Relive the ‘60s Beach Buggy Craze In The Car that Started It All: The Fun-Loving Meyers Manx

The Volkswagen Beetle is arguably one of the most influential motor vehicles of all time, and over the years its drivetrain was adapted for a variety of uses, including being the base from which the original Meyers Manx Beach Buggy was created. This fusion of Southern Californian free-thinking and European underpinnings proved to be the perfect recipe for a go-anywhere dune buggy and, as it turned out, for off-road racing too.

Bruce Meyers was the man behind this simple yet ingenious vehicle. He modified the Beetle drivetrain, mounting it on a shortened frame and designed a lightweight (and most importantly rustproof) fiberglass body to go on top. It went into production in 1965 and started dominating the dune racing scene. Soon road-legal variants were offered too, which proved extremely popular and created a beach buggy craze in Southern California. Many hundreds of copies were eventually introduced to the market, but the original Meyers Manx remains the most soughtafter Beach Buggy out there, especially mint condition examples like the one you see here.

This 1968 Meyers Manx is one of the first few hundred that were produced before serial numbers were introduced but it comes with a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by Bruce Meyers, and a stack of receipts and invoices. Some of the more recent invoices detail a frame-up restoration carried out in 2016 by the current owner.

The original shade of orange has been recreated utilizing Big Daddy Roth metalflake paint and the body features a Monza-style gas cap, correct Deist headlights, and period-correct chromed Volkswagen Beetle taillights. New components from the Manx factory include the windshield, front bumper and Meyers Manx license-plate frame.

While the original Manx buggies were powered by smaller capacity Beetle engines, this car comes with a professionally built Powerhaus 100hp 1.9-liter flat-four engine. Still running a set of two-barrel Weber carbs, it does have a more modern electronic distributor and comes with a heavy-duty Rancho pro-street transaxle featuring a lightened flywheel and short-throw shifter. Bucket seats and an original Manx roll bar keep the occupants secure and safe when tackling a set of dunes. The car is being offered solely via RM Sotheby’s Online Only collector car auction series and is estimated to bring in between $40,000 to $50,000. Bidding will close on 1 August at 12:00 pm EDT.

Images courtesy of RM Sotheby’s