The Meyers Manx: A Reluctant Photo Thread

Love the square block interior in that Steve McQueen bug!

I remember them being everywhere when I was a kid, always wanted one as a youth. I guess they "looked" like freedom to me, as in they looked like they could go about anywhere including the bikini clad beaches of our shores....

Those buggies disappeared and sand rails took their place, wanted one of those too...

....

 

Now you're talking my language! My very first actual car build was a glass bodied dune buggy I built in my parents' garage when I was still in high school. It was one of the hundreds (?!) of Manx spawn, mine was a Bradley Baron. Bought the body and accessories from Gary's Bug House, on Lake Street in Minneapolis. We tied the body down to rooftop carriers on my dad's '64 Buick and hauled it about 200 miles home. Heavy into VWs for several years before I built my first roadster. I guess VW's were really my gateway drug....





View attachment 6052525

 

I had a dozen air cooled VW's in the 80's, it's how I started in cars. I did a 4 inch chop on a Squareback, shortened a bus 24 inches, built some wild engines, and had most everything I owned almost too low to drive except for a Baja I built.

An old friend of mine in San Jose had a buggy in his Moms garage that his Dad had built. His Dad died, and the thing just sat there for years. I heard awhile back the dude's brother was restoring it, but I haven't talked to those guys in decades.
I'll get another air-cooled some day.

 

I built one in High School with My friend Bob after he rolled The family's 67 baja bug , which he took without his Dad's permission.... We shortened the pan ourselves and put it back together with a Fibretech gold metalflake Meyers copy body. It had a 140 hp corvair with a Holley 2bbl . It was a blast to drive.

 

I also shortened a pan for a friend a few years ago .. I'm pretty sure it looked a lot better than the gas welded one

 

Kool thread. Interesting to see who came "out of the closet".

 

Buggies are cool! Here is mine

 

A bit of buggy history: https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Buggies..._to_Street_Buggies_of_the_1960s_and_the_1970s

 

RIP Bruce Meyers.
He put that same smile on a whole bunch of peoples' faces.

 

^^^^^
That is just pure enjoyment on his face. Can't help but smile at the fun you wish you(& I !) were having doing that... .
Marcus...

 

Before the manx style dune buggy the way we know it came out in the mid-60s it was not uncommon to see V8 dune buggys in glamis or Pismo.
Basically they would take a Ford chassis weld the roll cage on it and tear off the body, most of them had Ford flatheads but there was quite a few that ran early overhead valve engines.
Something I am learning about the world war II generation as I get older, not only did they save the Free world but they built some bitchen shit and they were the last generation that was truly Hands-On.
Obviously most of us guys here on the HAMB or Hands-On but we are the exception not the rule. How many men back in the 1950s built their own houses, hot rods or in this case dune buggies when they were in their 20s.

 

Not being a buggy expert I cannot tell you whether this is a Meyers creation or something else... Yes it's for real, this vehicle was enlisted by the IDF in the 1973 war.

No, I'm not making any political statement in case anyone asks.

 

In the late 60’s I had a huge fascination with dune buggies (I was 6-8 yrs old), had a copy of that Aug 66 Hot Rod Magazine, but what really go me was our first family camping trip to Silver Lake dunes in west coast of Michigan and seeing all of the different dune buggies on the dunes. The were Meyers style ones but also all sorts of odd homemade stuff in that period. I go out there every couple years, but more 4x4 and side by sides nowadays.

 

Yeh, weird!
Nutcase dune buggy.
Here:
https://jalopnik.com/new-meyers-manx-dune-buggy-with-a-radial-aircraft-engin-1851629589

 

What is that engine?

 

Full story in the link.

 

I like everything but the price...
Even in todays inflated price market for Manx type dune buggies you could buy 5 or 6 really nice original /restored drivers for the cost of this one...
Heck put a Subaru engine in on and you will have essentially the same thing but triple the power and super easy to get parts for it. That being said this is still cool even if it gave my cheap azz a mild heart attack.
Edit: at least it's gasoline and not cordless

 

We had a '68 Deserter.they were made in Massachusetts 25 minutes from home it was on a'61 chassis with 40 HP. So much fun it's in New York somewhere up in the lakes area I would love to get it back !

 

Vega buckets seats are nice we put them in dad's buggy put you nice and low so you have a safe feeling side rail