What Do You Know About Things?
Why Didn't This VW Ever Catch On?
The name says it all, this Volkswagen is interesting to look at to say the least. VW Things are hard to come by, which makes them all the more precious to their devoted owners.
The Volkswagen Thing (AKA the Safari in the U.K.) was a noble experiment, but it did not reach huge popularity in the United States. The Thing was not directly based on the Kubelwagen of yore, but it shared the same concept of being a "German Jeep." One of the reasons that it wasn't the success it should have been was that it still had the same underpinnings of the humble Beetle.
Main production of the VW 181 began in 1969 with about 2,375 being manufactured at the Wolfsburg plant in Germany. Production peaked in '73 with over 40,000 units being produced between the Wolfsburg and Puebla plants. Production dropped slightly the following year, and then dropped dramatically down to less than 9,000 units the next year.
Production ceased permanently in 1980, with less that 700 cars being produced that year. There were only about 29,000 actual "The Thing's" that were produced. They were all manufactured in Mexico. The Type 181 was know as the "Trekker" in Europe and the "Safari" in Mexico. "Safari" was the intended name for the car in the US but GMC already owned the rights to the name, so Volkswagen came up with "The Thing" as a result. This is why 181s are know as "The Thing" only in the US.
US importation of the 181 was ceased after 1974 due to our good friend
Ralph Nader's pushing to get the cars designation changed from a multi
purpose vehicle to a passenger car. With the passenger car
designation the VW 181 failed to meet the crash test requirement resulting
in Volkswagen being forced to either pull the car from US markets or
redesigning the car to be safer. Needless to say, Volkswagen pulled the
181 permanently.
The Beetle's engine, already
inadequate, was even more underpowered with the Thing's added bulk.
Also, the Thing contained no luxuries that were becoming expected in the
70's. It lacked four-wheel-drive, for example. Whatever the reason, it
left after a short stay in the U.S., but there still has many clubs
devoted to the few VW Things left that are undamaged by rust.
|
|
