OUR CLASSICS
As the 1973 VW of America ads said, ‘make your own Thing ’. This time, tyres play a part in Andy ’s plans to make some-Thing cool, along with a tenuous but fun connection to the King of Cool himself
1973 VOLKSWAGEN 181 ‘THING’
T he VW 181/Thing/Safari/Trekker (delete as appropriate for the country of origin) has seemingly become cool in the 21st century. Comic actors Bill Murray and Jerry Seinfeld each own one while WheelerDealersand SalvageHunters: ClassicCarshave both restored them on the telly.
OWNED SINCE February 2022 MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT 6 TOTAL MILEAGE 17,329 LATEST COSTS £210
It may be functionally awkward-looking but the outsider of air-cooled VWs has now become the cool custom of choice and is often lowered as a result. I, on the other hand, like to go upwards with the bodywork, which is more in-keeping with the bodywork’s form and function.
Some major (for me, speaking as aDIY er) suspension work is needed for serious Baja-style. Checking out some period photographs of Baja racing VW 181s, I’d seen the factory ran 181s with a body lift kit in the early 1970s and just slightly larger tyres. My research threw up some information about the off-road VW 181s and the justification I always look for in my misguided, gearhead, passion-led decisions. You see, for me, the taller and off-road height 181s just got sub-zero, arctic or even outer-space cool. If not cooler.
I happened upon some photographs of the VW’s official entry in the Baja 1000 races, circa 1972 and while Steve McQueen may not have raced the 181, his close pal and stunt stand-in, Bud Ekins –who threw the ’68 Mustang GT 390 fastback around the streets of ‘Frisco’ in the film Bullitt and took the saddle of the Triumph TR6 Trophy for that jump in The Great Escape – most certainly did.
Baja California desert races co-founder and one-time LA Triumph dealer, Bud Ekins partnered with off-road racing legend Drino Miller in the early 1970s so as to be competitive in their factory-entered VW 181 and also promote the Thing prior to the introduction into the US market in 1973. That’s cool –and who knows, maybe ‘the king of cool’ himself took the wheel at some point.
Anyway, it also just so happens that Ekins played ‘Thug #1’ in the opening of 1990s movie Pacific Heights – that’s relevant to this story because the heavily featured VW Thing in that movie inspired me to own a US-spec Thing over aUK market Trekker (essentially different lights and heater). Araised-up 181 isn't as ‘cool’ as a lowered 181? Stick that in your ‘dragging on the floor’ tail-pipe and smoke it!
Meanwhile, back at my detached garage in Lancashire, I was going to set
