I once owned a Thing! Believe it was a 1973 model. Here are some pro's;
Its a convertible. The windshield folds flat. The doors can be removed ; all 4 of them.
Gets decent MPG abt. 27. Fun to drive. Looks cool ; to me anyway. The interior can be hosed down with water. Mine was super reliable. Find the best one you can; dont accept a rusted, abused one.
Parts are available because the engine/transmission etc. was from the Beetle.
However body parts will probably be scarce. VW only built it for abt. 4 or 5 years. They stopped because sales went down, not because of safety issues, it was as safe as any other small car available at the time. Of course today it would be considered unsafe. No airbags, door impact supports, etc. Very easy to work on.
Cons; Loud inside. Cheap top. It had a heater that was powered by gasoline.The heater was terribly unreliable. Very slow; it only had abt. 50 HP. Hard to find one that is in good shape.
I think it would be a good 1st car if you can find a good example. One that had TLC and was well-maintained.
However, I would like to state that its a 70's car and as such will not do well in crash tests; compared to modern cars, any 70's car is not going to perform well in front or side impacts. IMO the Thing is best used as a week-end driver. Not for commuting.
Before you buy , have it checked out by a mechanic that is knowledgable with old Beetles.