Saleofcar.com :Volkswagen

Volkswagen Thing THING BY VOLKSWAGEN (1973)
for sale

Price: US $11,300.00

Description:

This is a Fixed Price Auction for a work in progress. I recently purchased this 73 Volkswagen Thing for my daughter because it was a good deal but she has a couple of years before she can drive and my wife's not real keen on the car sitting in the car port while we pay insurance on it. So we decided to make it a Father Daughter project and a Fixed Price Auction with a best offer option. We'll be upgrading to disc brakes adding a few suspension mods and making the engine more reliable with things like solid rocker shafts, perhaps a set of 40 X35mm big valve heads and definitely a Sync Link carb linkage. As the pile of parts adds up the cost will too need to go up some too but we'll toss in the labor.
I am a mechanic with +40 years of experience, ASE Triple Master Mechanic, factory trained GM World Class Mechanic and Ford Senior Master Mechanic basically I've been doing this sort of work for a very long time. When I purchased this Thing the seller told me the engine and transmission had recently been rebuilt using only German parts; he didn't have receipts but upon close inspection I see no reason to doubt him. Doors close with the nice soft click one expects from German autos, both top latches are new Thing Shop lifetime warranty, forged stainless steel. In addition she has a recently installed Robbins Convertible top and a brand new set of The Thing Shop glass front windows with their custom storage bag (the windows alone were $750). We just installed $400 worth of rubber plugs, body seals and misc. soft parts. Tires are excellent, past owner had recently installed 4 KYB HD gas charged shocks and a new battery. New front seat upholstery with high density foam padding and new Thing Shop CoCo mats and optional Duk boards. The registration is paid to April 2017 and we added a personalized plate; so if you live in California we'll throw in a brand new DMV issued pair of THINGY back plates and you'll only need to cover transfer costs and use tax.
All new brake shoes and the rear hardware and completely flushed the entire system. Stops quickly with nice pedal feel, no fade and no pulling. I adjusted the valve lash and corrected the timing curve in the distributor. Distributor is a Bosch 009 with a Compufire electronic conversion and all new Bosch secondary components. The 40mm Weber IDF carburetors are the highly sought Italian versions. They were just overhauled and are excellent with no shaft wear. They are correctly jetted for this engine. I just purchased the top of the line Sync Link dual cable linkage and it will be installed before the sale. This engine does not burn or leak oil. Let me clarify that: the engine design is 70 some odd years old so it does sweat some oil just due to the design of the engine and the dissimilar metals involved; it does not leak oil. The exhaust is a new Thing Shop dual exhaust system that is jet hot coated. Fuel pump, hoses and filter are all new and a new auxiliary, external fuel pump was added under the fuel tank for the refurbished gas heater. This Thing has the original Thing only transaxle that shifts perfectly, does not grind or pop out of gear. I changed the gear lube; it didn't need to be based on the condition of the lube, but I wanted to look for signs of wear; I do believe the trans was recently rebuilt as the previous owner had said. New headlight switch and the turn signals and warning indicators and wipers work correctly. Wiper arms and blades are genuine Bosch. Below is what the previous owners ad stated about the engine:
Rebuild details (as per PO):
AH Case was line bored then matched with new main bearings
New German crankshaft
New German rods, polished and balanced.
New German pistons and cylinders
Matched and updated rebuilt heads.
New heavy duty oil pump
New Bosch generator,
New fuel pump
New 009 distributor with CompuFire ignition
New Bosch ignition coil and spark plug wires.
New Germans Sachs clutch, pressure plate and throwout bearing.
The transmission was completely gone through as well.
The front beam is original and has no signs of damage. All the VW factory Thing reinforcements are in place, CV joints and boots are new German Lobro GKN and are Thing only, not the economy bus replacements. All the old style chassis lube and oils were completely flushed out and replaced with the highest grade synthetics.
This Thing is basically original paint with some touch up spots; it does have a spot in front of each rear fender in the rocker box where there is some rot and would be a relatively simple repair since they are flat panels. The jacking points are also solid. It was hit in the left quarter once and repaired nicely. You can't tell at all from the outside but if you look closely at the inner fender apron one can tell it had been straightened. Just mentioning this to be open. This car is very presentable with an excellent pan that does not appear to have ever been off roaded. Factory installed Thing skid plates are included.
The original gas fired heater is all there and a factory manual for the heater is included. Has the optional, original Sapphire AM radio and rare Volkswagen Thing speaker with enclosure. Someone installed an antenna in front on the fold down windshield not realizing the windshield folds over so I'll probably change that or throw in the correct antenna before you pick her up.
This car is turn key and very reliable. I drove her last week as my daily driver, 45 miles one way to work. We have driven her to the beach a few times now and done a couple of highway trips. She's actually growing on us a bit.

_{update: 2016-05-18}