Up for auction on AutoHunter, the online auction platform driven by ClassicCars.com, is a newly restored 1974 Volkswagen Thing with a newer cloth retractable top. It also has removable doors, a modern CD stereo system and a reupholstered interior.
“The Thing, otherwise known as the Type 181, is a two-wheel drive, four-door convertible, and was sold from 1968 through 1983,” AutoHunter says in the car’s listing. “The platform was leveraged in military applications in Europe and imported to the United States in 1973 and 1974 as the Thing.”
This 1974 example was assembled in Mexico and later imported to the US. The seller states the rust-free original body has been repainted in Acapulco Blue with dual black stripes and pinstripe accents on the front.
For a walk-around tour of this 1974 Thing, see the video below:
The vehicle features a hinged fold-flat windshield, stainless-steel sideview mirrors, and black front and rear bumpers.
The open-air interior houses reupholstered blue and white vinyl bucket seats outlined in black pipping, black-finished sheet metal door panels, a dash-mounted passenger grab-handle, and a tubular roll bar.
Power comes from a rear-mounted 1,800cc dual-port engine connected to a floor-shifted 4-speed manual transaxle. The engine is outfitted with a replacement Bosch alternator, a CB Performance oil cooling housing, a chrome-finished fan shroud, EMPI aluminum valve covers and S&S headers.
This VW Thing’s auction ends September 2 at 12:40 p.m. PDT.
Visit the convertible’s AutoHunter listing for more information and gallery of photos.
