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1973 Volkswagen Thing Base 1.6l on 2040-cars

US $12,900.00
Year:1973 Mileage:99999
Location:

Henderson, Nevada, United States

Henderson, Nevada, United States
Advertising:

Restored red 1973 VW Thing that spent all its life in southern California. 

Runs great. No oil leaks period! Zero rust or body damage. Rebuilt original motor that purrs. Clutch and brakes are excellent. Tires are almost brand new. The top was replaced just 2 weeks ago and looks and fits perfect. Comes with the glass side curtains instead of the cheaper plastic curtains. All seats are in perfect condition also. New hubcaps, seat belts, tail light and front turn signal lenses. New "Thing" rocker panel graphics. The car was repainted a couple of years ago and is a 10 footer. Not perfect, but nice. Windshield wipers stopped working. The car is equipped with the optional heater, but I have not tested it.

This is not your average fixer upper VW Thing. This car is complete and beautiful. Please email me if you have any questions.

It may look like the illegitimate love child of a corrugated shipping container and a dumpster, but the Volkswagen Thing was in fact the resurrection of a German military vehicle known as the Kubelwagen. More than a specific model, the Kubelwagen was a concept; consider how Americans tend to call any military runabout a Jeep, and you've got the idea. And with Kubel meaning "bucket" and Wagen meaning "car," what could have been a better name for such a steel tub than, of course, the Thing?But VW's convertible breadbox was called the Thing only in North America, where it went on sale in 1973; it was known elsewhere as the Trekker, the Safari, or, simply, the Type 181 (right-hand-drive models were called the Type 182). The Thing was built on the same chassis as the pre-1968 Microbus and was propelled by VW's air-cooled, 46-hp, 1600-cc flat four. A four-speed manual was the only transmission. Acceleration was ludicrously slow: 0 to 60 mph took more than 23 seconds. They only came in 3 original colors Pumpkin OrangeSunshine Yellow and Blizard WhiteThe interior was the very definition of stripped. The only instrumentation was a speedometer that housed a fuel gauge on its dial, and the glove box was really just a glove hole, since it lacked a door. VW also boasted that the Thing's cabin could be hosed out.It wasn't conveniences or ability that sucked people in, though--it was how screwy the Thing was. The windshield folded and the detachable doors were swappable front to rear. Warmth was provided by an optional gasoline-fueled heater hooked directly to the fuel tank. Most important, however, was that the Thing looked so very, very weird. It wasn't the vehicle a housewife or a two-term Republican or anybody normal would buy. Naturally, America's youth loved the Thing--the only problem was that few of them could afford it. In 1973, the Thing cost $3150, almost as much as many sports cars and nearly $1000 more than the '73 Beetle. Prices dropped slightly for 1974, but the Thing remained expensive for such simple transportation. To downplay this fact, Volkswagen advertising talked up the Thing's modest off-road ability and pitted it against more expensive trucks such as the Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. But the two-wheel-drive Thing, with its four-wheel independent suspension, had as much chance of keeping up with an FJ40 on the trails as a roller-derby queen with an inner-ear problem. In 1973, Ralph Nader pushed to have the Thing pulled from the U.S. market on the grounds that it failed to meet safety standards for passenger cars. He soon got his wish, as tightened regulations forced VW to stop importation after the 1974 model year. Only about 25,000 examples were imported, and the Thing remains as goofy and unusual today as it was thirty years ago. Since so many parts are shared with the Beetle and the Microbus, the Thing is inexpensive to run and maintain--but what else would you expect from a bucket car? 


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VW sales increase 0.6% in September despite diesel scandal

Thu, Oct 1 2015

Volkswagen was spared in the month of September from posting a sales disaster, but in reality, the impending doom and gloom is likely just postponed until October. According to VW, it delivered 26,141 vehicles to its dealerships last month, which represents a 0.6-percent gain over the same period a year ago. While up, that meager increase represents the smallest uptick of all major brands in the United States, which is currently in the middle of the best vehicular sales year in the last decade. Audi, the German automaker's mainstream luxury unit, saw a bigger gain at 16.2 percent with 17,340 total units sold, thanks in large part to the popularity of its crossover models. These numbers can't totally be taken at face value, however. In 2014, Labor Day weekend was counted as part of August's sales figures; in 2015, that traditional car-buying holiday fell early in September and is therefore partly responsible for the huge increases from all brands doing business in the United States. Remember, the diesel emissions scandal didn't hit the news until September 18, which means VW was free to sell its 2.0-liter TDI engine for the majority of the month. In other words, October is going to be the real indicator of sales reckoning as it will be the first full month that the brand can't sell its popular diesel models and the first since its emissions scandal broke. Still, TDI sales were down last month. VW reports a total of 3,060 sales of vehicles equipped with TDI engines, which represents 11.7 percent of total volume. That's nearly cut in half from the TDI's year-to-date volume percentage of 20.4 percent. "We would like to thank dealers and customers for the support of the Volkswagen brand," said Mark McNabb, chief operating officer for Volkswagen of America in a statement. "Volkswagen will continue to work diligently to regain trust and confidence in our brand." It's not yet clear exactly when VW will issue a fix to make its 2.0-liter TDI engine emissions legal, or when the EPA will recertify those models for sale. Once those two things happen, dealers will again be free to sell vehicles equipped with the powertrain, but even then it remains to be seen how consumers react when the sales ban is lifted. Scroll down below for all the sales data from Volkswagen in September.

Toyota holds onto crown of World's Largest Automaker

Thu, Jan 22 2015

Although there were hints and allegations that the Volkswagen Group might have taken the global sales crown for 2014, the final tally puts Toyota at the top with 10.23 million sales in 2014. We should really say it keeps Toyota at the top, since that makes three years in a row the Japanese company has been No. 1. Volkswagen Group came in second with 10.14 million units sold, General Motors in third with 9.92 million units sold. This the first time for both Toyota and Volkswagen to pass 10 million sales in a single year. Toyota, including its Hino and Daihatsu divisions, did it with a three-percent increase in company-wide sales on the back of strong demand in Japan and the US. Its strength in developed markets might be the reason it loses the title this year, though; Toyota forecasts a two-percent gain in sales outside of Japan, but a nine-percent drop in its home market because of a new consumption tax that encouraged buyers to purchase before the end of last year. On top of that, turmoil in Southeast Asian economies like Thailand and Indonesia depressed sales in 2014 and they're facing more headwinds. The company envisions 10.15 million sales in 2015. Volkswagen, on the other hand, "has a jet engine strapped to its back called 'China,'" where Toyota is out-of-sorts. Volkswagen Group sales fell 2.9 percent in the US last year, while Toyota gained 6.2 percent here. But Volkswagen roped in 3.7 million sales in China, a 12-percent increase. Toyota enjoyed a huge bump of 12.5 percent in China, but that only got it to 1.03 million units, missing its yearly target and leading to trouble with its Chinese dealers over unsold inventory. With Toyota on the Chinese sidelines while Volkswagen guns for No. 1 status and pledges more production capacity in China – sales there are expected to top 25 million units this year – it looks like this could be the year the VW Group takes over the lead. That would be three years ahead of its original target of 2018. An analyst in Japan said Toyota is more focused on "keeping profitability than chasing numbers" – profitability is an issue for VW right now – so Toyota might not be back at the top "for [the] coming years." News Source: Bloomberg, Automotive News - sub. req. Earnings/Financials GM Toyota Volkswagen Car Buying Daihatsu sales volkswagen group

2021 Ford F-150 goes hybrid and we drive the Cadillac CT4-V | Autoblog Podcast #633

Fri, Jun 26 2020

In this week's Autoblog Podcast, Editor-in-Chief Greg Migliore is joined by Senior Editor, Green, John Beltz Snyder and Associate Editor Byron Hurd. They start with the big news of the week: Ford unveiling the 2021 F-150, complete with a powerful hybrid powertrain. The guys have been driving some eclectic vehicles, including the Cadillac CT4-V, Toyota Prius AWD-e and a 1967 VW Samba Microbus. To finish things off, Greg springs a few trivia questions on his guests. We'll post those in the comments, and you can see if you'd have gotten those right. Autoblog Podcast #633 Get The Podcast iTunes – Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes RSS – Add the Autoblog Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator MP3 – Download the MP3 directly Rundown 2021 Ford F-150 revealed Read more about the heavy-hitting hybrid Cars we're driving: 2020 Cadillac CT4-V 2020 Toyota Prius AWD-e 1967 Volkswagen Samba Trivia Feedback Email – Podcast@Autoblog.com Review the show on iTunes Related Video: