1967 Con-Ferr Dune Buggy

The Manx Dune Buggy Kits and the dune buggy craze of the early 1960s began with Bruce Meyer and the Meyers Manx produced by his company, the B.F. Meyers & Co. Beginning with a Volkswagen Beetle, the body was removed, exposing the floor pan, which was shortened and a one-piece fiberglass 2-seat body was installed. It had a low frontal stance with a stubby tail, resembling a breed of cat called the Manx, thus the creation of the Meyers Manx.

The Meyers Manx and various Dune Buggy's were featured in several movies, including Elvis Presley films, and the 1968 The Thomas Crown Affair. The example in the Crown movie was an original Meyers Manx body built by Pete Condos and his east coast company, Con-Ferr. The script initially called for a Jeep, but the Manx was ultimately chosen through persuasion by McQueen who believed it was more in the style of Thomas Crown.

The Meyers Manx received numerous modifications by Con-Ferr that included the wraparound windscreen, sunken headlights beneath plastic covers, and a luggage rack on the back. It utilized a Volkswagen floorpan, a four-speed VW transaxle, and a swing arm rear suspension. There are wide-cast American Racing wheels wrapped with Firestone racing tires. The custom seats and interior trim was created by Tony Nancy, and the seat frames were sourced from a Datsun Fair Lady sports car. Pete Condos added a pair of hand-brake levers allowing McQueen to alternatively lock either rear wheel.

While most buggies were powered by an air-cooled Volkswagen flat-four tuned to produce anywhere from 40 to 125 horsepower, the Crown car received a Chevrolet Corvair horizontally opposed, air-cooled six-cylinder engine that McQueen believed developed 230 horsepower, however, a four-carb Corvair engine's stock output was 140 bhp.

The unique buggy appeared in The Thomas Crown Affair several times, plus in promotional materials, movie posters, and in the theatrical trailer. McQueen drove it with Faye Dunaway in the passenger seat, driving on the sandy beach and splashing through water, chasing birds, and jumping sand dunes. Some of the scenes were ab-libbed while others were more carefully choreographed.

by Dan Vaughan

Dune Buggy
Chassis number: 117358054
Engine number: T0629RB

This Con-Ferr Meyers Manx Dune Buggy is the example used in the movie, The Thomas Crown Affair. It was though that the vehicle ended up with Steve McQueen after the movie, but this was not the case. It was acquired by Hawaii Lincoln-Mercury dealer Jim Phlueger, who had by then already brought several Manx kits to the islands. The Con-Ferr Buggy was modified by a local specialist who removed the Corvair engine and original transmission and installed a race-built 2.2-liter Volkswagen engine and another VW transaxle. The vehicle spent several years being used around the Honolulu area sands, prior to being traded to another owner who took it to Kauai, where it spent a fair amount of time sand racing and towing water skiers across the shallow, wide beaches at Hanalei Bay.

The vehicle later returned to Honolulu, where the current owner traded a restored Mini Cooper S plus a shotgun for the buggy. By this point in history, the vehicle was intact but in poor shape, with the VW engine seized. Much of the chrome trim was rusted and it had been resprayed several times. Although a restoration was planned, the Manx sat in a warehouse for nearly two decades.

More recently, the custom Manx was fully disassembled for a complete, platinum level, concours quality restoration, with a particular eye being paid to authenticity and originality. It received an original spec Corvair engine and a fresh VW transaxle. Replacement parts were done with period-correct pieces, and the original color scheme was re-applied.

by Dan Vaughan