Information on the history of the Meyers Manx Buggy was sourced with the Research of HOT VWs Magazine The company will be called Meyers Manx, LLC Bruce tried to stop the floodgate of imitations with patent infringement lawsuits but was unsuccessful.īruce and Winnie Meyers sold their company to Trousdale Ventures in late 2020. In the late 1960 and early 70`s over 300 companies worldwide copied the Meyers Manx in one form or another. Other manufacturers jumped in and produced over 350.000 copies and look-alikes. However the Dune Buggy MArket was exploding and Bruce could not fill the orders that flooded in. Bruce truly led an off-road revolution.īruce Meyers Company built nearly 7.000 fiberglass kits. Old Red driven by Bruce Meyers and Ted Mangels, beat the standing Tijuana to LA Paz motorcycle record by over five hours, a stellar accomplishemenat for a first Baja off-road race. The Meyers Manx finished first overall in another prestigious race: The inaugural Mexican 1000 held in 1967- it eventually morphed into Scores Baja 1000. Another model came out on top of its class during the Pikes Peak`s Hill Climb, against much more powerful Corvettes, Cobras and open wheel sprint Cars. Proving its competitiveness, a pair of Manx Buggies 39 out of 41 slalom races. It handled better than any other all terrain vehicle and was fun to drive too. The rear mounted engine and rear wheel drive setup performed very well, especially in Off Road conditions. It simple design based around a Volkswagen drivetrain led to terrific performance, even without 4 wheel drive. Meyers Manx became an instand icon of the automobile culture, being quickly recognized as „the dune buggy“ Even Hot Rod Magazine picked Old Red to grace the cover of tis August 1966 issue. But the market reactions beyond his wildest dreams. Though he felt the Manx was good looking and fairly priced, he wasn’t sure anyone else would share the same feeling about his creation. In July 1964, as the body took shape, Bruce came to realize that the short rear end resembled the bobtail of a certain animal, the Manx Cat: hence the name of his buggy – Manx incidentally, the Mayers Manx logo prominently features a Manx Cat. In truth he remained unsure about his project… Would It function as expected? But whenever people walked into his shop, they would comment:“ What a need looking toy!“ With such encouraging words, he pursued his vision and made it a reality. He seen 1 1/2 years in his spare time to create a unique buggy. He thereby sketched out a sleek little roadster shell, knowing that he had the skills to morph it into a full scale model indeed, he had already learned shaping techniques to build fiberglass boat bodies.īruce decided to go with an air-cooled VW engine and beetle chassis, shortened by 14-1/4 inches. They were just ugly with no design involved.Īs Bruce studied and thought art, he envisioned a lightweight version of the buggy that would be fun at the beach or the Baja California wilderness. Bruce loved the concept of this buggies, but he didn’t like their design. No shell covered the structure seats were bolted in the back of the frame above the rear axle, while the heavy water pumper V8 sat in the front. These crude vehicles featured frames either hand built or modified from old cars/trucks, which often came from junkyards. It all started in the early 60ties in Pismo Beach, California, where Bruce first saw sand rail buggies. It impacted the auto industry all over the world and became a unique American Icon Created in 1964, Bruce Meyers greatest contribution to the automobile world, the Meyers Manx Dune Buggy, combined a VW Beetle drivetrain with a custom designed fibreglass shell.
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