My New Mania: Dune Buggies

"Andrew P. Collins" (andrewpcollins) 04/19/2016 at 20:15 • Filed to: Dune Buggies

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Not “sand rails.” Not 4x4s. Not Baja bugs either (though, kind of). I have become obsessed with Meyers Manx-style dune buggies over the last few weeks. Should I indulge in this fantasy and buy one or keep my Toyota pickup truck that is practical*.

*At least, it will be after I patch up the leaks.

Pictured: the style of buggy I’m talking about. Though I would go a little off-roadier... just enough to rip donuts at Pismo or Johnson Valley.

I haven’t decided yet if this would actually be fun or just annoying.

djmt1 > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:19

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Get the buggy

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:20

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Well have I found the perfect car for you. It’s yellow, which may not be what you want but colors are changeable. It’s a Beetle. And the roof is fabric and comes off.

TADAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

Funktheduck > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:24

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Do it. Pull a Doug and use it to write about

TheRealBicycleBuck > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:29

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I love Manx-style dune buggies. It all started with this guy:

Andrew P. Collins > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/19/2016 at 20:32

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Yep, just needs to be RWD and removable doors and I’m interested.

XJDano > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:37

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Just like this.

S65 > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:37

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Like This?

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 20:38

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I’ve just had a horrible idea. Get a new ish beetle. and an Audi TT (AWD and a manual of course). Take the roof and doors off the Beetle. And somehow make the two cars one.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:06

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Fun fact: there are legit Corvair based Meyers Manx cars.

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:07

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Also: Ariel Nomad.

shop-teacher > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:12

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Rent/borrow one for a weekend and see if you love it enough to own one.

It’s a hell of a lot cooler than a clapped out Tundra, that’s for sure.

Andrew P. Collins > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/19/2016 at 21:12

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Cool project with a big budget. Mine limit’s 5k for a toy, 10k for something that’s probably going to be part of my family forever.

Andrew P. Collins > shop-teacher 04/19/2016 at 21:13

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Good idea. Wonder if anybody ‘round here would lend me one:)

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:13

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Yeah. My idea is good if it’s a what if scenario. I still want a Thing though.

shop-teacher > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:17

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Possimaybe!

Just be sure to write about it :)

Blondude > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:17

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I’ve wanted a hardtop Manx with Class 10 buggy underpinnings since 2005.

Thanks Motorstorm...

XJDano > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:27

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Tell them you are an author & want to borrow it to write a review on your blog: Oppositelock.

Birddog > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 21:40

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DO IT!

Keep your eyes out for deals. There are still a lot of Manx style Buggies tucked away in Barns and Garages here in the Midwest.

Before I moved out of Davenport, Ia last year there was one for sale at a garage sale for $1200. I was too slow in contemplating the purchase and lost it. All it really needed was a fuel system cleaning and it was on the road. It also needed tires and a bunch of little things but for that money it doesn’t matter.

bob and john > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 22:12

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hey andrew, do you have any news as to whats going to happen to LaneSplitter? I know you seemed to the the other bike on the Jalopnik team

1111111111111111111111 > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 22:22

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I don’t know. I’ve been thinking of something like a samurai for the nonstop logging roads.

garagemonkee > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 22:37

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How much time do you spend driving around a Bifta in Grand Theft Auto 5?

Glen Sandford > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 22:51

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Perfect

Andrew P. Collins > garagemonkee 04/19/2016 at 23:30

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I can’t play GTAV since moving to LA. Shit’s too real, man.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 23:32

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Yes

Armstrod > Andrew P. Collins 04/19/2016 at 23:38

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Daily drove a dune buggy for a couple of years.

Negatives:

People will not leave you alone. Kids love its, girls think its cute, offroad bro’s are incapable of processing the affront to their masculinity. Sounds like fun, and its great to drive a car that makes people smile, but every time you leave the car somewhere in public you will come back to find a strange person leaning on it or sitting in it. Not all those folks are gonna be your favourite people in the world. Everyone wants/expects a ride. Again, cute girls *yay*, Ice addicts taking a break from smashing car windows at the beach *not so yay* There is no real pattern to the type of person who will want to talk to you about the car... be prepared.

No security. Any time I left anything in this car... about a 30% chance it wont be there when I got back. Sounds like with a bit of forward thinking it shouldn’t be a problem, but you know how when you go to the beach you suddenly have a dozen things that need to be locked in the car/buried in the sand when you want to go for a swim? It’s the same thing all the time in the buggy. If you cant carry it with you, you will lose it.

No safety. Handling will be nightmarish. You think 80's Porsches are widow makers... this is a fibreglass bathtub on wheels, with an even worse weight distribution. Don’t get the performance options, the chassis cant handle it. A 1600 vw engine will be more than enough to scare the snot out of you and anyone else on board, and be way simpler to sort out when something goes bang in the middle of the dunes.

Cannot sell the car. Seriously, I still have mine. finding buyers is easy, I have been offered obscene sums for it. It’s about on par with trying to sell your faithful old dog. Some folks can do it, I cannot. Everyone you know and love will secretly hate you if you do. Children will expect to inherit it, other cars will come and go, but they will not forget the time you had a buggy.

Positives:

Road legal go kart. As fun as it sounds. As terrifying as it sounds.

Freaking adorable, it’s as fun as a sandrail, but cuter, and being road legal it can also be used for small trips when you just need a pick me up without the commitment of heading out to the local dunes/4wd area. It will find its own buggy shaped spot in your heart.

Will really annoy serious offroaders. Will go almost anywhere. Will go places that proper 4wds cannot get too. Will do so faster. Will do so easier. Will do so cheaper. Only thing it really cant do is rock climbing, and first time you get extended air over a sand dune, the feeling of achievement in getting your front tyre on top of a large rock with be brought sharply into perspective. Cannot be used to retrieve the cars that got bogged in the sections you just skipped over the top of.

Surprisingly cheap to maintain. If you don’t get stupid with the engine, the parts on these are easy to find and cost next to nothing.

Overall:

Kinda like a bad relationship. Owning it will involve suffering, but there will be a reason why you cant let it go.

Shoop > Andrew P. Collins 04/20/2016 at 00:13

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Get a Myers Manx Tow’d, and you don’t have to pick. Reviewed favorably in a 1969 issue of road and track I own.

Andrew P. Collins > Blondude 04/20/2016 at 01:36

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Yeeeeeeep that would be the one to have.

Connqr > Andrew P. Collins 04/20/2016 at 06:50

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Wait.... You’re on oppo?

torque > TheRealBicycleBuck 04/20/2016 at 09:20

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Speeeeeeddddyyyyy!

Rio > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/20/2016 at 09:25

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HPA Motorsports used to make one using a new Beetle, AWD from the TT, 6-speed, and Vr6 engine with twin turbos (500hp).

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Rio 04/20/2016 at 09:26

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I need that in my life.

Rio > Andrew P. Collins 04/20/2016 at 09:30

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My family had a nice one growing up, and they are fun to drive, but being mostly fiberglass and very short, you have to be careful driving them on the street. A full size truck front end was taller than the convertible top on ours....

Bourbon&JellyBeans > Andrew P. Collins 04/20/2016 at 09:30

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/STREET-LEG…

NYankee1927 > Andrew P. Collins 04/20/2016 at 09:43

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I’d highly recommend it. They are so much fun to rip around town. Not terribly fast, and sort of terrifying on the freeway. But for minor off-roading, if you can get one with individual rear parking brakes, it is excellemt

Andrew P. Collins > Connqr 04/20/2016 at 14:12

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beep beep

offyatindy > Andrew P. Collins 04/20/2016 at 14:19

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This must be becoming a “Thing.” I saw one on a trailer, going down the road yesterday.

Andrew P. Collins > Glen Sandford 04/20/2016 at 14:28

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Perfect

Andrew P. Collins > Armstrod 04/20/2016 at 14:29

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Wow, thank you very much for this comprehensive and informative guide!

Would it be redundant to own a buggy and a dirt bike? I don’t really want to ditch my WR250R.

Andrew P. Collins > S65 04/20/2016 at 14:30

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Nah that’s more like a sand rail. I like the fiberglass ones that look more closely related to Beetles.

Forester guy > Armstrod 04/20/2016 at 14:52

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If a dune buggy can be DD´d for 2 years, my 48 CJ2A with no doors, roof or windshield can be too.

whatss driving at highway speeds in it? Imminent chaos?

Armstrod > Andrew P. Collins 04/21/2016 at 08:37

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Buggy making a bike redundant... man that’s a helluva question...

Actually wandered around for a bit thinking about this in the back of my mind, and I’ve come to a conclusion, not everyone will agree but meh, that’s how opinions work. First thought is keep both, there is always room to hide a bike somewhere if you try hard enough. That’s what I’ve done, but if I had to pick just one, it’d be the buggy. It’s not the same as the bike, the bike is a “free-er” experience, it’s faster, jumps higher and squeezes down trails cars cant follow. But the buggy is an icon. I don’t like using that word much because prats use it to describe their iPhone, but cant think of something more suitable. Everyone remembers it, driving it is an event, it cant do everything the bike can do, but the experience is far richer and more diverse. Both will lead to great off-road adventures, but with the buggy you will also meet strange people, school busses go past with every child hanging out the window, people who are scared of bikes will be willing to go for a ride in it and that will open up whole new worlds for them...

Actually as I typed that last just now I thought of a story about the buggy that sums up why I’d sell a bike first. A friend of mine came to visit, must almost be decade ago now. He was staying in the country, had no car and I said use the buggy. Long story short, a big part of his trip was to visit his grandma and it turned out he would use the buggy to take her to the shops and the like while he was staying.

Next time I saw him was a few year later, he’d come back for his grans funeral. He asked if he could borrow the buggy... surprised me a bit, had a lovely 500sec merc sitting there which seemed ideal for the solemn occasion. A banana yellow beach buggy just didn’t seem right for a funeral procession car. But then he told me about his talks with his gran. He’d often speak with her on the phone, but Alzheimer’s had set in, sometimes she couldn’t remember the trip, sometimes she couldn’t equate the mans voice on the phone with the boy she remembered. But riding around in that buggy with him she always remembered. Gotta admit he teared me up a bit when I heard about how he’d never seen her smile the way she did cruising around in the bug. Seemed right for it to be there for the final run.

Guess that’s what I mean when I say its an icon. I have various cars and bikes that I love dearly, but most of them wont mean much to anyone else. The buggy will. It’s not grandiose or expensive. But it will leave an indelible mark on people.

Man, keep writing these massive posts on here, not hard to tell when I’m trying to avoid work lol.

Armstrod > Forester guy 04/21/2016 at 08:54

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Highway driving really brings out some of the cars lesser known features. Like how easy it is to hose out the fibreglass tub.

Reminded me of a Fun Fact. The aerodynamics of the Meyers Manx shape make the front go seriously light at freeway speeds. Those massive flared front arches just hang out there catching the breeze. And that’s in a car with a weight distribution that must start out at something like 30/70 to begin with.

But yeah... you become very aware that any screw-ups at those speeds wont leave much more than a cloud of fibreglass shards and some bad feelings.