Volkswagen Type 181 "Thing" - InRangeTV Classic

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I recently published a mud test video in which my VW Thing was visible in the background. This garnered a lot of comments and questions, and while I did already publish a version of this video many years ago, it's clear that people haven't seen it. I've edited and spruced it up and am republishing it now as an InRangeTV "Classic".
I hope you enjoy if it, regardless of it's new to you, or if you've been with InRange for all this time.

[@macstone9719]

It was still around in the German Bundeswehr in 1984/85 when I did my service. We liked it for the extra gasoline powered heater and the comfy suspension. Cozy in the winter 😀

[@georgg372]

my father drove one in 79/80 in the Austrian Military.

[@GLMtr]

Austrian military still has/had these during pandemic they where patroling borders I saw these during winter at smaller border crossings.

[@georgg372]

@@GLMtr I would be pretty surprised if that was the case. as to my l knowledge the 181 was replaced by the Puch G (Austria's G Wagon) which are being gradually replaced by Mitsubishi L200. but well... might be they dug something up somewhere in some detached car pool. would be an amazing find for collectors and afficionados.

[@GLMtr]

@@georgg372 yes big border crossings had L200 pick-up trucks but those really small ones like Untherthürnau/ Vratěnín had these antiques because somebody pulled the shortest straw, later it was guarded just by police-man since military guys were moved to big crossing Kleinhaugsdorf/ Chvalovice.

[@georgg372]

@@GLMtr I am indeed amazed. pictures would be great. but man. that's awesome.

[@20thGTI]

Another important note is that these are based off the original Beetle (Type 1,) along with many other VWs. It was pretty revolutionary at the time how VW modified one chassis for so many different roles and body types. Now it’s something all car manufacturers do. Also, fun fact when you do your on board training for VW here in the States, they for some reason skip 1939-1945 on their history lesson…

[@franktower9006]

I wonder why they skip that but still talk about 33-38.

[@Pyreleaf]

Never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, or a German company what they were doing between 1939-45.

[@Theporkchopsandwhich]

They were all on vacation

[@akcarlos]

@@Theporkchopsandwhich around Europe?

[@eldorados_lost_searcher]

​@@akcarlos There was punch.

[@sennest]

My Grandpa had one, it was his bush-buggy running through the northern boreal forests. Never got stuck and would put 4x4s to shame. Would go over logs like they were sand dunes. Saddest day when he sold it for an on-road dune-buggy; all the old trails just grew over and were absorbed into the bush. Awesome video, Karl.

[@whitetransgirlwithdreads]

as a former veewee who built baja bugs for years and even a dune buggy, the Thing was one of my major dream cars.

[@WastedTalent-]

I had a chance to buy one back in the late 90's for $1000 but I didn't have the money (18 years old and working minimum wage).

[@danieldykstra3079]

We had one come into our autotech class once, this would have been 09,10. Also had a rusted out Firebird in the back.

[@magoid]

Like Karl said at the end of the video, air cooled VWs are surprisingly good in off road. Here in Brazil there was a huge number of fiber glass models build on the Beetle chassis. One of the most prominent was the Gurgel X-12 and its many revisions, who fancy itself as a 2WD jeep. Besides the flat botton, the other trick it had to get itself off trouble was split handbrakes, that allowed you to lock either one of the rear wheels, like a poor man's locking differential.

[@heikola]

Wow, did not know about the split handbrake.

[@azgarogly]

I really like this kind of video. Not that I would despise historical collector grade cars restored to absolutely original conditions, but this one is a driver, it's alive. With some modifications, but purely practical, not some stupid 24" chrome shining rims and paper thin tires. The car that is built to be driven and is indeed driven off road half a century after it has being built. Quite an achievement. Thank you for showing it to us.

[@resistanceisfutile]

Another thing that helps ground clearance on a Type 181 (and another difference from the Beetle) is the use of a transfer case on each rear wheel so that the driveshafts from the transaxle can be tucked up above the belly pan. It's a really well thought out design. Some of the military versions (possibly also some civilian versions) also had a limited differential.

[@andrewallen9993]

And of course so did the T2 split window Microbus.

[@TheWolfsnack]

I can just see Karl bouncing across the open desert wastelands at high speed with trusty STG by his side!

[@vresor]

Brings back fond memories of my 1968 Beetle. Love the clothesline clips!

[@Weld0id]

InRange and Regular Car Reviews crossover episode? Spectacular.

[@SirThoreth]

Had one of these I picked up from a junk yard and used as my daily driver for 16 years, before it finally rusted away enough that it would need a bigger teardown than I could do. I still miss it terribly.

[@Brochacho-Solutions]

I do appreciate you mention the name in Mexico, I spent my summer and winter vacations in Mexico and my cousins and I grew up using my uncle's safari as the main "prop" as we played ww2. Absolutely the most fun vehicle I remember riding in, you really felt like you were in the Afrika Korps or Indiana Jones in the middle of Mexico.

[@jazzyjaytee9961]

What a neat, practical, little car! Clearly showing its war-time predecessor's genes. I like the extra supply of wooden clothes pegs on the fuel line. Thanks for showing!

[@bholdr----0]

F'n SWEET... Remember: If it ain't cool unless it's AIR cooled! This sweet Thing and it's umdercarrige has obviously been well cared for, maintained, and treated with due respect, while still being used as intended. Very cool: Cheers!

[@Angel9932]

A friend of my parents had one brand new back in the 80s. I always wanted one or one of the Baja bugs but instead received my sister's old Dodge when I started driving a few years later.

[@paulrapp613]

For many years my brother (who at one time made his living as a VW mechanic) had a 181. We would drive it on the sand at Pismo Beach during summer vacations. Great fun!

[@alun7006]

Neat old thing! There's much to be said for simplicity. Just don't crash it! HNY to you, Karl, and congrats on 700k! 🥃

[@tryxxor]

there is a 181 driving around in my town here in Germany, always love it when i see it driving around and it's in beautiful condition.

[@Kristian_Saile]

I have a ‘73 and a ‘74 Thing. The ‘74 was my fathers, I learned to drive in it as a kid and we used it as a daily driver, off-roader, trips to hunting camp, and to go skiing where we lived in northern Michigan. It was surprisingly good offroad . My father had an FJ40 and a couple of flat fender Willy’s and the staging was so much more comfortable to ride in, especially offroad. Glad to see someone else who actually used them as intended versus just a street queen. 👍

[@Night-Jester]

I loved seeing this...thing...haha in the dust/dirt tests. You're a pretty unique guy Karl.

[@berrie-nice-to-meet-you]

This is such a Karl kind of car: Historical, quirky, and utilitarian

[@planetspode]

I can remember my mom had one of these at my childhood home. It was yellow and never drove, it was given to family ar some point. Now I have my own '71 Super Beetle, and it's remarkably similar to this.

[@dusty7264]

A friend of mine had one we went hunting in it, I freaked out when at the gas station he opened the hood and lit the pilot, for the heater on it. It was a cool little car

[@hudsonmeek6728]

Someone get this guy on regular car reviews

[@MGood-ij1hi]

Reminds me of an old 1980 Toyota Corolla I had that was basic in the extreme but ran and ran and ran with almost no maintenance. Like with old refrigerators, the trick to making a machine work for decades is to keep it as simple and robust as possible.

[@mattliebenau9083]

Very cool. I had a friend in high school with a Thing. I didn’t appreciate it then as much as I would have now.

[@Dan-56]

I owned VW Bugs (Type-1) for over 20 years. Starting with. ‘57 model and then a ‘62, ‘65, ‘69, and lastly a ‘70. On the last two I put over 100k miles on each with the original engines and transmissions, but to do that required a much higher level of maintenance mainly because of it being an air cooled engine. Every 2.5k; Oil and filter screen change and clean, and check/adjust the valves. At each 5k; Add to that a fresh set of spark plugs. At each 10k; Add points, condenser, cap, and rotor. And at EVERY fill up you checked the oil as they would consume a little on each cold start up and it only held 2.5 quarts. (Again, air cooled engines have to have room to expand as they warm up so tolerances are a bit “loose” when cold.) Just a shame that emission and crash standards killed them off.

[@trolling4attention]

Super cool, my mom had one of these in the early 80s and drove us to school in it

[@robertrobert7924]

I owned several Beetles and never got stuck in the snow or anywhere else. My favorite was Sahara Beige with a vinyl sunroof. I remember these but never owned one. Thanks for this great video down Memory Lane.

[@morbidsnake]

This made my morning! Love old cars and gearhead stuff!

[@InrangeTv]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@stevewatson6839]

These pieces are what make this channel so much more! Have a great New Year, Karl, and an even better '24.👍

[@Hostilenemy]

Karl's Top Gear.

[@Sableagle]

"This morning, I woke up and there were monkeys on my knees. I said _Thing!_ and they all went away." Yes, folks, saying _Thing!_ really works, so say _Thing!_ today. Sponsored by the society for saying _Thing!_ - The Goon Show

[@epl803]

My favourite story about the Goon Show cast: It was in North Africa, during WWII, as Gunner Milligan, 954024, that Spike first met Harry Secombe. The circumstances of their meeting were only narrowly non-fatal. Milligan's 25-pounder gun jumped out of its placement due to recoil, and ran down the hill narrowly missing another gun unit. Spike went down the hill and asked, "Has anyone seen a gun?" One of the men in the other gun unit said, "What colour?" It was Harry Secombe.

[@redactedanticretin]

get another booster shot mr

[@stevewatson6839]

Any one quoting The Goons is alright by me! #NotMyKing excepted of course. ;-)

[@heikola]

I just love the simplicity of that thing. Still saw a few of those drive around during my service, although mostly it had been replaced by the Audi Iltis (gave birth to the Quattro I suppose). My theroy why beetles (and 181s) became super popular in CA (and maybe AZ) is the absence of winters. The heating system is a nightmare. Be happy you don't need it and many thanks for sharing.

[@Kyle-ir3bz]

Very cool Karl

[@DETHMOKIL]

haha I was one of those comments noticing your thing! cool car karl!

[@randymathewson7939]

Thanks for the history lesson. Brought back memories. In high school a buddy had a bug. We would cram 3-4 boys in there all of our book bags, gear, football pads etc and drive to school. It was a tight fit, but we had fun

[@miketeeveedub5779]

Very cool! Don't see these vehicles much to begin with, never mind anymore. Nice to see such 'heritage' vehicles still puttering around and in such fantastic shape. Thanks for the tour!

[@lonniedeckermusic]

I just got a '73 and am loving it. Thanks for the great info.

[@InrangeTv]

Glad to hear it!

[@jcarter855]

Its perfectly timed/moderated by clothes pins. Always loved the simple look & engineering of the Thing.

[@brianjay692]

Old trick for sinking heat away from the fuel line

[@jcarter855]

Interesting , I learned something new. Thank you sir!@@brianjay692

[@terrye6853]

The zip tie of the 1970’s

[@maxlittle9979]

​@brianjay692 came to the comments specifically to see what the purpose of the clothes pins was, thanks!

[@tetra4411]

I have a VW Baja Bug. Converted myself. Love it.

[@FrankCastle-he8fl]

I trained with the Germans in the 80s and they still had them

[@downunderrob]

I've loved these all my Life. Great car.

[@konstantinatanassov4353]

Great walkthrough! I'm happy that there are people out there, still valuing this kind of old timer tech.

[@williamromine5715]

It probably doesn't get really cold in winter where you live, but in Montana where I live, the V.W. heater didn't work very well in our winters. I'm 81, and have owned two V.W.s many years ago. They had very good traction and were easy ti work on. You brought back some old memories of days gone long ago. Thanks.

[@leadcloud]

Very cool! I've always loved these old cars. Love seeing these non-gun "misc equipment" videos, good bit of variety livens things up

[@unistrut]

I grew up with one of these! It had an aftermarket roll cage and we'd lower the top, lay the seats down and drive slowly through the nature preserves in Florida with me and my brother standing in the back leaning on the roll cage with binoculars looking at birds and gators.

[@duncanstone8758]

I bought one of these in early 1976 and it was my daily driver for 13 years. Cold in the winter and hot in the summer but so much fun to drive. Finally had to get rid of it when the belly pan rusted out under the passenger seat.

[@MrWarwick15]

Hey Karl! Happy belated Christmas and I hope you have a great New Year! Thanks for all the excellent content. Best wishes, Richard.

[@jughead8988]

My dad had one of these in the late 70's when we where stationed in Germany. I loved that car and would love to own one now!

[@Elessar_Telcontar]

Merry Christmas Inrange!

[@KasperBoLarsen]

Nice touch with the Norwegian flag on the rear bumper 😁

[@villainousmaximus8775]

Very cool, thanks for sharing.

[@InrangeTv]

Thanks for watching!

[@maverick4462]

My aunt still has one. Bought it new. I rebuilt the carburetor last year.

[@jollyrodgerfabrication]

As a car guy, I've been waiting for a video on your car for years lol. Thanks haha, that car is pretty awesome.

[@ricky_boom-boom_down]

A friend of mine had a 181; and my first vehicle was a Bus, which I still own alongside a Squareback and a Westfalia Camper. They're truly genius in their simplicity, and remarkably capable in rough terrain. I've gotten a lot of funny looks from people driving modified Jeeps, when I overcome the same terrain in a basically stock 2WD VW.

[@jayr2634]

I like how Carl says says cooler "month" as in singular... course I'm saying this from lake effect winter weather, which began in OCTOBER.

[@alias1719]

Nice - the Thing is one of my favorite cars. Yours is in the best shape I've ever seen.

[@mezzanoon]

Happy to see it looks just as crisp and clean, if not cleaner, in your recent mud test

[@peteoddi3562]

I thought I recognized the thing in your last mud test video. These are such interesting vehicles they always make me smile

[@jonathantatler]

Excellent utility vehicle 👍👍👍

[@andrewallen9993]

I like the wooden clothes peg on the fuel line.

[@LOLokBuddy]

Great idea to reupload and edit these older shorts, nice to know you still have your Thing! I remember this video from back when

[@lezzbmm]

i had to see this recommended in my feed like 15 times before i noticed this was a karl video not a car video from one of the car channels i follow lmaoo

[@lezzbmm]

(at which point i immediately clicked lmfao)

[@IndianaJoe3]

I remember this thing from the dust test videos.

[@jimmystecher5214]

This was one of my dream cars. Always wanted to get one of these.

[@shura0107]

Had a friend in middle school back in the 90s whose father had one. Pretty cool.

[@tombryant6061]

Nice! Always wanted one of these. I had a ‘68 Campmobile that we had many many adventures in!

[@sorino2817]

Cool car. Merry Christmas 🎅

[@gonuts4donuts]

Surprisingly simple for something being German 🤔 Love it! Always been one of my dream cars to mess around with.

[@gnarshread]

As a VW nerd, I appreciated this.

[@controlfreak1963]

Just an FYI that these "things" are incredibly dangerous if you get in a crash. They are basically very thin sheet metal and were built during a time when passenger safety was not even an afterthought. One of my neighbors was doing off road in one and they hit a tree which practically cut it in half.

[@InrangeTv]

Yep.

[@cannedheat33]

Great video!👍👍

[@earlyriser8998]

The story behind the revival of VW after the war is one of genius and determination

[@mpetersen6]

The British and I believe Ford evaluated VW and decided they weren't worth the trouble.

[@lunarpking]

@@mpetersen6The British were the ones that saved the company.

[@InfideLP]

Senator Richard Burr kept one of these in DC. It was always a trip seeing it parked outside the Hart office building.

[@molochi]

Parents had one of these when I was a kid. Stepdad traded in the Volvo station wagon for one with the removable hardtop... in Nashua NH... in the winter. Pretty sure it was one of the many things he did to get mom to divorce him. Of course I was like 12 at the time and thought the removable vinyl windows and doors and roof were neat at first.

[@Rusty_Spiggle-Smith]

Such a badass vehicle I’ve always wanted a thing painted gray on off-road tires. Those air cooled motors look stupid simple to work on. Great vehicle to learn on id imagine. I got a slightly modified Geo metro that is basically a modern more fuel efficient version of this car. I put 25x8 DOT approved atv tires on it and lifted it about 5 inches, gutted it and took the plastic covers off the bumpers. It’s like driving a Mario cart around so fun especially ripping the e brake on wet pavement around corners. Right now it’s my daily and I still get 45-50 mpg in it.

[@ADVtheMISSIONARY]

It's a pity we didn't get them in Australia but we did have the Volkswagen Country Buggy which was Australian built in 1967-68, the germans were working on the 181 at the same time. the Country buggies ended up being sent to the Philippines which started off the VW Sakbayan being built there.

[@garandm1d]

The air-cooled vw.... Air will never leak out... Air will never run out...air will never freeze.. air will never boil.... How many other manufacturers run stock sedans in the desert races...tear the whole thing down with a handful of tools & a jack... The perfect car to teach anyone how to maintain a vehicle...

[@VosperCDN]

Loved these, were much too early for my younger self to have a licence in time of getting one. Used to be a west coast (Canada) shop that did Kubelwagon remakes/rebuilds, another dream car gone.

[@promiscuous675]

Thank you.

[@douglaseuritt3919]

I had a '74 many years ago when they were cheap and plentiful (relative to today). Wish I'd kept it. I had the front and rear axle assemblies from a '65 Microbus that I thought about installing to give it the (rear) portal axels and height more like the Kubelwagen but never got around to trying. You'd be amazed at what an original gas cap will bring today!

[@jerrybolvin1169]

Like it good job you know a lot about it .also liked the one about the lemon sguiser 38 short

[@lanedexter6303]

Love it! I grew up with VWs. Our “brush car” was a 1960 beetle that had been rolled, roof pushed back out, but no windshield. Would love a 181 Thing. I guess even more scarce than the Kubelwagen would be the 4x4 Schwimwagen.

[@danbradley6553]

Definitely enjoyed it. Screw KZbin and their algorithm.

[@vertigo4236]

A thing the Thing can do no freaking Tesla can do Is being serviced in the field by you...

[@GolfRemoEchoGolf2]

A guy I went to high school back in the late 80s had one , I use to see a red one floating around the same area in Cincinnati

[@Slothclawcolseslaw]

Get this bad boy over to regular car reviews

[@jonathantatler]

You've got to hand it to them, they knew how to design stuff!

[@petervanderwaart1138]

Small as it is, it's bigger than the iconic WWII Jeep.

[@jeremypintsize7606]

It's an inspiration for a french Citroën Méhari , a 2CV engine in similar ABS plactic body on a steel chassis - it weights only 570 kg (1,256.6 lb) - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_M%C3%A9hari and a 4x4 version exist produced from 1979 to 1983... The French Army purchased 7,064 Méharis - some of which were modified to have 24 V electric power to operate the two way radio.

[@rebelbatdave5993]

THANKS! GOOD LOOKING VEHICLE!

[@GLMtr]

I believe these are still in service in Austria they were used during pandemic to patrol small border crossings.

[@Gieszkanne]

I doubt that.

[@th3rdmonkey159]

Nice rig !!

[@_stoatchaser]

A most spectacular vehicle 🚗

[@gozer87]

My dad had one, I learned to drive stick in it.

[@gyrene_asea4133]

I've gotta luv the respect shown for "'Da Fouw Vae" . I remember the Thing showing up in the Bay Area in @1974 or so. I had a 64 and a 72. Impressive but dangerous in modern U.S. driving.

[@HootOwl513]

Perfect Tucson rig.

[@johnpatrickmcp]

Clothes Pins, very high tech.

[@wisenber]

I still miss my 74 VW bus. Should have kept it.