Today’s Fan Car Friday is brought to us by Skip and his 1973 VW Thing. Fan Car Friday is a segment where we want to share with the world the automobiles that our fans have. We have absolutely no affiliation/relationship with the cars, the build or the owners. This post was made with written consent from the owner.

We don’t call it a VW Thing as slang, but because that is what it is called here in the US (or the Trekker if you’re in the UK), but it is formally known by VW as the Type 181. It is a very quirky car, and this is a shining example of it.

It has had major work done to it. This thing has Baja front suspension, Peterson rear suspension, chromoly class 5 trailing arms, powder coated suspension and roll cage, a new wiring harness, a new “Thing white” paintjob, new upholstery, custom canvas top and a completely reworked drivetrain.

It has a rebuilt 1835cc engine, a forged crank, new piston/rings, high flow oil pump, dual port heads, a Zenith carb, custom airbox with air filter, new ceramic coated exhaust, an IRS transaxle, new shifter, boasts 9.5:1 compression and a kill switch to top it all off. It’s not a hotrod by any means, but it had the same love and care go into it. If you’re going to have a VW Thing, you may as well do that Thing right. So they continued and gave it new brakes, dual shocks and it rides on new tires and aluminum wheels.

When you take vehicles on the beach they always have the chance to roll over, so a complete, custom roll cage was made for the vehicle that ties into the rear suspension.

For the interior it has a beautiful two tone gray scheme with matching front and rear seats. It has marine carpeting for added waterproofing, seat harnesses for the offroading adventures, a sound system that is just 1 step away from true hi-fi and the doors now feature half windows that are easily removable.

This Thing runs and drives great, far better than the day it was built. Everything that can be powder coated has been, everything that could be replaced with something new is and meticulous care was taken every step of the way. It may be a funky car, but its build quality is top of the line. Very wonderful to see that level of attention be given to all cars, not the typical muscle cars you see at car shows over and over.

Skip says his favorite thing about the car is how on the weekends he basically lives in the car at the beach. He goes fishing, swimming, seaglass hunting and diving and he does it all with this Thing. The childhood wonder & joy he sees on peoples faces when driving by are pretty good too, he says.