Vehicle Description
Grab a cup of coffee, beer or glass of your wine and get ready for
story time courtesy of the GR Auto Gallery. VW introduced the Type
181 the VW Type 181 was first designed in 1969. It was called by
various names in different countries including Trekker, Thing, &
Safari. The Type 181 models were built at several VW factories in
Germany, Mexico, & Indonesia between 1969-80 with 140,000 vehicles
built. It was originally designed and engineered as a vehicle for
European NATO forces. In America, Things were only sold in 1973 &
1974, built at the VW factory in Puebla Mexico. There were 25,000
Things imported into the USA in 1973-74 and 14,733 of those were
1974 models. They were all sold through the VW of America
dealership network.
At some point in 1971-72 the prestigious vacation resort The
Princess Hotel obtained a few Things to transfer their customers
and guests from the airport to the resort and around the town of
Acapulco Mexico. Over a short period of time many US residents
loved the look of these and requested and lobbied VW to produce a
special run of these for sale in the USA. The Acapulco edition was
built over a three month stretch in May thru July of 1974. It is
believed that only 400 of these were produced in the traditional
blue and white combination. The uniqueness of the Acapulco and
identifying one carries some key attributes. VIN#'s that start with
184254xxx, black running boards with Allen head bolts into the
fenders and unique mounting plates inside the funders, blue/white
paint scheme on both sides of the dash panel front hood the rocker
panels up to second rib the license plate hood and the bumpers and
bumper brackets. Glove box cover was deleted. Seats were all done
in the two tone stripped vinyl seat covers to match the Surrey top
that was mounted to the windshield pillar at the upper door hinge
bolts.
This car is believed to be #2 of the run and is a pristine original
Acapulco edition that has never been modified, restored, or altered
from when it was new. That is extremely important as there are
others on the market that have been completely restored or
duplicated to mimic the true Acapulco vehicle. This is the real
deal and owner history, vehicle history and mileage is all original
from new. Car retains all original features and trim from new minus
the right rear fender was painted at some point. Vehicle remains in
stock and authentic original condition that is unheard of with the
VW Thing. Many highly educated and well known VW experts have
viewed this car and will agree that this is the nicest original
condition VW Acapulco edition Thing in existence. Car was sold
originally out of Van Slyke VW in Knoxville TN to Lucille & Russell
Weaver in August 21st of 1974. Car was then sold to an avid
collector in Sausalito California where he retained the car from
2006-2008. Traded once more to another collector that owned for
until Feb of 2009 when it exchanged hands to the VW legend, Larry
Dustman, owner of "The Thing Shop" Larry purchased this specific
car because it was the most authentic Acapulco edition that he
could find that was not altered from its factory specs. He used
this car as the mold for duplicating parts for people that needed
authentic and original style Thing parts as well as to produce
recreation items for the Acapulco edition for the masses. He kept
this car up until 2015 when it was sold to a friend and VW
collector Jon House out of Hawaii. The car remained in Sand Diego
with his large collection up until we acquired the vehicle
recently. The miles are documented from previous owners and a lot
of significant work went into tracking this car over the past 41
years. We retain a copy of the original MSRP, owner's manuals, DMV
and registrations from previous owners, original spare tire, tool
kit and documented history verifying the mileage. The vehicle runs
incredibly well with easy shifting and braking. Gas gauge and
speedo work properly and all lights work without hesitation.
This is neither your typical Thing nor a reproduction or highly
restored original...this is an original that only happens once and
with over an age of 41 and miles just over 36k this is a top
contender for anyone that desires something special in their
collection. You will not find another one like it with a pedigree
history of ownership, proof of authenticity and one that will never
be on the market again like this. This is why people shop our
inventory, because we have the vehicles that no one else does.
To see over 80 photos of this car, including under carriage please
visit our website www.grautogallery.com
Gr Auto Gallery, LLC and our sister company, Wheelz Sales and
Leasing Inc. makes every effort to represent each vehicle
accurately and with integrity. We also welcome third party
inspections when necessary. Although we try to do our very best to
be accurate in our description writing we are human and do make
mistakes. Unless otherwise noted, All vehicles are sold AS IS, No
Warranty Expressed or Implied. All sales final.
