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1967 Meyers Towed

Dune Buggy

Bruce F. Meyers built his first dune buggy starting in late 1963 using a shortened Volkswagen Beetle floor pan, a fiberglass 'shell,' and some Chevrolet parts to re-work the rear suspension. And he called it the Manx after the tail-less, 'short wheelbase' cat breed found on the Isle of Man, Bruce was a 'surfer type' living in Newport Beach, California. His engineering was sound, and that street-legal first buggy, named 'Old Red,' held together. It started both a business and a cultural movement. To the extent that he built many more, was copied exhaustively, and the demand for Beetle floor pans has never diminished. Today, the Max and Manx-like vehicles are available, some with Subaru power.

This is the first 'Tow'd,' the Meyer's open-wheel desert race car. It wasn't street-legal, so it had to be towed to the start line. Hence Tow'd. Meyers ultimately built about 1,000 Tow'ds. A Tow'd ran in the 1967 Mint 400, a scorching 600 miles from The Mint-Hotel in Las Vegas to the Sahara Hotel in Lake Tahoe, California. Dune buggies soon after began an integral part of desert racing associated with some of the biggest races across the globe such as the Baja 1000. A 1960 icon, its style and cost of construction was such that pretty much anyone with an ounce of mechanical aptitude could 'have a go' at building and racing one.

Bruce Meyers grew up in Southern California during the early days of surfing, drag racing, and hanging out at the beach. Loving the lore of the sea, Bruce first enlisted with the Merchant Marines before serving his country in the Navy during World War II. Assigned to the Bunker Hill, an Essex-class Air Craft Carrier, Bruce was forced to jump from the ship when it was hit by two Kamikazes at the Battle of Okinawa. After saving a burned pilot downed in the water, and though the ship was severely damaged, Bruce was one of the volunteer skeleton crew who went back aboard the smoking acrid, flesh-smelling hulk limping back to port.

After the war, he sailed on a square-rigged ship to the South Seas to build a trading post in the Cook Islands for a very wealthy man. After six months on this coral atoll of Tongereva, Bruce completed the trading post amidst a tapestry of child-like people, pearl trading, and a steady diet of fish. He then spent six months in Tahiti before returning to the US. It was his love of sailing and the Polynesian lifestyle that later moved him to build his 42' catamaran, which he intended to sail back to the South Seas. The allure of Tahiti was not to be, however, and so Bruce went on to build tooling of the first fiberglass sailboats for the Cal-boat line of Jensen Marine designed by world-famous Bill Lapworth.

It was at Pismo Beach, CA that Bruce first became acquainted with 'dune buggies'. These 'water pumpers' were crude and heavy so Bruce took it upon himself to design a lightweight version that would be fun on the beach or in the wilds of Baja. After modifying a VW Kombi bus with wide rims (called 'Little Red Riding Bus'), Bruce used his expertise in boat building to design the first fiberglass-bodied dune buggy, the Meyers Manx.

The first 12 cars produced were all-fiberglass, monocoque bodies that had a steel structural frame within the fiberglass that attached to the VW suspension and running gear ('Old Red' - #1 now resides with Bruce). These cars were expensive (for their time) and redundant in that so much of the VW was thrown away. Bruce redesigned the body to fit on a shortened VW floorpan, which ultimately reduced the price as well. As a result, the Meyers Manx took off. It took the country by storm when magazines like Hot Rod and Car & Driver featured the fiberglass car on their covers. This caused a rash of over 300 orders. Not able to immediately fill these orders, other manufacturers sprang up overnight and ended up producing over 250,000 look-a-likes and near look-a-likes. Eventually, over 300 companies, worldwide, copied the Manx in one form or another – even the copiers copied each other. Bruce tried to stop the floodgate of imitations with patent infringement laws but failed to convince the judge that he had produced anything worth a patent. In subsequent years B.F. Meyers & Co. built 5,280 Manx kits, several hundred Manx 2's, about 1,000 Meyers Tow'ds, a couple of hundred Manx SR's, and 75 Resorters - a total of nearly 7,000 kits.

The performance of the Meyers Manx was amazing, especially off-road! It handled better than any other off-road vehicle and was much more fun to drive due to its supple suspension and lightweight. A pair of Meyers Manx's won 39 out of 41 slalom races and won its class in the Pike's Peak Hill Climb beating Corvettes, Cobras, and most open-wheel sprint cars! The roots of off-road racing were the old motorcycle elapsed-time records. The very first Meyers Manx, 'Old Red' (driven by Bruce and Ted Mangels), beat these bikes by over five hours culminating in the first Baja off-road races. Meyers Manx's came in first overall and second in their class in the first official race, the Mexican 1000 - 1967. This started the off-road revolution and eventually the Score's Baja 1,000 off-road race.

The Meyers Tow'd was originally produced for off-road use only. It was an effort to diversify and expand the B. F. Meyers & Co. product base. The original Tow'd, aptly named as it was to be towed (get it?), had no hood or fenders. People thought it was so cute that they demanded it also become street-legal. Eventually, the Towdster evolved adorned with hood, fenders, and engine cover – even a soft-top for weather protection. The Tow'd, in general, had production problems however and never really caught on like the Manx. The body was smaller and lighter than the Manx and was built on a custom tube frame. One might say that the Tow'd was the predecessor of the modern sandrail. Bruce raced a Tow'd in the second Baja 1,000 and ended by crashing and breaking both legs. He is reminded daily by a worn-out stainless steel ankle today, which is detected by his slight limp.

The next product of the company was the Manx SR (Street Roadster). This car was an attempt to short-circuit the Manx copycats. Penned by Stewart Reed, a student fresh out of Art Center College of Design, it was intended for the street only and possessed a sleek aerodynamic shape that is still contemporary today. It was built to fit on the same shortened VW floorpan as the original Manx to keep the great handling characteristics. The car had thirteen fiberglass and many metal pieces making it much more of a challenge for the garage-type mechanic to complete. Though it was thought that there were 400 to 600 of these kits produced, it now appears more like 200 were sold by B.F. Meyers & Co. and possibly 200 more sold by the successive companies that bought the molds after the company went down.

The Resorter/Turista was also produced by B.F. Meyers & Co, though not designed by Bruce, to provide a 4-seat tour vehicle. The Resorter had lower sides for easier entrance and exit. The car was originally produced and sold to hotel chains in Puerto Rico, Acapulco, and Hawaii. Bruce was not fond of its shape and claimed the sight of it gave him the 'turistas' ('Montezuma's Revenge').

Three Utility cars were produced, two of which were sold as Lifeguard buggies for Los Angeles County and one buggy designated for the California Forestry Service. These buggies were equipped with a covered rear bed for hauling life-saving gear and which required the use of a VW 'pancake' engine. The third utility buggy intended for the Forestry Service was stolen from the company before it was ever delivered. It has only recently been rediscovered, though its history is still clouded in mystery.

The last vehicle in the Manx fleet was the Kuebelwagen. This car was a replica of the German Desert Staff car of WWII and was built on a full-length floorplan. Sadly, there was only one example built. Totally restored, this car reigns high in the Manx Club.

In 1970, with the burden of fighting the cheap imitations of the copiers, cross-country shipping difficulties, the loss of the patent infringement case, demands of the rule changing Excise Tax Board, conflict within the company and an impending divorce, Bruce left B.F. Meyers & Co. for a less stressful life. Under the direction of John Blick, B.F. Meyers & Co. closed its doors in 1971. A public auction equivocated Bruce's dream at less than ten cents on the dollar.

Now 35+ years later, Bruce and the Meyers Manx are back. Offering the new Manxter 2+2 and the Manxter DualSport, these street-legal fiberglass dune buggies are dreamed, designed, and brought to reality by the man who started it all.

by Meyers

by Meyers

Growing up in sunny California, Bruce Meyers grew up surrounded by the beach and exciting hobbies like surfing and drag racing. During WWII, he served in the military until an aircraft carrier was shot out beneath him. After the war, Bruce sailed to the South Seas and built a trading post in the Cook Islands. Over the years, he constructed numerous small catamarans before moving on to tooling for fiberglass sailboats.

At Pismo Beach, Meyers got his first glimpse of a V8 powered 'water pumper' 'Dune Buggies'. Seeing room for improvement, Bruce decided to design a lightweight version that could be not only fun on the beach, but also on land. His first prototype involved modifying a Kombi bus with wide rims that he dubbed 'Little Red Riding Bus' or 'Old Red'. Using his love of sailing and boat-building expertise, he designed the first fiberglass-bodied dune buggy with a Chevrolet pickup truck suspension in his garage in Newport Beach, California.

Meyers produced the first twelve cars with monocoque bodies and their own integral frame with a Volkswagen engine and transmission. Meyers modified the bodies to fit on a Volkswagen shortened floorpan. This modification would result in the Meyers Manx, an off-road revolution. Featuring a unibody shell with no top and no hood, the fused body, genders and frame, retained just the engine and transmission, along with other mechanicals of the Volkswagen. Impressive rigidity was maintained thanks to the use of compound curves. Knobby dirt-racing wheels were nestled in high-arched genders.

A small recreational type automobile, the Meyers Manx dune buggy was designed with desert racing in mind. The Manx was introduced in 1964 and into 1965 at Meyers Fountain Valley, California Company, B.F. Meyers & Co. in the form of car kits that were applied to shortened chassis of VW Beetles. The Manx had extremely quick acceleration and good off-road performance, even though it wasn't four-wheel drive.

The Manx name and cat logo came from the stubby Manx cat because of its shortened vehicle length and lack of a 'tail'. Colloquially called 'stubbins', the Manx cats are known for their long-legged ability to turn while chasing. The logo featured the tailless cat and the hood ornament is stylized after a passant heraldic lion with its right forepaw brandishing a sword. A total of 5,280 Manx kits were built, along with several hundred Manx II models.

The Meyers Manx was radically advertised in the 1966 Hot Rod magazine issue soaring gracefully through the air. Instantaneously popular, Meyer's Manx received over 300 orders. Unable to immediately keep up, the Manx was quickly imitated by other manufacturers that produced nearly 250,00 looks-a-like models. Meyers attempted to halt the copycats with patent infringement laws but unfortunately failed to convince the courts that he had produced anything worth a patent. This court ruling opened the floodgates to the industry that Meyers had created. Unfortunately, the vehicle proved too expensive to be very profitable, and only 12 kits of the monocoque Manx were ever produced.

The Manx performed exceedingly well and won many slalom evens and even beat out Corvettes and Cobras at the Pike's Peak Hill Climb. Driven by Ted and Bruce Mangels the Manx set the record for traveling the length of Baja at 34 hours and 45 minutes, beating the motorcycle record by more than five hours. Dominating dune racing in its time, the Manx broke numerous records and was eventually released in street-oriented models. According to compiler of the Dune Buggy Handbook, James Hale, the La Paz record ushered in an era of off-road racing as the NORRA (National Off-Road Racing Association) was formed.

Since 2000 Meyer's re-founded operation, Meyers Manx, Inc., inspired new vehicles by the original Manx buggy. Many varieties of the Manx have been imitated over the years. The Imp by EMPI introduced in 1968 through 1970 stylistically borrowed from the Manx, along with the cues taken from the Chevrolet Corvette. The Dune Runner from Dune Buggy Enterprises in Westminster, California, was a 1970's Manx clone.

The Meyers Company introduced the more distinctive Meyers Manx Mk II design, which was a bit harder to replicate in an attempt to stay ahead of the competition. Other Beetle-based vehicles were introduced by the B.F. Meyers & Co., along with the 1970 sporty Manx SR (Street Roadster) and its Manx SR2 variant. The sleek aerodynamic SR was intended for street use only. Built to fit on the same shortened VW floorpan, the SR was similar to the original Manx and carried its great handling characteristics. With thirteen fiberglass and numerous other metal pieces, the SR model was much more of a challenge for the garage-type mechanic to assemble. Around 200 or so were sold by B.F. Meyers & Co. and possible many more by other successive companies.

Another variant was the Meyers Tow'd, a minimal off-road non-street-legal racing vehicle that was specifically designed to be towed to the beach or desert. Without a hood or a fender, the original Tow'd was considered 'cute' by fans that demanded that it become street-legal. The Tow'd had production issues and never reached the commercial success like the Manx. Smaller and more lightweight than the Manx, the Tow'd was built on a custom tube frame. Bruce Meyer raced a Tow'd in the second Baja 1,000 and crashed, which broke both of his legs and left him with a permanent limp thanks to a stainless steel ankle.

The Meyers Tow'dster was a street-legal hybrid of the two vehicles, a compromise between a dune-capable vehicle and a more practical street rod. The Tow'dster led the way for the rail-type buggy, which would soon take over the buggy scene after the demise of the traditional Manx-type buggy. The Tow'dster had a hood, fenders and engine cover and even a soft-top for weather protection.

The Meyers Resorter or (Meyers Turista) was a small 'resort' recreational vehicle that took its inspiration from touring motorcycles. The Resorter featured lower sides for easier entrance and exit and was originally produced and sold to hotel chains in exotic locales like Acapulco, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Around 75 Resorter/Turista's were produced, several hundred Manx SR's and about 1,000 Meyers Tow'ds.

Three Utility vehicles were created, two of these sold as Lifeguard buggies for the L.A. County and one buggy for the California Forestry Service. These vehicles used the VW 'pancake' engine and were equipped with a covered rear bed for carrying life-saving gear. The Forestry Service vehicle was stolen from the company before it was ever even delivered. Over the recent years it has been rediscovered, though its history is still a mystery.

The Kuebelwagen was the final vehicle in the Manx fleet and of which only one was produced. Manufactured on a full-length floorpan the Kuebelwagen was a replica of the German Desert Staff car of WWII.

Tired of fighting the cheap imitations of the copiers and the loss of the patent infringement case, Bruce left B.F. Meyers & Co. for a much less stressful like. Tax problems after Meyer's departure caused the company's early demise in 1971.

More than thirty years later, in 2000, Bruce Meyers founded Meyers Manx, Inc., based in Valley Center, California. Meyers released the Classic Manx series, which was a limited edition of 100. The Manxter 2+2 and Manxter DualSport were soon introduced in 2002. These modern models were sized for a full-length Beetle floor pan reminiscent of the original design. Also available were custom versions for higher-power engines and other variations.

The Kick-Out Manx was introduced in the spring of 2009 on the original shortened wheelbase. Available in two models, the Kick-Out Manx was named after the final action that a surfer makes before reaching the shore and is an updated version of the original Manx concept. Featuring wider fenders, the Kick-Out had a front-hinged hood that provided additional storage along with easier access to electrical components. A much more modern and hip version, the Kick-Out featured flared headlights into the hood, sculpted rear deck cover, twin roll hoops, and a curved windshield. As of 2012, Meyers Manx kits are based only on particular original Beetle and Super Beetle models instead of the New Beetle or other Volkswagen models.

Over the years, the Manx-type vehicle has had cameos in popular movies that included the 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair and several Elvis Presley films. Mattel introduced a collection of pink and white Manx-like dune buggy toys for Barbie. Matchbox toys also introduced several Manx-inspired dune buggy models from 1974 all of the way until 2011.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyers_Manx

http://www.manxclub.com/history.htm

http://www.lightner.net/manxclub/history.html

by Jessican Donaldson