Picking up a buggy

[nat3dog69]

I am looking at picking up a buggy this Friday. The guy I am getting it from doesn't know much about it. He said he believes its a 1971 Disaster GT. I tried doing a search for one but didn't find any info. Every thing I have found makes me think its a Manx. Please take a look at the pictures and any info you could give me would be great. Thank you a head of time and look forward to talking to all of you on here.

[langan]

It's not any Manx I have ever seen But it does look nice. Never herd of a Disaster brand name only project's. May be a Deserter? What ever it is I really like it. Good luck

[rzeller]

Have a look at Calvin's gallery. http://www.manxclub.com/forum/app.php/gallery/album/36

[nat3dog69]

Thank you for the information. It turns out it is a 1971 deserter GT after all. The guy claims that its really rare of course I know nothing about it.

[langan]

It is very nice and any buggy with a roof is a big Plus. It just looks fast. If you do not buy I am interested

[calvin]

Sorry I have been slow on this. As you suspected it is a Deserter GT built by a collaboration between Dearborn Automotive and Autodynamics the largest race car builder in the US at the time. They were built in Marblehead, MA, which makes them fairly rare on the West coast, but far more common on the East coast. They have a 84' wheelbase as opposed to 80" for most other shortened buggies. It was done that way for somewhat better street handling than the Manx and clones.

Dearborn also made the S1 model which looks more like the Manx, but is also 84" wheelbase.

Production numbers that are usually quoted are:
S1 bodies = 802
GT bodies = 410
GS (mid engine kit with either S1 or GT body) = 138

There is a loosely formed "club" of Deserter Owners with a useful web site http://www.deserterownersgroup.org/

There is also a Yahoo group https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/des ... group/info

Dearborn Auto Inc still exists and restores and trades vintage cars. Alex Dearborn owns one of the nicest Deserter GT's you will find, and his son a very nice GS. He also has a web site with a history link to some first hand history of the development of the cars and the ideas behind them.
http://dearbornauto.com/
http://dearbornauto.com/deserter/index.shtml

All are useful. There Bob Elliott and a few others have done a great job of keeping track of the history and somewhat of a registry of owners. Deserters have some very unique history. One ran the 24 hours of Daytona, and several at Pikes Peak Hillclimbs. One became an SCCA Solo II National Champion. There are a couple of suppliers of new parts for them, as well as a wealth of useful information (the windshield is from a Renault Dauphine, and they are available). The top you have is very nice. It is one of a few tops available with the Deserter kits. There is even someone producing new Deserter kits, but I don't know anyone who has bought one. Dave Barrett at manxchassis.com has one and produces some special chassis improvements for the Deserter S1, GT and GS.

Like a Manx, some Deserters came with ID plates that seem to be mounted at random places inside the body. It was an option so all do not have the plates (extra $3 in the purchase

Yours looks like a great find. Get in touch on the Deserter people. They have more information about your buggy.

Calvin

[lastmanx]

Hi sorry im very late to this topic and hopefully you have bought the buggy and are enjoying it. you got the correct web info. I have owned 3 deserter gt . my first buggy was one. they can be used offroad but have terrible ground clearance. most use a 14 rim wheel on front for body clearance. the roof you have is very rare as only a handful were made. later version has more headroom and gullwing doors. the buggy was first made in cal. as a bounty hunter with 80 inch wheelbase.your biggest issue is the 1960 Renault dalphine windshield it uses. glass ones expensive. but lexan or (polycarbonate) work fine. all my cars had lexan. the buggy was better fit as a street car. I used it on cape cod ma. beaches for 4 years avoiding deep ruts. they were high quality thick body buggys and are rare even in ma. mostly due to the windshield. keep in mind nothing built for other cars will fit without modification.

[LEFTY]

I wonder if he nicknamed it a disaster, because, he was constantly having trouble with it? Hope you make out better.

[lastmanx]

sorry lefty, Original DESRTER GT's are very well built. with thick fiberglass, glassed in reinforcement tubes under side rails. and full engine coverage from body. the longer wheelbase and more aerodynamic windshield body make them excellent street buggys. They are only rare when they are complete and running. Many poor fiberglass body designs are out there but not a real Deserter GT. I have owned 3. my first buggy was a Deserter GT Gullwing roof model (missing gullwings) see my gallery to see others I built and sold, if interested in learning more see above sites they are a pretty cool buggy.

[LEFTY]

Original DESRTER GT's are very well built. with thick fiberglass, glassed in reinforcement tubes under side rails. and full engine coverage from body. the longer wheelbase and more aerodynamic windshield body make them excellent street buggys.

Thanks for letting me know how good the bodies are, but, I wasn't referring to the body. It was a comment on the quality of the build. As you know, they are either done right or built by an amateur and plagued with problems. I just thought the old owner nicknamed it a Disaster because of the problems he had with it. Would you nickname your's a Disaster?

[lastmanx]

ok got it. my first buggy Deserter GT was a disaster. it had broken; not correct windshield, broken wipers, bad wiring,frankenstien floors(just a mess of patches and undercoating). it was bought Feb. 1989 for $800.00. sold to me by my good friend who owned a used car lot. I had a vw Baja bug in high school,so he forced me to buy it. the bug I killed in one year;by doing every rookie mistake possible.i pushed myself to not make that mistake again,and I read, listened, and learned all I could about vw's and buggys. no internet, and nobody cared about buggys then.lucky for me they were made in my state of massachuttess ,I fixed the buggy mechanically,and a month later to show off I was trying to burn rubber in front of his lot. reving my great motor,released clutch, snapped axle right on the spot. off to a real mechanic for new axle. then learned not all swing axles are same size,and buggys can be made with different year parts. no tears; I was eager to learn more. I then joined local vw clubs went to shows, etc. I now know quite a bit. every buggy I have bought and restored was broken in some sort of way, but was bought well because I knew the cost and how to fix it correctly. not every buggy for sale is bad. asking price is not always a good indicator of condition. my used car buddy always said "i make my profit when I buy the car". in other words he bought them well by knowing what the values were, including known issues and repair cost. I continue to learn. have a great day.