1973 Volkswagen Type 181 Thing

By any standards save for originality, this Thing had indeed been dramatically improved since it rolled off a Mexican assembly line 32 years ago

by Marit Anne Peterson

This ultimate Thing was a ground-up restoration completed in May 2002. Over $40,000 has been invested, with everything replaced with new parts or rebuilt to be better than new. It has since won many awards including Best in Class, Best Upholstery, and Best in Show at The Thing Show in Garden Grove, CA, in 2002; Best Engine at the February 2003 Copperstate Vintage VW Show; Best in Class at the April 2003 Copperstate Vintage VW Show; Best in Class at the April 2003 Bug-O-Rama; and Best in Class and Promoter’s Choice at the April 2004 Bug-O-Rama. It was also featured in Hot VWs magazine in January 2003. The interior has been finished with black Mercedes carpet, and bucket seats and a matching rear bench seat are done in black and tan tweed. Exterior paint is VW Prairie Beige, and the undercarriage has been sprayed with a sound-deadening product called Dynashield. The dash has been reworked with a K&M speedometer and many other gauges. A 2,200-watt Eclipse CD...