What Is This ‘Thing’ Parked on tarkin Hill Road in new Bedford?

You may have seen this thing parked at the end of a side street right off Tarkiln Hill Road in the north end of New Bedford.   You may have asked "Is it a beach buggy?"   "How about a lunar Rover?"   Actually it's a Volkswagen type 181, marketed here in the U.S. as the VW Thing.  They were only sold here from 1972 until 1975, when they were dropped from the Volkswagen line after they could not pass U.S Government safety standards.

This one has a "for sale" sign on the windshield.  I'm not sure of the asking price of this Thing, but I have seen them listed for anywhere between 5,000 to 20,000 dollars, depending on their condition.   This one looks to be in pretty good shape.   These are also quite rare.   So if interested, you can probably be sure you'd be the only person on your block to own a Thing.