Are we seeing the ruin of another fan-favorite classic vehicle, or will the modern upgrades help maintain the true nature of the Meyers Manx Dune Buggy?
The original version of this dune buggy was created in the garage of none other than Bruce Myers in the 1960s. Bruce was an engineer, surfer, and boat builder who wanted a vehicle that could be fun to drive on the sand dunes but also gave him access to the road. With that goal in mind, he went to work and developed what most of us now know as the dune buggy, which he called the Manx.
What did the original dune buggy include?
The initial design and model of this classic beach-riding vehicle used a custom-made fiberglass chassis, a Chevrolet truck suspension, and a Volkswagen Beetle engine. Because Bruce Meyers used the VW engine, many have associated the VW Beetle with the dune buggy, but the only VW part of this beach rider is the engine. Eventually, Meyers was able to develop this iconic machine into a kit car that what cheap and easy to build. From there, the following of this little dune buggy took off.
What’s new in this beach buggy?
Yes, some people refer to the Meyers Manx as a beach buggy, even though it’s mostly made for the sand dunes and not the coastline at the beach. Still, this iconic machine has an incredible cult following, which it’s had since it first appeared on the scene. Most recently, the Meyers team came up with a new Manx Remastered kit, which adds more to this impressive little beach cruiser.
The Manx Remastered kit uses the latest technology to create an excellent fit for the chassis and engine used to build the custom buggies.
Something extremely new and useful in this dune buggy is a new trunk. The original, and most others that followed didn’t have a trunk or any storage space to speak of. While this new trunk isn’t spacious, it has enough room for the gear you need during your day at the beach or when playing around on the sand dunes. Adding the trunk is a huge step forward for this classic machine.
This new kit also brings a removable dashboard to help kit buyers make modifications to their vehicles, integrated wiring tubes for hooking up all the electrical stuff, and 64 gel-coat colors. Of these 64 colors, 46 of them include a metal flake finish to make them twinkle in the sunlight during your drive. These paint colors also come with the option of an additional UV clear coat to protect the color from fading in the sunlight.
How much does the new Manx Remastered kit cost?
You’ll need a donor engine, transmission, and other working parts to create a functional car, but the chassis and fiberglass body kit of this dune buggy costs a little less than $6,000. The team at Meyers will begin working on your kit when you put half down. If you want to add one of the metal flake gel-coat paint colors, the price goes up $1,000, and it increases another $800 for the UV coat. If you intend to drive your dune buggy in the sunshine for several years, the UV coat is worth the cost.
A bit more history of the dune buggy
Although we want to believe companies wouldn’t be quick to copy designs or attempt to steal ideas, we know it happens all the time. The Meyers Manx was ultra-popular in the 1960s and 1970s as a new vehicle to spell freedom for beach-loving Americans. Unfortunately, the process of building a Meyers body was labor-intensive and time-consuming. Additionally, Bruce Meyers didn’t have the workforce required to build thousands of these dune buggies.
In order to keep other companies from copying his designs, Myers began building some models using complex mold-making. Unfortunately the all-off-road Tow’d model, and scissor-doored Manx SR didn’t catch on. To make matters worse, the court cases to stop others from copying his designs went against Meyers, causing him to lose out on a gold mine he had begun.
Not all dune buggies are Manxes
Most people might claim to have seen or driven a real Meyers Manx dune buggy, but most are only fooling you and themselves. Of the 250,000 dune buggies that hit the roads in the 1960s and early 1970s, only about 5,000 are real Manxes. The rest are knock-offs made by imitators that copied the ease of building such a car. At the time when Bruce was making his dune buggies, all it took was about $600 and a wrecked VW Beetle to get the job done.
Unfortunately, Bruce Meyers left the company in 1970 after growing weary of the lawsuits and bills. In 1971, the rest of the company was auctioned off. The imitators continued onward and still make dune buggies to this day.
A rebirth to an EV model
At some point between 1971 and 2020, Bruce Meyers rebuilt the company and made a few Meyers Manx dune buggies. In 2020, he and his wife sold the company to Phillip Sarofim and Freeman Thomas, which left fans wondering what the pair would do with the company. It wasn’t long before we found out, and the new electrified version of the classic dune buggy was made. This new electric model isn’t a kit car; it’s a street-legal turn-key car that makes it easy to drive on the roads.
It’s unlikely we’ll see many of the Manx 2.0 electric models on the roads. This car, which doesn’t come as a kit, is only allowed under the new low-volume vehicle act. This allows the company to build 325 models of this car per year, which isn’t very many considering the desire for a beach buggy.
The Meyers Manx lives on
Although Bruce Meyers faced the bloodthirsty sharks of corporate America when he began using his Meyers Manx dune buggy to make money, the idea and inspiration behind this vehicle were pure, joyful, free, and full of life. Today, anyone looking to create one of these beach buggies with a real Meyers body can do so; and it doesn’t cost a lot to make it happen.
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