WHEN AND HOW DID YOU GET INTO DUNE BUGGYS ?

[lastmanx]

I was pushed into dune buggys in febuary 1989. back in 1978 high school I had a junky 1970 beetle (rotted floors,etc) because I heard they were good on gas had no radiator (had too many leaky radiated cars) and could go offroad with them, so I could drive in the woods power lines behind my house. I refused to take advice, to read and learn how a beetle worked. in one year I killed the car. jig sawed fenders, pop rivet metal floor patches, pinto high back seats, white fur dash, and removal of the tattered rubber seal between the body and engine tin. the motor cooked!
so my high school buddy owned a use car lot in 1989, he took in a 1965 Deserter GT on trade from a New Hampshire college student for a Nova with heat. He called me immediately saying it was for me because I had that Beetle back in high school. he said it was wicked cool looking and to bring him $800.00. buggy needed new windshield, wipers, generator,wiring issues, and more.
I reluctantly bought it. it drizzled overnight and would not start when I showed it to my wife the next morning. she believed me when I said I would educate myself about vw's and fix it. I did learn and fix it making many rookie mistakes along the way. the biggest being 31 days after purchase when all was fixed in front of my friends car lot; I reved the motor to pop a wheelie or smoke the tires. the drive axle instantly snapped to the laughter and delight of my buddy. he happily informed me that if I had a warranty which I didn't it was one day past. it got towed to his mechanic and fixed as it was beyond my capabilities at that time. I joined local car clubs and took advice continuing to learn. sick of saying I didn't go offroad, I decided to do it. I soon was known as Larry the buggy guy that drives on the beach no one else was interested. as time went on buggys got more popular and i got more knowledge to the point of being able to build a complete buggy. i'm still married and my wife won't go to the beach unless it's in a Dune Buggy on the beach, which we do easily. so I got into dune buggys because I was forced , but I stayed because I learned to fix them and still enjoy them, driving and building. I have been doing this before it was popular and will after it is popular.
when and how did you get into them?

[5150bossman]

Back in the '60's, the local mall had a promo one summer where they would give away a dune buggy a week if you had a dollar bill with a matching serial number. My dad would take us down every week so we could try to match the serial numbers of the two or three dollar bills we had in our pockets to the list they would put out. I think I was 6 or 7 at the time and had never seen anything like a dune buggy before. They were almost magical. We never matched any of the numbers, and my dad went on to buy a boat the following summer. I spent the rest of my youth on the water, mostly water skiing. So dune buggies went to the far reaches of my mind, not to be thought of again, until...

So now I am married to Mel, and we are about a week or so out from buying a boat (I think it was in 2001 or so). While on a fishing trip with friends up to June Lake, I hear this rumble rolling into the campground. I look, and see a half dozen buggies coming in. I think, cool, and remember the time when I was a kid looking at the buggies that the mall was giving away. A little while later, Mel walks over from the area where they had parked and says that I have to go and look at these things. They are so cute and fun looking. I could hear the tone in her voice. She was infatuated by these little cars. I tried to remind her that we were about to buy a boat, but no matter. So I walked over and looked at the buggies. They were cute. And they did look fun. After watching them go out all clean, and come back all dusty for the next few days, that left an impression.

We went home and Mel asked if she could look for a buggy. I agreed, and a couple of weeks later, she found one on Ebay. We watched as the price went up slowly at first, then a little quicker. Two days out from the end of the auction, Mel asked if she could hit the Buy It Now button. We agreed that it was a nice looking buggy for a reasonable price. She hit the button, and we (tentatively) owned a new buggy! We knew NOTHING about what to look for in a buggy, but we bought it anyway.

Now, how to get it home? I found a trailer in Anaheim for $250. Went down to look it over and the owner wasn't there. His room mate was there and talked me out of the trailer as it was a one-off, and too heavy to tow on a daily basis. I asked if he knew of any other trailers in the area for sale. He said that he had one. I was able to talk him into selling that trailer to us for the same price, and dragged it home (and we are still using it today!).

A couple of days latter, we left the house at 4:30 in the morning, drove up to Sacramento to look and test drive the buggy, gave the guy a check and loaded it onto the trailer so we could drive back. We got home at 6:30 in the evening and nothing has been the same since!

It took me another year and a half to get it running reliably (new motor, body lift, re-wire, tires and wheels etc...) and went to the Lone Pine run as our very first run (Didn't get it running completely until 1:00 AM the day we were leaving on the trip!). We still have buggy fever, still run that cute little buggy, and go out in it whenever we can. We wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! (BTW, we never bought the boat ).


Then


Now

[lastmanx]

wow only 1 and a 1/2 years for your first buggy restore and improve is fast . taking the first run at lone pine is confident. it looks way better than my first restoration. great job!

[1856]

Great story MnM

[calvin]

Mine is really a long story, but I will shorten it. I was a kid in the 60's living in Virginia Beach. My parents, aunt and uncle, and some friend of theirs took four wheel drives to a section of beach in Virgina Beach called Sandbridge. We drove many miles south on the beach to the Outer Banks (where Manx On The Banks takes place today). Along the way there was a big sand dune called Penny's Hill (that is mostly gone today). This was a gathering point for beach and dune buggies of all types. Mostly what Bruce called Water Pumpers, but we just called them dune buggies here. This was before the Manx had been built and came across the country to the East Coast. This is one of my parents old 8mm movies from the era, many of you have seen it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdPT77Z5mKc

Near the end of that vide is the beginning of my uncle's buggy. It was a 47 jeep chassis with a flat head Ford engine and a body built from electrical conduate. It improved from this video to be a pretty fun machine.

At Penny's Hill we saw our first Manx. It was blue and possibly could have been Chris Lewis' Monique. I am not sure. It belonged to a couple from Californina who were moving to Ohio (I seem to remember) and were taking a month or so vacation during the move in the Outer Banks. I really loved the buggy. Soon after Manx's and clones were all over Virgina Beach. A trip to the store you would pass a couple of them on the road. They were everywhere. It seemed the most common dune buggy at the time was a SkatKat, since we lived about 3 hours from where they were built.

Soon after the environmentalists had the beach in VA closed off to cars. Our interests moved on to autocrossing a few years later. My family and I spent the next few decades involved in autocrossing and SCCA road racing. We loved it, and got great things out our years racing. One of the things that I noticed was how well simply prepared dune buggies did in an autocross. One of the big events I went to there were a couple of Deserter GS buggies that were the fastest cars at the event. I always noticed the ads for Deserter GS and GT in the classified of the old format Autoweek magazines to which I subscribed.

Eventually as my parents got older the racing and autocrossing became less often. This was bothering me. Life changed as I went through divorce and just the troubles life sometimes brings.

One night I was watching the TV show called "101 Cars You Must Drive" hosted by Alonzo Boden. One of the episodes featured Bruce Meyers and Old Red. It really got me thinking about how much fun we had on the beach, and how much I really liked the dune buggies. At this point I had never in my life been a Volkswagen person. I had never been around them other than to notice the Formula Vees that would sometimes be paddocked next to our race car at a race. There was a short period of time a woman I was dating had a Nissan 4x4 that we took driving on the beach on the Outer Banks of NC. This got me going, and I decided I had to get back on the beach again. The itch to find a dune buggy started. I started looking around to see what was out there. I found the usual dune buggy web sites (Dune Buggy Archives, East Coast Dune Buggies, etc.) and started reading. I started searching for info on the Deserter GS thinking that I could build a buggy that I could cruise the beach and take to an autocross maybe......

That is when I found the Deserter Owners Group forum on the Yahoo Groups. I was bitten big time at this point. I started reading every one of the posts for the 10 years of so the site existed. I learned what I needed to know about Deserters, the Manx buggies, and where to find information on Volkswagens. I also found out about the Manx on the Banx event, which I had just missed a week before I heard about it. So I spent the next 10 months of so shopping around for the dune buggy I wanted. I kept seeing a trail of this one Deserter GT being sold. One of the sales had it going to someone in the Outer Banks, but then it had been sold to someone in Massachusetts. So I missed out. While I was watching ads this same one came for sale yet again. It took me a while, but I finally bought it and brought it home just before the Manx on the Banx event the next year.

Since then I have been working on it, but have not gotten it ready yet. So I bought another buggy that ran, but have since taken it apart. So I now have a full case of the bug.... or is that buggy.....

Calvin

[lastmanx]

wow! Deserter gt. My first buggy was a deserter gt. since it is not finished I would suggest a 3 inch lift kit. my deserter gt had ground clearance issues as a deserter body can only handle a 14 dia tire up front or a 15 inch dia low profile tire. the frame head would get caught in the sand when driving in deep ruts. a deserter gs is best for scca racing as it is a tube frame mid engine buggy with the gt body. as you have found nothing fits without modification due to its 84 inch length and low body style. the Renault curved windshield is also a pain. I have owned 3 deserter gt's. all had lexan windshields. I got out of deserters before the d.o.g. started, but I knew bob Elliot and all the rest of the group back then and they were very helpful. bob lives close by to me. if you need a good pattern for the windshield to make a lexan one contact me or the group, I gave bob a pattern and I still have one.keep smiling

[calvin]

I appreciate it, but I have a new, in the box windshield and a gull wing hardtop that needs a little work. I just recently met Bob Elliott face to face for the first time, even though we have communicated since I decided that I was going to get a Deserter. This is a picture from when I brought it home. I have since taken it apart and it is making progress.



It has 4 wheel disc brakes, aluminum hubs and lots of very good thing for a street buggy. I think I have pretty well decided that I will keep the Deserter for a street buggy and use the other buggy for the beach, as it is a more traditional shaped buggy.

Calvin

[1856]

Nice... looking froward to the seeing the finished product.

[lastmanx]

calvin that sounds like a good plan. my first deserter had the gull wing roof but no doors. it had a vinyl targa top and side curtains it was weather tight. let me know if you need tips to make one. also to make the top weather tight to the curved windshield I put in a headliner with foam in front area that would make a watertight seal at the windshield. as a side note the yellow deserter ad in front of a beach house is the racepoint lighthouse keepers house. it has been restored and can be stayed in overnight. I drive by it every time I go to the beach. ( it is only reached by off road as it is 2 miles in ) my third deserter had the low cut hardtop that bob Elliot made a pattern from. good luck and happy building

[jhkinca]

My wife and I started going to the dunes in 2006 (Silver lake, MI). We started with our Jeep, then got a couple of quads, almost bought a RZR but always remember a yellow buggy that made a lasting impression. This year we decided to sell the quads and get a buggy; it's safer, easier to tow behind the RV, and since its street legal we can go anywhere with it. We are hooked and will keep this Manx for the long haul.

[hillmotorsports]

This topic made me realize what a long and tangled history I have with buggies and VWs......

Phase 1
I don't recall how we found it but when I was 16.....1968.....my non car-guy dad and I picked up a Manx project that had stalled after the body was badly damaged in a shop "incident". The body had been standing on it's tail at the front of the POs garage. His dad apparently mistakenly started their snowplow truck without depressing the clutch, the truck lurched ahead and the steel snowplow blade made a mess of the rear seat area. The project sat for an unknown period before we were able to buy the remains. Included was an already shortened 1963 pan c/w suspension, trans and motor, plus the wiring and all electric components from the bug. If I recall Dad paid $500 to clean out the garage of all evidence of the project, the owners family was THAT anxious to close that sad chapter.

We learned a lot about fibreglass repair while putting the body back to a usable state. I think we followed Bruce's original intent.....nothing too fancy, use as many of the bug bits as possible to get it on the road. We used the vw front seats and cut down the rear seat to fit. I widened the wheels on the lathe at our high school machine shop....the shop teacher was a car nut so was only too happy to help while using the experience as a teaching lesson in class.
We found some chrome headlights, used a pair of rectangular travel trailer lights for the rear (had to add another socket for the signal lights) and bug front signal/park lamps. A school chum's dad shot the orange enamel paint on a Saturday at his body shop, just to be part of the "fun": we were celebrities of sorts, had the only Meyers Manx in a small town of 2000 people, most of whom had never seen or heard of such a beast before. For those too young to remember it was tough for a typical 16 yr old that was thoroughly infatuated with wheels to keep up with the car stuff.... no Internet then, only magazines that told of events 3 months old, almost no TV coverage other than an occasional 5 minute clip on ABC's Wide World of Sports, and it was likely at least a week old. So before long everyone knew my family because of the Manx.
My Dad....an independent insurance broker....would scare company reps that made the mistake of agreeing to ride home with Dad for lunch by driving through the ditch in front of the house and jumping onto the front yard. Amazing how it moved him more to car guy....

Over the next few yrs my brother and I managed to gather upgrades....wheel adapters allowed some scrounge mag wheels and bigger tires. Of course now we were looking for more power to turn those bigger wheels so a dual port 1600 found it's way to the back, followed by an injected 1700 type 4.

Funny story....we lived on your typically quiet residential street, and the bark of the dual cannon glass packs always got people's attention. So you'll appreciate why I shut the motor off way up the street and coasted towards home at 3 am one morning after a party with friends. I turned into the 3 car wide driveway between mom and dad's cars to put the Manx into the garage. Big surprise when the brake pedal hit the floor.....the Manx crashed THROUGH the steel sectional garage door and slammed into the end wall that was common with the living room. I'm sure the entire house shuddered.
Shades of "the Flintstones" TV show opening credits....all the lights in the neighborhood were suddenly coming on, just like when Fred was pounding on the door. Dad appeared in his pajamas to see what had happened, saw I was OK, shook his head and went back in the house without a word.
Luckily for me when we surveyed the scene in the morning we saw the stream of brake fluid that stopped as I turned into the driveway. We found a pin hole in a rear brake lines, presumably from a stone on one of the gravel roads I had been on coming home. Amazingly we managed to straighten the 16' garage door enough to function for another few years before ultimately being replaced after all 3 kids had left home. A reminder to us perhaps?
The Manx served as "our" car for my younger brother and I through high school. I even drove it an hour each way when I went to college in Ottawa. Wasn't nearly as much fun with no top on a rainy day, and no heat made for more limited use during snow season. By the time I was into my 20s other priorities were getting into the way of the f/g repairs that had been put off too long and the Manx got shoved to the back of the shop. After a couple yrs it sold on to a new home.

Fast forward 30 yrs to Phase 2....
Life has moved on but in the back of my mind I never forgot the fun the Manx brought. I always watched for the right opportunity and finally saw a likely candidate on an eBay ad in NH over Christmas 2005. Everyone must have been preoccupied with the holiday season, I scored and bought it cheap. We hitched a trailer and in light snow New Years day drove the 4 hr to pick up the purple beast. It wasn't perfect but we didn't pay for perfect. We picked up new seats from PRP when we were in southern California in April, and puttered away with other minor upgrades to get it ready for summer. But then disaster....a buddy popped in one day and fell in love with our purple beast. I could not resist his offer when I was essentially tripling our investment. Last i heard it was still sitting as delivered in the corner of his shop. End of Phase 2...

Somewhere along the way (can't recall the exact dates but was sometime between Phase 1 and 2) I built a '27 T styled Volksrod for a buddy, VW rear suspension and drive train, dropped tube front axle, f/g body, simple custom ladder style frame. Fun project!

After much hand wringing over our true needs we bought a Tow'd over the Internet in Reno NV over the Christmas holiday 2 years ago. But for those unaware the transport caught fire passing through Chicago while delivering our new gem (trailer brakes overheated and our Tow'd was directly over them), completely destroyed the load of 7 cars. Thankfully the carrier had insurance so we were not out any money but now we had a project vs the drive ready Tow'd we bought.
We were able to find a new body, made a deal on a brand new 1835 motor. We dragged home a complete but rusty 1972 Beetle for parts. But sadly, when we finally got the remains of the Tow'd home, the heat of the fire had played havoc on the metallurgy of the steel frame making it unusable. So now what...we have a new body, motor, donor bug for any other bits so had no choice but to hunt down another Tow'd. Dave Barrett had offered to make us a new frame but sadly he is 3000+ miles away. And then Rebecca Powers sent a note with a link to a Tow'd available in Ohio. Short story...dragged it home. 1500 motor was junk (1/4" crank end play!), body less than perfect but the frame was exactly what we needed. So hopefully in the not TOO distant future we can get it on the road. We just need to get priorities right, quit letting situations with my health, our 7 kids or 68 tenants get in the way!

Stay tuned!

[lastmanx]

wow great story, I love hearing of those that had buggies back when they were a new thing. good luck in finding the time to finish your project.

[ManxManiac]

What some awesome & very interesting stories.
I wanted a Meyers Manx or any f/g buggy from day one of the first articles that came out in the various magazines. Early on, there was a metalflake blue Meyers Manx & a metalflake green clone in the small town I grew up in. I was mainly interested in driving them around town & at Pismo Beach in the sand dunes.
I was already bitten by the "Jeep bug" & was up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains east of Fresno "deer hunting" in October 1968, when I "head over heels" completely fell in love with f/g buggies, especially the Meyers Manx. LOL
The group I was hunting with, consisted of 4 Jeeps & a Jeepster & everyone was older than me by at least a few years. LOL The Jeep trail we were on was a 6 mile loop trail & going in the easterly direction was the easiest, while traveling west on it had been proven to be the most difficult. LOL The guys & I were standing on a big granite rock near camp taking a lunch break & we kept hearing a sort of strange noise. LOL
About 5 minutes later, 4 colorful Meyers Manx buggies come bouncing along the trail & stopped right below us. My friend Bob, that was a diehard Jeep guy, looks down & asks the guy in the lead buggy, "How did you guys get up here?" LOL The guy took his hat off & hits it against the side of the buggy & a pound of dust seem to fly out of it & he looks at ol' Bob right in the eye & with a slight grin & he says, "We drove!" LOL Most everyone laughed except poor old Bob, he just stood there dumbfounded. LOL
So most of us scrambled off the rock to checkout these awesome fun looking buggies. How in the heck could a VW 36hp or a 40hp or even a 1500cc singleport "Bus" engine, push these little cars up this crazy little trail??? LOL After a bit, they fired up their buggies & headed out & as they left the guys in the last buggy said, "We're going to flip a "u" where the trail comes out on the road & come back through!" At that point Bob sort of perked up, because he just knew he'd get to use his new Warn winch to get these fellas "unstuck". LOL Well... they didn't need our help & made it back through laughing all the way. LOL
That experience really got me to thinking about whether I really needed a Jeep or not. LOL
Over the next 31 years or so, I found many f/g buggies, Meyers Manxes, about every brand of body you could think of, but mostly while I was at Pismo Beach, many for sale, but I never bought one.
I owned a number of Jeeps & other 4X4's & when on a Jeep run, instead of running 4 wheel drive in low range like most did, I ran 2 wheel drive & drove my Jeep like it was a f/g buggy, much to the displeasure of other Jeep club members. LOL Oh well...
Then in December 1997, while working at Kragen auto parts, I was told of a f/g buggy. I ended up buying it for $500.00 & told my wife I'd have it on the road in about 3-6 months, knowing that it would for sure take longer. LOL Well, about 19 months later, Xena was born & we started having FUN FUN FUN at the beach/dunes, up in the mountains & out at the desert & all over the streets & highways & freeways in Southern & Central California & the Central California Coast. Since we started driving her, in the last 16+ years, we managed to put 87,000+ miles on Xena & never had one problem! She's always taken us where we wanted to go & brought us back again.
While out & about, she gets so much attention, it's just incredible! LOL
I left out a lot of little back stories & such, but I am working on the "whole story", so someday I'll finish it & share it with everyone!!!
Thank you to all of the buggy family & the Manx Club family... we love y'all !!!

[hillmotorsports]

Thanks for sharing Michael!
Isn't half the fun of ownership spitting in the eye of another group by doing their thing better than they can? Doesn't seem to matter whether it's autocross, off road, or a twisty road....