Jalopnik
Remember the really, really low Volkswagen Transporter? When you get used to driving a bus that low, it just makes sense to add a Thing to your collection and make it even lower... and when you've dropped it down onto the pavement, then you convert it to right-hand drive. That's what this air-cooled Alameda madman has done here, and the result makes quite an impression.
Is it a US-market Thing, a European military Type 181, a Mexican Safari? I sure as hell can't tell you, but it parks on the street and drives regularly (trailing showers of sparks on even the smallest roadway imperfections).
As you can see, I shot this last fall. Leaves, squirrels, seagull shit... but who cares?
Sadly, this 181's owner also has plain ol' California plates in addition to the Armed Forces 1954 plates.
Comments
Thats not low,i think the technical term is "fucked suspension"
I can't tell if it's "slammed" or "broken".
I wonder how often he gets pulled over and hassled over that upside-down license plate?
@cyclopticgaze: more leaves in the interior than on the street=broken.
That's a little bit o' awesome.
Very cool, love the jerry can on the rear.
I would kill for one of those "U.S. Forces in Germany" tags for my Deuce and a half.
It literally is "down on the street."
Definitely not US-spec. Doesn't have the big elephant hoof taillights. Or door handles for that matter. Interesting find!
Full of Nazi women in leather and chains, it prowls the streets on moonless nights.
I think the suspension just rotted away completely.
That's very, er... rustic. It's as though Patty and Selma decided to go ghetto, but then lost interest half-way through.
@clinto:
ebay!
[search.ebay.com]
That's not a Thing, it's a street sweeper...
I think they were trying for the Kubelwagen look.
[img][images.thesamba.com]]
It's a pain driving a car that's lowered this much. Scrrrape, shwing, scrrrape scraaaaape, thump.
Hitting a big bump at freeway speeds results in some major pucker marks on the seat. But something tells me this guy doesn't have to worry about that so much.
@Flipper_1938: Yea, the ever popular Kubelwagen-abandoned-in-Cologne-after-a-mortar-hit look.
I love that thing. And by the way it does move around the island. I have seen it near the world famous lee auto supply in the summer. Back then it didn't have doors but merely chains strung across from the hinges to the latches. It was kinda like an industrial "velvet rope" of sorts.
@Flipper_1938: This is what he meant to do, folks:
Must be some sort of military spec 181. Those tail lights definitely predate the Things short US production run. Needs a good raking out and a 50 cal. in back!
@crankcase: The owner could have just slapped old Bus tails on there, too.
Either way, I think we all need to know what the deal is with this Thing, between the model, why it's on the ground, etc.
Looks ... depressed.
just look here
[www.flickr.com]
hoodride has a bunch of slammed classic VWs tastefully styled.
Roadlickenwagen!
I really shouldn't...but I think that looks epic. The only thing I've ever seen worthy of driving if my life depended on me stepping foot- and driving in- California.
It's got that depression and angst, but tougher-than-thou coolness, like "Indiana Jones and the Oh Shit Anywhere But California."
The suspension's slammed, it's not broken. air cood vws rear wheels bend in like that normally. Well not under normal circumstances. Neat car, sucks it's sitting out with all that crap falling in it.
@NICKNICK: It drives. Frequently. I just shot it in the fall, when the sycamores on that street were dropping leaves like crazy.
The Thing is the only air cooled V-Dub that needs a little clearance. Other than that, I would rock this moderately hard.
Still, I showed this to a coworker who loves Volkswagens, and has a predisposition to using the word "thing" (seriously, I've been refered to as thing several times). She was almost giddy to see this.
yes, you can dump an air-cooled VW pretty hard, but you take some risks:
[www.thesamba.com]
this guy hit something and pulled the front end of his Type 3 Ghia down
Oh, look, it's nesting!
@Herbie3Rivers:
Hmmm, swing axles. The plot thickens! Do you know if the Things imported to the US had them? I'm thinking not, which would date this 181 from the '60's.
With the steering column passing through the center of the firewall and the symmetric structure of the dashboard, it looks like flipping it from left to right hand drive is a trivial thing. The owner probably did it in an hour with a 12mm wrench.
Considering that the owners are Shamu enough to have needed to replace their seatbelts with seatchains, I figure the suspension's toast.
Ha! I caught a glimpse of this, er, thing on 880 a while back. Tried to catch up and failed--it's nice to finally see it up close.
@Eric Merrill: Oh hell yes. Incredible really - I mean, look at that futon cushion in the back!
lowering to improve handling = cool
lowering to the point of destroying all function = utter, offensive stupidity.
Why is it that every mod gets taken to an absurd extreme in pursuit of some sort of twisted sense of "style?"
I bet this guy laughs at others in sky-jacked donks or riding choppers with ten foot forks and the gas tank directly in front of the rider's face. Oh, the irony.
@FuzzyPlushroom: I'm going to have sexy, sexy fantasies of living in this thing. Unfortunately they sell around here for 7-10k, and as a college student, I'm too poor to even live in a car. I have Project Car Blueballs.
I just saw this Thing roaring down Alameda's main drag a few minutes ago!
@Eric Merrill: And I have a blue project car with no balls.
@Murilee Martin: God, I love Alameda. Even, ah, never having actually been there.
I like the Thing from Pimp My Ride better.
cooler
Kewl, I wanna ride in that so bad. The interior looks cosy, leaves and all!
I saw this same car down at the San Jose Kelly Park Bug Show this year. It drove into the show and they raked it out it seems.
[chrismcdowell.net]
Chris--any chance of getting a large version of that pic?
Yeah Sure whats your email?
Sorry i didnt check it after I posted it and figured jalopnik would keep it within limits.
Should be a bit smaller now.
My employer's NetScreen URL Filtering blocks chrismcdowell.net Chris, you got some NSFW stuff on there?
no not really. It used to have a bunch of girls in bikini's and stuff but not for a year or two. I can email it to ya if your really that interested.
Fear & LowThing in Alameda?
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