It’s got plenty of names
Where to start? This car is known by A LOT of different names. Is it a Volkswagen Thing, a kubel, a 181?
Well, depends on where in the world you are.. In the US the civil version was sold under the name ‘Thing’ but in Europe it was a Volkswagen 181 ‘kurierwagen’. Or how a lot of people like to call them over here, a Kübel. Which actually is based on the original kubel made for the German army in WW2.
But. I’m not done yet! If you cross the border to Mexico all of the sudden it’s a Volkswagen Safari? (Cool name in my honest opinion) Or if you hop on a plane to the United Kingdom it goes by the name of Volkswagen Trekker!
Plenty of names, but considering i’m over in Europe i will stick to the name of Volkswagen 181, or Kübel.
The story about my 181
So, A little while ago i was browsing the internet for Volkswagen parts… Something we all can relate to i guess? And i saw an ad for a free type 1 engine, all stripped, just a longblock.
I gave the bloke from the ad a phonecall, saying i would love to pick up the engine! All said and done, i went there to pick it up. And like always you start talking about Volkswagens, classic cars and so on.
I saw the 181 sitting in the shed, and he told me; Make me a offer! Where to i replied; i won’t, because i am pretty sure my savings account won’t be able to handle it!
We got in the car, free engine block in the back. All good.
But in the next weeks the 181 kept my mind going, i have always wanted to own one for at least a summer so this might be my chance to get one for a decent price.. I gave him a call and asked him if i could come by anytime soon to check it out a little better and talk about the price.
I went over the next sunday, we had a chat and some coffee and he told me he really wanted to get rid of it to clear out the shed and regenerate some space. Apparently he already did all of the brakework, electrical, and so on! She actually is a pretty solid driver with no welding, no brake work.. Just a minor service and she is ready to go!
So we agreed on the price, and he told me that he’s happy it’s going to a place where it will be enjoyed, and driven by a real enthusiast.
Ofcourse, after having 2 weeks of super sunny. Dry weather, with temperatures of about 16 degrees celcius (61F) and me buying a convertible mother nature thought we needed some snow…
It’s okay to make some cool shots in the snow… but thanks no thanks i prefer summer. It’s april by now so lets go!
German “Bundeswehr” vehicle
I have like 2 huge maps of history and old german tüv (roadworthy) documents, invoices and so on.
I was pretty sure it was a 181 ordered new by the German army back in 1971 considering it’s imported from Germany. But there also are a lot of differences between the civil 181 and the military version.
Today just before writing the post i went through all of the documents, and i found this! Which confirms what i have been thinking all along. It’s a Volkswagen 181 sold new to the German army!
It’s been put out of service at the 19th of november 1984, I love finding out things like this!
Even though it doesn’t matter that much, and i would have liked it anyways these kind of things always make it just a tad cooler.
I already started the Dutch registration process, so stay tuned if you like more 181 talk!