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The Meyers Manx dune buggy
Dune buggy

File:Beach buggy 1.jpgFile:Presdunebuggy.jpgA dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches....
 was designed by Californian engineer, artist, and surfer Bruce Meyers. It was built by his company between 1964 and 1971.

The car featured a fiberglass
Fiberglass

Fiberglass, , is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fiber-reinforced polymer or glass-reinforced plastic , is called "fiberglass" in popular usage....
 bodyshell coupled with Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Type 1 is an economy car produced by the Germany auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. The car was originally known as K?fer, the German language word for "beetle," from which the popular English nickname originates....
 frame and engine. It is a tiny car, with a wheelbase
Wheelbase

In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels....
 14 1/4 inches shorter than a Beetle for lightness and better maneuverability.






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The Meyers Manx dune buggy
Dune buggy

File:Beach buggy 1.jpgFile:Presdunebuggy.jpgA dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches....
 was designed by Californian engineer, artist, and surfer Bruce Meyers. It was built by his company between 1964 and 1971.

The car featured a fiberglass
Fiberglass

Fiberglass, , is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fiber-reinforced polymer or glass-reinforced plastic , is called "fiberglass" in popular usage....
 bodyshell coupled with Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Type 1 is an economy car produced by the Germany auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. The car was originally known as K?fer, the German language word for "beetle," from which the popular English nickname originates....
 frame and engine. It is a tiny car, with a wheelbase
Wheelbase

In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels....
 14 1/4 inches shorter than a Beetle for lightness and better maneuverability. For this reason, the car is capable of very quick acceleration and good off-road performance.

The Meyers Manx received widespread recognition when it won the inaugural Mexican 1000 race, the predecessor of the Baja 1000
Baja 1000

Baja 1000 is an Offroad racing that takes place on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in the fall. The event includes various types of vehicle classes such as small and large bore motorcycles, stock Volkswagen, production vehicles, buggies, trucks, and custom fabricated race vehicles....
 and beating motorcycles, cars and trucks in the process.

Manx type cars appear in several movies with stars such as Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was an United Statesn singer, actor, and musician. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as "Elvis", and is also sometimes referred to as "List of honorific titles in popular music" or "The King"....
. One of the more memorable appearances is in the original version of The Thomas Crown Affair
The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)

The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 in film movie by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. A The Thomas Crown Affair was released in 1999 in film starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo....
, starring Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen

Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Counterculture of the 1960s, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s....
. In the movie there is a lengthy beach driving scene where a heavily modified Meyers Manx equipped with a Chevrolet Corvair engine
Chevrolet Corvair engine

The Chevrolet Corvair engine was a flat-6 piston engine used exclusively in the 1960s Chevrolet Corvair automobile. It was a highly unusual engine for General Motors Corporation: It was air-cooled, used a flat engine, with aluminum heads and crankcase, with individual iron cylinder barrels....
 is launched over several dunes.

Approximately 5,000 of the original Meyers Manx dune buggies were produced, but when the design became popular many look-alikes (estimated at a quarter of a million worldwide) were made by other companies. Meyers tried to stop the copies by suing under the patent process but the patent was not upheld in court. Since then countless buggies continue to be produced today. Many people recognize this body-type simply as the "Dune Buggy
Dune buggy

File:Beach buggy 1.jpgFile:Presdunebuggy.jpgA dune buggy is a recreational vehicle with large wheels, and wide tires, designed for use on sand dunes or beaches....
" or "Beach Buggy".

In 2002 a re-born Meyers Manx company introduced new models of the car such as the Manxter 2+2 and Manxter Dual Sport. These new models are true to the original design but are sized for a full-length Beetle floor pan. Custom versions for higher power engines and other variations are also available. New models are now being designed at Valley Center, California
Valley Center, California

Valley Center is an affluent census-designated place in San Diego County, California, California, United States. The population was 7,323 at the 2000 census....
.

Meyers Manx in Popular Culture

  • In the The Thomas Crown Affair
    The Thomas Crown Affair (1968 film)

    The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1968 in film movie by Norman Jewison starring Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway. A The Thomas Crown Affair was released in 1999 in film starring Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo....
     (1968), Steve McQueen
    Steve McQueen

    Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Counterculture of the 1960s, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s....
    's character drives a Meyers Manx
    Meyers Manx

    The Meyers Manx dune buggy was designed by Californian engineer, artist, and surfer Bruce Meyers. It was built by his company between 1964 and 1971....
     along the beach.


  • The 1973 cartoon series Speed Buggy
    Speed Buggy

    Speed Buggy was a Saturday Morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera from September 8, 1973 to August 30, 1975 on CBS. Similar in style to Hanna-Barbera's successful Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Speed Buggy followed the adventures of an anthropomorphic, fiberglass Dune Buggy, Speed Buggy , his driver Tinker , and Tinker's friends,...
     featured an anthopomorphic Dune Buggy voiced by Mel Blanc
    Mel Blanc

    Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an United States voice acting and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio and television commercials, Blanc is best known for his work with Warner Bros....
    .


  • For a brief time in the mid-1970s, Spider-Man
    Spider-Man

    Spider-Man is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character First appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15 , and was created by scripter-editor Stan Lee and artist-plotter Steve Ditko....
     used a modified Buggy as his "Spider-Mobile".


  • Wonderbug was a live-action Dune Buggy, part of the first two seasons of ABC's Krofft Supershow beginning in 1976.


  • In a 1976 episode of Starsky and Hutch
    Starsky and Hutch

    Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s United States television series that consisted of a 90-minute television pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30 1975 and May 15 1979 on the American Broadcasting Company network; distributed by Sony P...
     called "Murder At Sea," the characters played by David Soul
    David Soul

    David Soul is an United States-born British actor and singer and best known for his role as the "seat-of-the-pants" California police Det. Ken "Hutch" Hutchinson in the cult television program Starsky and Hutch ....
     and Paul Michael Glaser
    Paul Michael Glaser

    Paul Michael Glaser is an American actor and film director, perhaps best known for his role as Detective David Starsky on the '70s television series Starsky and Hutch; he also appeared as Captain Jack Steeper on the 1999 to 2005 NBC series Third Watch....
     drive a Meyers Manx
    Meyers Manx

    The Meyers Manx dune buggy was designed by Californian engineer, artist, and surfer Bruce Meyers. It was built by his company between 1964 and 1971....
     during a desert chase with a Toyota Land Cruiser
    Toyota Land Cruiser

    The Toyota Land Cruiser is a series of four-wheel drive vehicles produced by the Japanese car maker Toyota. Design of the Land Cruiser began in 1951 as Toyota's version of a Jeep-like vehicle and production began in 1954....
    .


  • In the 19-2000
    19-2000

    "19-2000" is a song from the Gorillaz' self-titled debut album, Gorillaz . It was also the second Single from that album, released in June 2001 , and the Soulchild remix was the song of choice to headline the soundtrack of FIFA 2002 game, from Electronic Arts....
     Music Video by the Gorillaz
    Gorillaz

    Gorillaz is a virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of alternative rock band Blur , and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the comic book Tank Girl....
    , the band drives a Manx-style car.


  • Mattel's
    Mattel

    Mattel Inc. is the world's largest toy importing company based on revenue. The products it produces include Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles....
     toy car brand "Hot Wheels
    Hot Wheels

    Hot Wheels is a brand of die cast toy car, introduced by United States toymaker Mattel on September 7, 1968. It was the primary competitor of Johnny Lightning and Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to the Matchbox brand from Tyco Toys....
    " has licensed several versions of the Meyers Manx
    Meyers Manx

    The Meyers Manx dune buggy was designed by Californian engineer, artist, and surfer Bruce Meyers. It was built by his company between 1964 and 1971....
    , and they are frequently available in toy stores.


  • The "BF Injection" dune buggy in the Grand Theft Auto series
    Grand Theft Auto (series)

    Grand Theft Auto is an award-winning video game series created by David Jones , later by Dan Houser and Sam Houser, and game designer Zachary Clarke and primarily developed by Scottish company Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games....
     is heavily based on the Meyers Manx.


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