Manx Club

I do not know if there is much interest here in the early days of going to Baja with Manxes and other glass-cars. But I will give it a try. On our first Manx trip to Baja during Easter Vacation 1968. We crossed Baja from Ensenada on the Pacific side of Baja to San Felipe on the Sea of Cortez side. Our group consisted of five vehicles three Jeeps and two glass-cars. As we were roughing it and living out of a plywood box made to fit in the back seat. Our diet while crossing Baja consisted mainly of Van Camps pork and beans, beef jerky, flour tortillas, Pepsi for me and Mexicali beer for my dad. At least that is what I remember most. As for finding our way around Baja. My dad who was always trail boss on these adventures had a great and detailed book on traveling in Baja put out by the AAA. We never became lost on this trip or any other by using this book. As for traffic on this road the only Americans we saw were a group of Jeeps outside Ensenada. After that just a few locals. The main thing you had to watch out for on the road was the local ranchers cattle. So much so that the AAA guide book warned you not to drive at night. First picture getting ready to unload and head across the border. (side note: kid pictured is not me) Second picture somewhere between Ensenada and San Felipe. Third picture is our second night on the road camp. The last two pictures are on the main road (if you want to call it that) to San Felipe. In the last picture behind our Manx you will also see a Datsun truck that went also. The gentleman was having a Manx built but it wasn't done in time for this trip. So instead he brought this. He only got stuck a few times and he had to go real slow over the rocky parts of the road. But amazingly he made San Felipe in one piece.

My last trip to Baja was this to Bahia de los Angeles during Easter vacation 1975. My father went to Baja a few more times after that. The last trip for him being to Alfonsina's on Bahia San Luis Gonzaga in 1978. The first picture is our camp at Bahia de los Angeles. The third picture is the Mission San Borja which is located southwest of Bahia de Los Angeles. The last picture is one of many things you do not want to have happen in Baja. Luckily this time it was just a case of loose lug-nuts. With a few donated ones we were shortly back on our merry way.

Thanks for sharing that little story & pics, its great having those sort of memories to look back on.. Baja seems like a place that don't change too much in the way of scenery. Although they don't go back so far,, I too have some very fond memories of the 97 & 98 Manx club Baja runs and I would trade 365 days of driving my buggy on English paved roads for just a two week off road blast in Baja!. Someday I'm gonna get back to that place!!,, but for now, just keep posting those old Baja pics.

I love the old Baja pics. Mel, you are right, those early Manxes to Margaritaville runs were the best! Does anyone know what happened to the links to the early runs and if they are still around?

Thanks for your reply Mel. I am glad you enjoyed the pics and stories and that they bought back your memories of Baja.

Jon, I have contacted the individual who has a lot of the pre 2000 ManxClub stuff. I am attempting to get it linked to the Club site for viewing. There is some great stuff in those archives. Keep in mind that this will not happen overnight. There is a significant amount of data to be linked/moved. I anticipate this will happen slowly.

Thanks for sharing Joe. I really enjoy the old pictures and hearing the memories involved.

Here are a couple of links to a lot of older photos and stuff from the '90s. I've had these links bookmarked for a while. http://www.lightner.net/manxclub/mindex.html and http://www.lightner.net/manxclub/index.html

Thanks Bud. That's what I was looking for. And thank you Joe for seeing if you can get them linked back to the Manx site. One of my favorite pics from the '98 run: http://www.lightner.net/manxclub/images ... pg?Gusbus&

[QUOTE="GotManx;15167"]Thanks Bud. That's what I was looking for. And thank you Joe for seeing if you can get them linked back to the Manx site. One of my favorite pics from the '98 run: http://www.lightner.net/manxclub/images ... pg?Gusbus&[/QUOTE] Thanks Jon, thats my all time 'claim to fame' snap shot!!!. I think that small pic of me driving Gus the bus even made it into Hot VW's,, in fact I think it may have made front cover,, only problem was the postage stamp size of it. Bruce's nephew did the Hot VW's photo shoot that year and many of the pics were taken whilst hanging out of the roof in Gus. I also remember getting some pics on the 97 San Felipe run, Nov 13 - 16, and they got printed in a UK VW mag at the time,,, think it was the'Total VW' mag, with quite a few pics of the guys. Yup, those trips were the best!.

Loved the pictures and the story. They more?

Thanks Rick. I will go through our old photos and pick out and post some more. In which I also hope to show some of my favorite things about Baja. EDIT: I have added some more pictures and stories to my earlier posts. Also added pictures here of a few of my favorite things about Baja.

Baja is a place that stays in you heart and persists in memories preserved by photos if only to prove that it does exist. All Fun ... Mark & Carol

[FONT=Comic Sans MS]Yes, I know about the drug trouble at the border but I'm getting itchy to go back. Bill Loften and I have been mulling it over about another trip next year. 3 or 4 buggys should be enough. We were thinking Spring or Fall for up to 10 days or so would be just about right. I have two neighbors who have winter homes down there, one in Bay of LA the other South of La Paz and they say everything is fine.[/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]So any takers???[/FONT] [FONT=Comic Sans MS]Bob[/FONT]

Our trip to Bahia de San Quintin on the Pacific side of Baja during Christmas vacation 1973. In the first picture we are loaded and ready to go. Notice the red jeep cans on the side of the trailer. These are matched by another 20 gallons of premium on the other side of the trailer. After a bad experience with "PEMEX" gasoline on the 68 trip. We thought it would be smart to take our own gasoline for the Manx. Good idea, bad way to do it. Luckily I'm still here. Second picture is the Old Mill Pier on the bay. The next three pictures are of our day trip around the bay. With poor old "Pinky" stuck in the fourth picture.