I offered to pick up a early Meyers Manx on behalf of Club Member Marc Frisicaro of Buffalo, New York. Marc had been dreaming of buying this Manx ever since last year's Manx on the Banx, but the asking price was simply too high. Eventually, Marc negotiated a price that he and the seller could live with, and now it was time to get it home. I really wanted to see this car as I'd heard nothing but good things about. It is an early square license plate version of which not too many were made. They were the first of the shortened floorpan models that immediately followed the monocoque, but I've only seen a couple of them in the 20 years I've been collecting buggies. Bill Schuster has a nice lime green one, and I'm struggling to think who has the blue one I've seen . . . Richard Brown in Louisiana, maybe? Anyways, this car was the demo buggy built by a gentleman named Doug who owned El Tejon Garage in Bakersfield, CA, and who also sold Manx kits and turnkey buggies as a Meyers Manx Dealer. This was his personal car, which he parked in 1984 and hadn't driven since. It has to be pretty rare to buy a Manx from the original owner! Anyway, Marc can fill in the details I've missed . . Here's the Buggy:
Here's Doug next to his Manx
It was covered when I got there, but still plenty dusty after years of sitting in this carport:
Even under all of that grime, you could tell the ge lcoat was in terrific shape
Once I got it home, I washed it to see what the gelcoat looked like . . .WOW! I'm amazed that it looks like new. Here's some cleaned up shots. I just washed it, but the gelcoat had been dried off in these pics.
Even the plate 60's era plates look new!
Metalflake green steering wheel is a nice touch. ABS dash is flawless
For those that think the gelcoat must have faded over the years . . . I removed the plate to compare the surrounding gelcoat to the area hidden by the sun NO DIFFERENCE!
It is completely original and has all of the cool features found on the early Manxes, like Bruce's handmade "Showerdoor" windshield.
Not a scratch on it, and the lowered stock VW seats are nice too.
The thin solid steel bumper
I forgot to take a photo of it . . . But it also has the chrome turning / parking brake accessory. Well, that's about it today. I was burning daylight when I started cleaning it and taking these pics. Don't worry Marc, it'll be safe until you get here for Big Bear!
