JThw8
PowerDork
4/9/14 8:24 a.m.
I hate to do this, wife hates to do it even more but the taxman wants money and we need to reduce the fleet. This is my wife's baby and her dream car. It's a good solid driver but not a 100% perfect car (obviously or the price would double)
This is a heads up right now for GRM peeps since the car is still in winter storage so I need to pull it out and prep it for sale this weekend. It will be on the Samba and Craigslist by the end of the weekend though.
Good solid body in red. Paint is ok, a bit heavy but looks good. The flowers are vinyl decals so if you don't like them you can pull them off. Only visible rust is on the windshield frame (I will never say no rust on a car I haven't stripped to metal myself so you will probably find other spots if you want to do a full restore) Some obvious signs of prior repair. Rear floor pan repaired in flat metal.
Have the frame for the soft top but will need new covering, we never used the top so we never dealt with it.
Dual single barrel carbs on 1600 DP motor. Runs good. New starter last year. New brakes all around including all hardware, soft lines, master and wheel cylinders last year as well. All fuel soft lines replaced and turn signal switch in column was replaced with new as well.
Riding on 17" mustang wheels, former owner's doing, may not be everyone's cup of tea.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of things, once I spend some time with the car out of storage this weekend I will update with any other relevant information.
Nice driver quality car that needs someone to drive it and care for it. $7500 or reasonable offer.
I'd really like to own a VW Thing.
JThw8
PowerDork
4/9/14 5:34 p.m.
Woody wrote:
I'd really like to own a VW Thing.
I could make that happen.
It's just not in the budget right now and it would need to live outside.
Ian F
UltimaDork
4/9/14 7:14 p.m.
Woody wrote:
It's just not in the budget right now and it would need to live outside.
Ditto, ditto, and ditto... 
Grrrr I cannot do it not now, not for a while but one day I will own another Thing, good luck selling it.
JThw8
PowerDork
4/10/14 8:05 a.m.
LopRacer wrote:
Grrrr I cannot do it not now, not for a while but one day I will own another Thing, good luck selling it.
Yeah, that's how the wife felt when we sold her first one and she swears after the move in a few years she'll get another but the sticker shock between the first one and this one makes me afraid of where they'll be priced 5-10 years from now. VWs stopped being cheap and that makes me sad.
In reply to JThw8:
My wife wants one and I quizzed her on the price.... She said 2500. I replied back with maybe 10-15 yrs ago...... 
JThw8
PowerDork
4/10/14 8:43 a.m.
Ranger50 wrote:
In reply to JThw8:
My wife wants one and I quizzed her on the price.... She said 2500. I replied back with maybe 10-15 yrs ago......
Sadly this is what $2500 gets you these days
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1596778
Actually for a few hundred more this is probably a better deal if you can get an engine
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1622479
trucke
Reader
4/10/14 9:38 a.m.
Johnson City, TN
Solid '73 VW Thing. Original windows, hard top and more. Brand new tires, cvs, brakes, gas tank, shocks, headlights, and more!! Clear title. Was on the road last year, but engine went out. Needs a engine and you will be back on the road. $4350,firm. Cash only- priced to sell!
http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/4406933060.html
JThw8
PowerDork
4/10/14 10:48 a.m.
So $4300 for a roller? Kinda backs up the point we're making.
trucke wrote:
Johnson City, TN
Solid '73 VW Thing. Original windows, hard top and more. Brand new tires, cvs, brakes, gas tank, shocks, headlights, and more!! Clear title. Was on the road last year, but engine went out. Needs a engine and you will be back on the road. $4350,firm. Cash only- priced to sell!
http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/4406933060.html
Damn that one is in my back yard and I would sacrifice the engine out of my 67 bug project for it..... Grrrr must not sell all my stuff to get.
trucke wrote:
Johnson City, TN
Solid '73 VW Thing. Original windows, hard top and more. Brand new tires, cvs, brakes, gas tank, shocks, headlights, and more!! Clear title. Was on the road last year, but engine went out. Needs a engine and you will be back on the road. $4350,firm. Cash only- priced to sell!
http://asheville.craigslist.org/cto/4406933060.html
huh, I think I know exactly where that car is, I am from that area.
JThw8
PowerDork
4/12/14 1:38 p.m.
Additional photos uploaded to http://misfittoysracing.com/thing/
JFX001
UltraDork
4/14/14 5:52 p.m.
If you have to get to the point of a CL listing, I will post it up for you.
Or...I could post it up anyway.
JThw8
PowerDork
4/14/14 6:17 p.m.
JFX001 wrote:
If you have to get to the point of a CL listing, I will post it up for you.
Or...I could post it up anyway.
Went on CL and the Samba over the weekend once I got it out of storage and cleaned up.
JThw8
PowerDork
4/16/14 4:41 p.m.
This one is now on ebay, reserve is considerably below the Buy it Now price and the asking price here. Score a deal before my wife finds out ;)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Volkswagen-Thing-Base-1973-volkswagen-thing-base-1-6-l-/331178542321?forcerrptr=true&hash=item4d1bc784f1&item=331178542321&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
Ian F
UltimaDork
4/17/14 9:06 a.m.
I was thinking about this car yesterday. The classic/specialty car dealer near me (LRA Enterprises - they had that old bus we mused over some months ago) has an orange Thing on the lot right now. It's not on the website, so no idea what the asking price is.
Good luck with the auction.
JThw8
PowerDork
4/17/14 4:44 p.m.
Not for nuttin but this is a for sale thread for my car. If you have another one or know of another one, feel free to share...somewhere else. And FWIW "had a new engine installed before it was parked 15 years ago" is worse than no engine at all, it gets your hopes up but lands you in the same place :)
Not trying to be an ass, and I know I've posted a few other ads here in my own thread so I'm as guilty as anyone, but this is a serious sale thread with a car that is, quite honestly, being offered below market value, here only, for GRM members. Let's try to keep it on track.
Reserve met on the auction! Very nice. I'm sure you'll miss it. I hope the tax bill isn't too too painful. We actually overpaid this year but that's because our estimated payments were so ludicrously huge. Prepping our taxes last year I said to Lisa, "I think I just became a Republican." haha
JThw8
PowerDork
4/17/14 8:57 p.m.
dculberson wrote:
Reserve met on the auction! Very nice. I'm sure you'll miss it. I hope the tax bill isn't too too painful. We actually overpaid this year but that's because our estimated payments were so ludicrously huge. Prepping our taxes last year I said to Lisa, "I think I just became a Republican." haha
Reserve met this early is encouraging, should run up a bit further before the end I'd think.
Personally I won't miss it, never had a love for it, was always the wife's baby. It's one of those vehicles in that odd area of needs enough little that I want to tear it apart and make it perfect but just too nice and drive-able to actually be bothered to do so. It created internal stress in my brain :)
Still willing to end the auction early for a GRMer, but otherwise looks like this one will be sold by the weekend. Next up...the Mercury
(Got a GRM priced 33' RV project if anyone is interested as well)
JThw8
PowerDork
4/17/14 9:02 p.m.
Hmm, current high bidder is actually a buyer who first contacted me via CL when I posted it. We had a nice chat about if he could drive it back to TX. He didn't find it encouraging when I said I would but I've also driven $200 beetles to New Orleans so I'm crazy.
