Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar F-Type, and the Mazda6. Check out the full press release below. Overall winners will be presented at the 2013 New York Auto Show.
Bentley considering diesel engine for new SUV
Wed, 05 Mar 2014Turns out, in case you didn't know, the rich are just like regular people. They too are concerned about the environment, even when tooling around town in their super-luxurious Bentleys. So the automaker is weighing the idea of offering a diesel engine in its SUV offering, which could help satisfy customers' demands for more fuel-efficient engines.
Chairman and CEO Wolfgang Schreiber told Autoblog in a roundtable interview at the Geneva Auto Show that the automaker is researching whether or not a diesel engine makes sense for the brand. Bentley, owned by the Volkswagen Group, could in theory use a diesel engine from anywhere in the Volkswagen Group family. We at Autoblog have hopes they'll revive the V10 TDI used in the VW Touareg until 2010, but ever-stricter emissions laws would likely make that problematic.
But rich people aren't so much like us that they'll be worried about petty things like pricing. Schreiber admitted the diesel engine could be a $15,000 option, which he said customers would probably find "acceptable." Given that the cheapest Bentley today starts at $177,000, typical customers probably won't be diddling around worrying about an extra 15 grand.
An inside look at VW's new California R&D center
Thu, 18 Oct 2012Less than two months ago, the Volkswagen Group opened a new facility in Oxnard, California (about an hour's drive west of Los Angeles). The $27 million investment, touted as Test Center California (TCC), serves as a research and development lab testing emissions for all brands under Volkswagen's umbrella, including its newest member, Porsche. While still not fully operational, we toured the new 64,000-square-foot building last week and had a first-hand opportunity to see just how much work is involved testing engines and meeting increasingly stringent government emissions standards.
Replacing a similar facility established in 1990 in Westlake Village (about 20-minutes east of the new location), our guide explained how Oxnard was chosen for its temperate climate, varied regional terrain for test drives and low altitude. (The area is only a few feet above sea level - a critical parameter when instrument testing emissions.) The new facility is capable of analyzing hundreds of vehicles, prototypes and customer-owned vehicles, annually.
Most interesting to us was the huge stainless steel climate chamber, with a massive four-wheel dynamometer that allows VW to test running vehicles in both scorching desert and freezing climates without ever leaving the building (an Audi Q7 was running in place during our visit). We were also mesmerized by the countless storage tanks and intricate plumbing of chemicals, stored in both liquid and gas states, needed to perform the variety of tests. Lastly, we took a look at Bugatti's service center on the west coast, located completely within the new center. While there were no supercars on site, the facility is equipped with plenty of spare forged wheels (mounted with expensive Michelin PAX tires) and a Veyron-specific repair jig that allows the vehicle to be completely disassembled, if needed. It is a shame that the facility, which set off all of our automotive geek alerts, is closed to the public.