Meyers Manx

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The first model with its inventor Bruce Meyers (2007)
Meyers Manx
Meyers Manx

Meyers Manx Inc. , formerly BF Meyers & Co. , is an American automobile manufacturer. The brand name is Meyers .

Company history

From 1964 to 1971 the engineer, artist, boat builder and surfer Bruce Meyers ran BF Meyers & Co. in Fountain Valley (California) . He built the first VW buggy , a beach buggy based on the VW Beetle . Since the 2000s, Meyers Manx Inc. has been producing such vehicles again under the direction of Bruce Meyers.

History until 1971

The car consisted of a GRP body that was mounted on the floor pan of a VW Beetle. The small car had a 362 mm shorter wheelbase than the Beetle, so that it was lighter and easier to steer. Therefore, the car can be accelerated very quickly and has proven itself in the field.

The Meyers Manx received a lot of attention when it won the Mexican 1000 Rally , the predecessor of the Baja 1000 , leaving motorcycles, cars and trucks behind.

The Meyers Manx appeared in various films, such as B. such about Elvis Presley and Thomas Crown cannot be believed from 1968, which contains a long beach chase scene with heavily tuned Meyers Manx, which are equipped with six-cylinder boxer engines from the Chevrolet Corvair .

About 6,000 original Meyers-Manx beach buggies were built, but as the design became popular there were many replicas (an estimated 250,000 worldwide). Although the design already had a patent, Meyers lost the court case because the judge said that such a design was not worthy of a patent. He opened the door to Meyers' constructions for the entire industry worldwide, so that buggies are still being built today. Most people generally recognize this body shape as a "beach buggy".

History of the 2000s

In 2000, Bruce Meyers once again aroused the interest of customers when he opened Meyers Manx, Inc. and offered the Classic Manx , a series limited to 100 pieces.

In 2002 the Manxter 2 + 2 and the Manxter DualSport were created . These models correspond in shape to the original Meyers Manx, but are intended for the unabridged floor pan of the VW Beetle. There are also tuned or otherwise modified versions.

In spring 2009, Bruce Meyers introduced two new short wheelbase models. The Kick Out , named after the last action that a surfer takes before reaching the beach, has so far been available in two versions. The more traditional is a revised version of the original Meyers Manx, which now has a front-hinged trunk lid, wider fenders and better access to the engine. The SS version is much more modern and has headlights built into the trunk lid, a curved windshield, a curved bonnet and two torsion bars.

literature

  • Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia . United Soft Media Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-8032-9876-8 , chapter Meyers Manx.
  • George Nick Georgano (Editor-in-Chief): The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile. Volume 2: G – O. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, Chicago 2001, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 , p. 1022. (English)

Web links

Commons : Meyers Manx  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ History of Meyers Manx ( Memento of the original from February 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.meyersmanx.com
  2. ^ Meyers Manx, Inc .: Home of the Manxter 2 + 2 and Manxter Dualsport Kits Cars