Vehicle Description
West Coast Classics are proud to present a beautiful example of
this rare mostly all original survivor certified 1970 Volkswagen
Myers Manx #312 with COA from Bruce Myers with the odometer showing
only 239 miles! Meyers Manx registry no. 0312 Certificate of
Authenticity signed by Bruce Meyers Fiberglass body Flat 4-cylinder
engine 4-speed manual transmission Finished in Burnt Orange
Metallic Black button-tucked bucket seats Painted steel wheels
Chrome hubcaps Extra keysThis is an original Manx and a rust free
car and a very fine example of a real certified Bruce Myers Manx
with very striking 'Burnt Orange Metallic' color paint and its
original diamond pleated Black color seats interior. The 4 cylinder
engine is extremely strong and responsive and the 4 speed manual
transmission shifts smoothly through the gears and the engine
temperature always remains cool.The Meyers Manx dune buggy is a
small recreationally-oriented automobile, designed initially for
desert racing by Californian engineer, artist, boat builder and
surfer Bruce F. Meyers produced by his Fountain Valley, California
company, B. F. Meyers amp; Co. from 1964 to 1971, in the form of
car kits applied to shortened chassis of Volkswagen Beetles. The
car line dominated dune racing in its time, breaking records
immediately, and was eventually also released in street-oriented
models, until the company's demise due to tax problems after
Meyers's departure.In late 1963 to May 1964 Myers started building
the buggy's in his garage in Newport Beach, California and it was
the first known street-legal fiberglass dune buggy. It featured a
unibody shell that fused body, fenders and frame, retaining just
the engine, transmission and other mechanicals of the VW, and with
no top and no hood. The use of compound curves throughout provided
great rigidity. The fenders were arched high, to make room for
large, knobby dirt-racing wheels.The 'Manx' name for the shortened,
taller-wheeled, more maneuverable VW Beetle mods refers to and
derives from the comparably stubby Manx cat breed and the name also
suggests racing fitness, as the already globally renowned,
British-manufactured Norton Manx motorcycle dominated the Isle of
Man TT, Manx Grand Prix and other Isle of Man-based (i.e. Manx)
international races from the 1940s to the early 1970s although the
Meyers Manx has no direct connection to the Isle of Man.Meyers
produced kits later in 1964 and into 1965, marketed under the name
Meyers Manx. Although this early design was critically acclaimed,
even featured on the April 1967 cover of Car amp; Driver magazine,
and drew much attention, it proved too expensive to be profitable;
ultimately only 12 kits of the monocoque Manx were produced. Meyers
ushered in an era of Meyers Manx "domination in off-road events ...
and the formation of NORRA (National Off-Road Racing
Association)"The commercially manufactured Meyers Manx Mk I
featured an open-wheeled fiberglass bodyshell, coupled with the
Volkswagen Beetle H4 flat-four engine (1.2 L, 1.3 L, 1.5 L and 1.6
L, in different models) and a modified, RR-layout Beetle frame. It
is a small car, with a wheelbase 14+14 inches (36 cm) shorter than
a Beetle automobile for lightness and better maneuverability. For
this reason, the car is capable of very quick acceleration and good
off-road performance, despite not being four-wheel drive. The
usually street-legal car redefined and filled a recreational and
competitive niche that had been essentially invented by the first
civilian Jeep in 1945, and which was later to be overtaken by
straddle-ridden, motorcycle-based all-terrain vehicles (introduced
in 1970) and newer, small and sporty (but usually
four-wheel-drive), off-road automobiles.The commercial Meyers Manx
received widespread recognition when it defeated motorcycles,
trucks and other cars to win the inaugural 1967 Mexican 1000 race
(the predecessor of the Baja 1000). It crossed automotive press
genre lines, being selected as the cover story in the August 1966
issue of Hot Rod magazine, Approximately 6, 000 of the original
Meyers Manx dune buggies were produced, but when the design became
popular many copies (estimated at a quarter of a million worldwide)
were made by other companies. Although already patented, Meyers
amp; Co. lost in court to the copiers, the judge rescinding his
patent as unpatentable, opening the floodgates to the industry
Meyers started.Since then, numerous vehicles of the general "dune
buggy" or "beach buggy" body type, some VW-based, others not, have
been and continue to be produced. The company ceased operation in
1971, after financial troubles, including with the Internal Revenue
Service.We understand that the car has been cosmetically or
mechanically restored only as required over the years and since
recently acquiring the car we have had the car inspected at our
local mechanic specialists who have given the car a clean bill of
health. There are no signs of any accidents or rust and the car is
understood to have 239 original miles, having presumably always
having been garaged with only occasional beach use.This is a rare
opportunity to own a very rare rust and accident free and
internationally desirable certified 1970 Bruce Myers Manx !
