I just returned from Indonesia, where I partook in the less-steamy parts of my brother’s honeymoon; among them was a ride around Bali in a Volkswagen Thing, which isn’t dissimilar to the VW Kuebelwagen that went toe-to-toe with the Jeep during World War II. VW and Jeep have competed ever since, as the two brands have had a larger influence on global car culture than any two others (go to any country on earth, and you’ll find a VW or its derivative; ditto with Jeep, especially if you consider that the Land Rover and Land Cruiser both started off life as Jeep imitators — millions of folks have had to choose between a Jeep and a Volkswagen). As someone who has extensive Jeep experience and limited VW experience, what did I think of the Thing? Well, I think in many ways it may be superior to the Jeep.
Let me begin by saying that my flight back to the U.S. landed last night, and in addition to ending up sick, I didn’t get a wink of sleep. So this blog is likely going to have some flaws. But let’s get into it. At first blush, it may seem odd to compare a rear-wheel drive, air-cooled VW to a four-wheel drive liquid-cooled Jeep, but go to the remotest parts of the world, and those two are often the only choice: It’s either a VW or some form of a Jeep. And while “some form” often includes Land Cruisers and Land Rovers and Mitsubishi Pajeros and Suzuki Jimnys, for this comparison, I’m just going to talk about the true Jeeps that I’m used to — vehicles vastly superior off-road than pretty much any VW not named Iltis. But just because Jeeps are better off-road, does that make them better for, say, island safaris? As I came to find out, the answer is a firm “no.”
The drive began at our hotel just outside of Ubud. It’s a town nestled in the jungle about an hour and a half inland from the airport, which sits on the southern shore of the island. Folks typically travel to Ubud to relax, drink coffee that originated in a cat’s poop, do Yoga, explore beautiful waterfalls and rice terraces, and get massages. It’s further proof that I, a former oil-covered Detroit junkyard-warrior, have gone soft. But also, I was here to hang out with my brother:
I’d been expecting Jeeps, which is why when a pair of VW Things showed up, I was a little bummed. But in short order, it became clear to me that these Things are much, much better than not just the Jeeps I’m used to, but certainly the “Jeeps” running all around Ubud. These Suzukis:
The reason why is simple: Even though the Volkswagen Thing, which is largely based on the Beetle (but with a wider pan) and inspired by the WWII Kuebelwagen, is significantly less advanced than Jeeps in terms of powertrain and drivetrain (the Jeep has a liquid cooled engine and four-wheel drive, while the VW is an air-cooled motor with two-wheel drive), the body is significantly more advanced than those of Jeeps — namely, VWs were unibody and open-top Jeeps have aways been body-on-frame.
What does this mean practically? Well, for one: SPACE.
A unibody vehicle uses the body itself to carry all the loads that go into the vehicle from the road (braking, accelerating, steering, hitting potholes, etc), whereas a body-on-frame vehicle needs a separate frame to handle loads. The result is that adding the frame creates bulk, which becomes especially noticeable when you sit in the VW Thing.
“I feel like this thing is too low to the ground to be good off-road,” my girlfriend said to me while comparing the riding experience to my Jeep Wrangler YJ. “Well actually, we’re sitting low, but actually the ground clearance is quite good. You see, the unibody construction of this — yadayadayada (this is where my girlfriend tuned out).”
Case in point, check out this giant pothole:
The Thing soaked it up without issue:
More impressive than the good ground clearance/low center of gravity combo is all the storage the unibody construction affords. I mean, look at this frunk:
And check out behind the second row:
Speaking of the second row, look at all that space! You can easily fit three people across in the second row, and the legroom isn’t bad!:
What’s more, check this out — the seats fold!:
If you’re not impressed, you need only look at the lack of space in a Jeep like my 1991 Jeep Wrangler. That’s this:
Jeeps like this have been the go-to rental cars on islands like those of Hawaii, but if we’re being honest, these machines are a bit miserable. I mean, look at how little storage space there is behind the rear bench (and this is the only cargo storage the Jeep has):
Look at how narrow the rear bench is, and look at all that useless space to the left and right — that flat surface above the wheel wells is a complete waste — if you drive around with something sitting on top, it will just slide off and end up in the footwell:
Speaking of the footwell, the legroom behind the front seats is awful:
You may be wondering: “Why are you comparing a 1970s VW to a Jeep YJ?” The truth is, it doesn’t really matter — the YJ, if anything, is on the bigger side. Compare the Thing to the old CJ5 from the early 1970s, and you’ll see that old CJ was even more cramped:
And the Willys Surrey — a vehicle specifically meant to haul people around resorts? It was also really tight in the back seat, and wasted a lot of room trying to clear drivetrain components that didn’t exist (the Surrey was rear-wheel drive but shared the body of a four-wheel drive CJ-3A):
The truth is, unless you’re going off-road, Jeeps aren’t really the best runabout vehicles. And even if you are going slightly off-road, the VW Thing can hang! The engine sits close to the rear axle, weighing the driven wheels down; along with a suspension that travels quite well, this gives the Thing confident traction:
I’d also like to note how sweet the folding windshield is:
The release clamp isn’t unlike a Willys Jeep’s:
But instead of a tie-down strap to hold the windshield against some big wood blocks, there are little rubber sockets meant to fit the metal balls integrated into the windshield:
It’s clever stuff. Quick and easy, and apparently good enough to keep the windscreen down at moderate speeds thanks largely to the sheer weight of the thing. The view out of the front is phenomenal!:
My coworker Jason tells me that some of these “Type 181s” came with portal rear axles, but the models I was riding in — presumably late 1970s models — appear to have featured semi-trailing arms with torsion bars:
I also have to give a shoutout to the doors, which have an inner and outer panel, with the space between used for storage (but I assume primarily there to give the door stiffness):
Overall, I have to hand it to the Type 181 “Thing.” There’s a reason why in some markets it’s called the Safari: It is, in some ways, the ultimate. It’s got tons of room, it’s good enough off-road, the lack of pillars and the easy-fold windshield makes for amazing visibility, the VW powertrain and drivetrain is bone-simple and incredibly easy to find parts for. If you’re not doing crazy off-roading, the Thing is better for the driver and for the rider — it is an absolutely fantastic package, and a whole lot of fun.
Jeep gods, you may now strike me with your wrath.
Congratulations to your brother! Wishing him a lifetime of happiness.
Did the entire family go on the honeymoon? (Please do not give my in-laws ideas)
Haha, no just me. But the whole family did attend the wedding. All eight of us together for the first time in seven years!
A few other facts for the VW nerdy and obsessed.
All Things are Type 181s but not all Type 181s are Things. They had lots of names around the world (mostly Safari but as GM owned that in the US…) that made more sense in the local languages. If it’s right-hand-drive it’s not even a 181, it’s a Type182 and most of them were called Trekker.
Things were all made in Mexico and sold in the US or Canada in 1973, 1974 and a few leftover ’74 models titled as 1975s. As such, they had the tri-color, “elephant-foot” taillights like Beetles had from the 1973 model year on. The front turn signals are also the same, larger ones that the Beetle got. Four-spoke steering wheels were shared with the other North American VW cars. The ’73s all came with the Eberspacher gasoline heater in the trunk, right on top of the gas tank. Although it cranked out lots of heat and could be used without running the engine, that heat was only on the windshield or on the driver’s knees. Nervous customers must have complained and in ’74 they put in an engine-generated heating system similar to the Beetle but drastically LESS effective than even those. The ’74 engine tin and exhaust are different to accommodate heater boxes. The huge intake boxes on the rear quarter panels of the ’74 models are there to get fresher air (outside of the negative-pressure, exhaust-filled area behind the rear fenders) for this “heating” system. They all had black bumpers and were painted in semi-gloss paint (red, white, orange or yellow in ’73 and adding avocado green for ’74) to hide “hillbilly pinstripes” one gets from breaking trail. The ’74-only Acapulco Thing, with surrey top, running boards, blue & white or pink & white paint scheme & striped seats matching the top was the only special edition. There are no military Things.
Overall, the Thing was actually a pretty small slice of Type 181/182 production- 28,930 over two years.
It wasn’t killed for emissions reasons as they could have easily added fuel injection like the North American Beetles got. It was killed (in the US) because its designation as a Special Purpose Vehicle (like Jeep CJs, Broncos and the like) that were exempt from crash protection and bumper impact standards, was revoked at the insistence of higher-ups at Jeep.
The equally odd and equally cool front-engine, water-cooled, 4WD Type 183 ILTIS replaced it.
In short: it’s not a Thing unless it’s a Thing.
I’m sure this article is a balm for Jason’s recovering heart & just what he needs; nice work. Now feel better, David!
Not as good looking.
That’s no way to talk about David
I love this place but neither DT nor Torch are considered aesthetically pleasing.
True, my apologies.
How do you know? Have you even seen his brother?
It’s not in production anymore, but the modern VW Thing, in terms of convertible island transport, was the Chrysler Sebring.
I see people towing side by sides, which have the same layout as a VW Thing, with their Jeeps for when they actually go offroading, which says a lot.
Question: How many kittens does each hold? That seems to be the major selling point.
I learned how to drive in a 73 Thing. Not a “great” car by modern standards, but it got me around town without much trouble.
If I have to go off-roading with 1940’s technology I’d rather have a 2CV Sahara than either of those options. 4WD, air cooled and an entire spare engine/gearbox. Plus extra doors for the rear seats.
While I loved & respected the abilities of my air-cooled VWs, I recently watched a video in which 4 stock Jeeps—one from ww2–traversed a boulder-strewn valley and was deeply impressed at their ability right out of the box. No lockers or traction control. I’ve been watching Matt’s Offroad for some time now, so accustomed to 37” & up tires, so it was great to see the little beasts just go. Granted, there were fits & starts, but it brought me a new appreciation of their capabilities in practiced hands.
They have so little mass to haul over things. Old, short wheelbase CJ’s are amazing. I mean they ride rough and lack ANY comfort but they are great for their intended purpose.
Did you “ackshually” your girlfriend TWICE in one sentence?
Welcome back!
This debate goes as far back as the Kubelwagen and the Willy’s Jeep during WWII.
Both were effectively 2WD as the Jeep had open differentials and the Kubelwagen had some German clockwork ZF differential that sends power to the wheel with the most traction (basically the opposite of how an open differential works) which meant no matter what both rear wheels were spinning, some of those diffs made it into VW Things and they’re worth a ton because ZF doesn’t make them anymore (they damn well should, there are tons of air cooled VWs and they make a massive difference!) It also had the portal axles in the rear (for gear reduction mostly, first gear would allow it to keep pace with marching soldiers). All the VW Things that had the portal axles had swing axles as the portal axles bolt onto the end of the swing axles, to my knowledge they were the same units in the original VW busses.
The Jeep has the articulation and the driven front wheels, but the Kubelwagen has the light weight, flat underside, air cooled rear engine, and it had cable brakes (snap one and you still have 3 functional brakes, bust a single circuit hydraulic brake line and you got no brakes.
If you were going on roads, through bare fields, etc. where you have momentum and momentum is useful the Kubelwagen is the best bet. Also the air cooled engine has the advantage in the extreme cold (reliability wise, not heater wise)
If you’re on rough terrain with no momentum the Willys Jeep is the best bet.
However all the VW Things have Hydraulic brakes which gets rid of the brake durability advantage, most lack the special ZF differential.
Jeeps of the same era can easily be fitted with locking diffs front and rear.
So I think today the Jeeps are the more practical option, however if you can get a VW Thing with that ZF differential it makes a hell of a dirt road vehicle. I know a guy with one who use to take it in a convoy through Baja with re-engined Series 3 Land Rovers that had Chevy 250 Straight 6s in them (snapped axles all the time but the free floating axles are very easy to pop out and you just drive in RWD or FWD till you can get somewhere where you can replace the axles). That VW went all over Baja and never had any major issues, still had its original oil bath air cleaner and it worked amazingly.
Me personally I want a vehicle I don’t have to worry about damaging if I hit a bad pothole, or hop a curb, or something and Jeep type vehicles are better suited for that than unibody vehicles. Also 99% of the time I find an older unibody vehicle I like noone makes DOT legal snow tires for it and IF there are some DOT snow tires that would fit in the wheel wells you have to lift the vehicle and in turn up-gear it by putting on the taller tires and in return you get a vehicle that is gutless, gets horrible gas mileage (compared to the original), you have a horrible turning circle, it rides horribly, and it’s tippy.
A BOF 4×4 vehicle with straight axles tends to accept a lot of different tire sizes, you can lower the gearing pretty easily, if you have to lift it it’s cheap and easy and the downsides are not that noticeable.
Personally my favorite car layout is a cabover BOF vehicle with a FWD based 4WD drivetrain that has solid axles in the front and in the rear. Filling up the cab means more weight over the front (driven) axle (not less like most FWD based vehicles), you can saw your front wheels for extra traction when stuck and you have the pulling effect that FWD provides to help you, and when you need it you just throw it into 4WD and you have it. Sadly I know of no vehicle that is built that way, the closest one I can think of is the OX Truck and that’s FWD only (for cost reasons).
Found Jason’s alt account
at your Sunday Cars and Coffee, which draws the crowds – an everyday Jeep or an out-there Thing?
I don’t pick cars based on who likes them.
No Thing ever had portal axles or swing axles, early 181s did.
We call the Type 181 the Thing in the US.
If I saw any Type 181 anywhere I’d call it a Thing because that is how I have known it all my life as a US citizen.
So forgive my VW slang
This is what happens when you drink Torchinsky’s beetlejuice.
OK, Torch’s Beetlejuice absolutely needs to be a product in TheAutopian merch!!!
I think we found Torch’s new way to pay his medical bills once the GoFundMe money runs out:
Slap some authentic Torch graphic design on the bottle label and I’m sure it will sell.
Also works as a tailight polish !!
Back in 1973, the leader of our mountaineering Explorer post traded in his 1968 VW Squareback for a new Thing (yellow, with the portal axles). He was a definite kook, and so we would do things like drive to the eastside Sierra from Orange County with the top down, in winter, with all but the driver snuggled up in our down sleeping bags. As with all VWs of the era, the heater output was pathetic, and the Thing was exceptionally noisy inside because there was nothing but sheet metal and vinyl (windows, top) with no insulation at all. This specimen was modified so that the spare tire was mounted vertically on the front bumper, which helped immensely when a Cadillac driving without chains on a snow-covered road lost control and hit us head-on at about 5MPH; that tire gave up its life to save us (and the car) from grievous injury. The front seats were easily removed, and so we built a folding plywood extension which, combined with the folding rear seats, could comfortably sleep three real closely.
Back then, we preferred VWs to American 4WDs for desert adventuring: great ground clearance on vans and Things; light enough to push or lift around obstacles (and push start when the battery died); next to no front or rear overhang; and no radiator to get destroyed. We had an air compressor that worked off of engine compression when one spark plug was removed and replaced with the compressor valve, and we’d drive through sand dunes and across muddy dry lakes with the windshield down and the doors off in homage to the British Army’s Long Range Desert Group of WWII.
If you got the factory optional auxiliary gas heater they were plenty warm.
The other disadvantage of the stock VW heater was that the “hot” air was sent through channels in the frame and when the heater would be turned off the channels would cool which formed condensation and since the heater channels were designed to move “hot” air they didn’t have drainage holes for the condensation, if they did the heater wouldn’t work at all. So the heater channels are a massive rust area.
I’m almost certain that the optional auxiliary heaters don’t use the heater channels as they were in the front of the car so you don’t have to worry about that either.
on the Beetles I had they were mounted in the left front and blew directly onto your left knee, roasting it to a fine shade of scarlet while doing virtually nothing for most of the rest of the car, especially the pathetic “defrosters”. The noise was very intrusive, and I suspect they put a fair dent in my gas mileage – but in those days who cared about that? They did have a very cute exhaust pipe, though.
That’s where it is mounted on the Thing too.
I have always low key wanted a thing, but what the heck dt has gf. I really thought I would have one of my 700r’s fixed before that happened.
It’s been many years since I read Walter Henry Nelson’s book Small Wonder: the Amazing Story of the Volkswagen Beetle, first published in 1970, but, IIRC, there’s something in the book about how at the end of WWII in Italy many Jeeps and VW Kubelwagens were left behind and as the economy was recovering Italians would use the barter system and they would trade Jeeps and VWs where the going rate was two Jeeps for one Kubelwagen which makes sense in light of this article.
I suppose the infrequency of my visits is betrayed by my being gobsmacked by a David Tracy article with the words “my girlfriend”. Progress has been made!
Yet still no photographic proof, unless she’s from escaped from minecraft then the black rectangle, could be correct.
Either way congrats to both David and his brother.
Some marriage advice from the official that did my ceremony. Whatever you did to make her happy and want to marry you, keep on doing that”.
Sorry David, but with climate change it’s going to have to be Schwimmwagen or GTFO.
It’s called a schwimmwagen because it’s a wagen that schwimms.
Elon says the cybertruck will get a Scwhwimmwagen trim
Glad you made it back! And sorry you’re sick. 🙂
The maroon Type 181 has some interesting features in the engine compartment.
There appears to be a regulator/rectifier (reg/rec) with a built-in heat sink attached to the ignition coil on the upper left corner of the firewall. In a Beetle the coil would be mounted to the fan shroud and the reg/rec would be under the driver’s side rear seat.
There is a nifty black plastic shield or cap – shaped like R2-D2 – installed (loosely) over the factory vacuum-advance distributor. If you look closely you can see some of the orange distributor cap peeking out from the bottom. If I had had such a thing, maybe my Super Beetle would not have caught fire. 😐
The black plastic fitting and hose connected to the top of the single center-mounted carburetor made me think there was a high-mounted air intake, but the factory oil-bath air filter appears to be peeking out from the right hand side, next to the generator and pulley.
Finally, it looks like there is a fuel filter just inside the decklid, on the bottom left. Interesting – I wonder if that was OEM.
Very nifty – thanks for the pics!
I rather be in a Jeep if driving in North America (just safety etc).. The VW is fine probably in places where you don’t go much over 60kph. Though the owees would still be pretty bad in an accident. I am sure the Jeep will feel less claustrophobic if you delete the roll cage etc.
Next week on Island Hoppers, David Tracy discusses the superiority of the Mini Moke over the Jeep as an island tourer. Coming in January: it’s Jeep vs. Vespa!
I’m kind of surprised there are still things in surviving in significant enough numbers to be rentals. Are there still Mokes out there as rentals? I have fond memories of riding in the back of a rental moke as a kid on vacation in the Caribbean in the early 80s. It was amazing to me to ride to allowed to ride around in a car with no doors or seat belts.
Love the photo of the “girlfriend” with the black square over the face DT!
Is she in the witness protection program or something?
You can see her taking pictures of the vistas with her phone the second picture down from the Jeep infographic. *hint* *hint* David.
Come on, boys, give the lady some privacy. Hasn’t she suffered enough already?
She just wants to be able to walk down the streets of LA without being mobbed.
That is what happens when you become Autopian-famous, right? 😉
Uh oh! When Jeep has lost DAVID…..
Or just David now prefers cars with less rust 😉
Not only decent ground clearance, but apparently decent low branch clearance too. Nice.
OMG I’m going to be “that person” but a few things…
The Thing (and many other air cooled VWs) isn’t a true unibody but instead a body on frame. Still has a tunnel (for shift linkage, gas line and brake line) and still is separate from the body.
Things never (as far as I’ve ever seen) came with portal axles – definitely not in the US or Mexico. Early busses has reduction hubs to help the tiny engines actually move the thing but a) they’re not portals and b) they aren’t portals 🙂
Space wise… I’ve owned a YJ and a Thing and, yeah, you’ll have a little more width in the rear but no more leg room up front. There’s a small space as a fronk and a small space behind the rear seats but a YJ has more rear space overall – and easier to get to.
The downsides of a Thing included the side curtains (solvable) and the lack of heat (solvable). If you were ok with no creature comforts at all it was and is a great machine. Better than a Jeep with (maybe) a I6, 4wd and a stronger chassis?… no.
To your point, it’s not EXACTLY a traditional unibody, but in my view, I certainly wouldn’t call it body-on-frame, unless we stretch the definition of a “frame.” We’ll call it “body on pan,” though the pan does make up the floor (which a frame would not do), so even then it’s a bit different.
I’m calling that reduction hub a portal axle (didn’t VW call it this, too?), as it elevates the input shaft above the wheel’s axis of rotation. It’s not a typical portal axle you’ll see on rock crawlers, but I’m fairly sure the Germans would call it a “Portalachse.”
I suppose the YJ could have more interior space OVERALL if you factor in everything, but without question, if you’re a back seat passenger, the Thing is the much more comfortable machine. And it’s really not even close.
The first Things had a swing axle setup with the bus “portal axles”, same setup as the Kubelwagen.
David, the Jeep you should be comparing the Thing to is the Jeepster Commando.
You make a great point. I will note that the rear bench is still tiny and hard to get into, and the Commando didn’t really sell well to be the primary contender against the VW, but you are right. That is the closest Jeep to the Thing, I’d say.
or “Owner Type Jeeps” from Philippines? https://philkotse.com/market-news/icons-philippine-motoring-owner-type-jeep-7015