Rare Volkswagen ‘Thing’ military buggy sells at auction

A rare Volkswagen Thing – an open-topped vehicle designed for the military, based on a classic Beetle – has gone under the hammer in Greece, attracting a final bid of €13,500 ($AU20,870).

The Volkswagen Type 181, to give it its official designation, attracted a total of 53 bids on popular online auction house Collecting Cars.

Originally developed for the Bundeswehr, the West German army, the VW Type 181 was an open-topped buggy used primarily for light transport duties by various military services. Production started in 1968.

Sharing components and running gear with the Volkswagen Type 1 (Beetle), the Type 181 was made available to the public in 1971, marketed variously as the Kurlerwagen (Germany), Thing (US), Safari (Mexico and South America) and Pescaccia (Italy).

Around 90,000 were built between 1969 and 1983 before production was wound down.

The Type 181 is powered by Volkswagen’s venerable 1.5-litre air-cooled flat-four engine, mounted in the back. A four-speed manual gearbox transmits power to the rear wheels.

This particular 1976 model spent much of its early life on active service in the Greek Navy before passing into civilian hands following its decommission from military use.

Finished in satin-grey paint and fitted with a removable black canvas roof, the Type 181 shows an indicated 63,099km on the odometer.

The overall condition of this unmodified Thing is described as ‘good’ with some wear and tear on the interior and a couple of scuff marks and scratches on the external bodywork.

Thanks to its relative scarcity, the Type 181 has become much sought after by collectors. A mint 1973 model year Thing sold at auction in the US for $US31,900 ($AU46,025) in 2021, making the circa $AU20,000 sold last week somewhat of a bargain.

While the Type 181 was never officially made in Australia, the Volkswagen Countrybuggy – also an open-topped vehicle designed for military use and based on a Beetle, but even more spartan than the Thing, and conceived by Volkswagen Australia – predated the Thing by several years.

Less than 1000 examples of the Australia-only Countrybuggy were ever produced.