In the 70s VW resurrected the Kubel,
They marketed it in the USA primarily in California (Where else) as the VW Thing!.
I was in a NATO Unit in Germany at the time and as part of an Equipment Evaluation team we were asked by VW if we would take one on trial.
One Monday morning into the lines came this gray, too tall, canvas topped vehicle,
Our German WO1 did something I had never seen before, He started laughing which got to the point of tears rolling down his face, He begged to be excused and disappeared into his office still roaring with laughter.
We really had no idea what to do with it, It was taken on a trip through the exercise area over ground that did not merit engaging 4wd in a Landie and promptly bogged down, after that it was used as a hack for picking up the mail and taking Soldiers to and from the Airport ,
No matter how we cajoled or threatened the Sgt Major he would not go near it, and one day it was gone,
Someone suggested VW should sell it to the Russians to go with the WW2 vintage German motorcycles they had in service in the Soviet Army.
I would have been more insulting toward it at the time except behind the REME Workshop was a Bedford QL Rebuild that first entered service in 1943,
On the really cold winters mornings it was the only truck guaranteed to start,
It would be hooked up to a Qtr of a million Deutchmark's worth of Mercedes Heavy Recovery truck and tow it around the transport company until the Merc started.
Then it would be parked up till the next cold morning
Great work Eddy, It is good to see that your efforts have produced such nice looking models.
I have a Tamiya Kubel still in its box waiting for me to find some time to assemble it.
