Remembering Bruce Meyers - The Father of the Dune Buggy Built 7,000 Kits
The automotive industry lost another icon, and Carlisle Events had to say goodbye to another friend, when Bruce Meyers, father of the modern-day dune buggy, passed away Feb. 19 at his San Diego-area home at the age of 94.
Meyers built thousands of dune buggies in his lifetime, and as an artist, designed boats and surfboards. He worked as a commercial artist and a lifeguard, traveled the world surfing and sailing, built a trading post in Tahiti and survived a World War II Japanese kamikaze attack on his Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Bunker Hill. “He had a life that nobody else has ever lived,” his wife, Winnie Meyers said.
Growing up near such popular Southern California surfing spots as Newport, Hermosa and Manhattan beaches, it was wave riding, not cars or sand surfing, that initially captivated Meyers, who liked to refer to himself as an original beach bum. Following his WWII service, Meyers served in the Merchant Marine and attended the Chouinard Art Institute, now part of the California Institute of the Arts.
His experience designing lightweight boats out of fiberglass drove him to improve early versions of dune buggies. These “water pumpers” were crude and heavy so Meyers took it upon himself to design a lightweight version that would be fun on the beach or in the wilds of Baja. After modifying a VW Kombi bus with wide rims (called “Little Red Riding Bus”), he used his expertise in boat building to design the first fiberglass-bodied dune buggy, the Meyers Manx, created in his garage in 1964.
Meyers borrowed the "Manx" name for the shortened, taller-wheeled, more maneuverable VW Beetle mods and is derived from the comparably stubby Manx cat breed. The tailless cat in the logo, as featured on the hood ornament, is stylized after a passant heraldic lion, its right forepaw brandishing a sword.
Featured on the April 1967 cover of Car & Driver magazine, the buggy drew national attention, but proved too expensive to be profitable, and only 12 kits of the monocoque Manx were produced. So Meyers went off-road racing, and he and a buddy off-roaded the Ensenada run and their 39-hour run broke the existing record by four hours.
Buggies became such a hot seller in Southern California that they spawned “The Buggy Boom” of 1969, and while Meyers, over the years, put out some 7,000 buggies, perhaps as many of 250,000 look-alikes may have been created by others.
During the 1970s, Meyers and his company built the Manx 2, Meyers Tow’d, Manx SR and Resorter/Turista. His company also built two utility buggies for the LA County Life Guard contingent and one for the California Forest Service.
In 1976, Road and Track Magazine called the dune buggy “a genuine sculpture, a piece of art.” Meyers reflected on the honor saying, “Its form was fun. Big wheels on small cars, no doors.”
In the 1990s, dune buggies enjoyed resurgence and by 2000, Bruce Meyers was back in business with a new series of vehicles, including the Kick Out Manx SS, a direct descendent of the original Manx, the new Manxter, and its sibling the Manxter 2+2.
A frequent guest star at Carlisle Events shows Meyers made his Carlisle debut at the 2008 Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals and was such a hit that the Carlisle Team insisted he come back in 2009 and many shows thereafter. He was an annual celebrity guest who also displayed his legendary work nearly every year after.
Some of his most memorable appearances include:
2008 – Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals -- Appearing with his 2006 Meyers Maxter 2+2 Dune Buggy with Manx builder John Denmat. The two conducted the final assembly of the very first Manx Kick Out SS.
2009 – Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals -- Showcasing his Meyers Manx fiberglass dune buggy
2010 -- Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals -- Present weekend to sign autographs and pose for pictures along with his works
2012 -- Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals -- A meet and greet and part of the show’s “Living Legends” presentation …lines around Building T to get his autograph
2015 – Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals -- After more than fifty years in the business, Meyers appeared as part of his “51 Years and Counting” tour, swapped stories signed autographs, interacted with Manx owners and offered kit and car building advice.
2016 – Carlisle Performance and Style Show -- Presented history, gave autographs and brought a slew of his creations with him.
To celebrate Bruce Meyers’s life, this year’s Carlisle Import Performance Nationals, May 14-15 at the Carlisle (PA) Fairgrounds has teamed up with The Manx Club for a tribute. Meyers’ wife, Winnie Meyers will be in attendance for the weekend and a special display of Manx dune buggies will be displayed in Building T all weekend as well as a banner that guests can sign and which will be presented to Winnie Meyers after the show. There will be a parade of dune buggies around the show on Friday at 4pm, and at 8pm on Friday, there will be a presentation with a video at the Grandstand. A wide variety of dune buggies will be parked around the stage.
> Visit www.CarlisleEvents.com for more on the automotive hobby.
Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He's been a "car guy" since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years. </I>
Meyers built thousands of dune buggies in his lifetime, and as an artist, designed boats and surfboards. He worked as a commercial artist and a lifeguard, traveled the world surfing and sailing, built a trading post in Tahiti and survived a World War II Japanese kamikaze attack on his Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Bunker Hill. “He had a life that nobody else has ever lived,” his wife, Winnie Meyers said.
Growing up near such popular Southern California surfing spots as Newport, Hermosa and Manhattan beaches, it was wave riding, not cars or sand surfing, that initially captivated Meyers, who liked to refer to himself as an original beach bum. Following his WWII service, Meyers served in the Merchant Marine and attended the Chouinard Art Institute, now part of the California Institute of the Arts.
His experience designing lightweight boats out of fiberglass drove him to improve early versions of dune buggies. These “water pumpers” were crude and heavy so Meyers took it upon himself to design a lightweight version that would be fun on the beach or in the wilds of Baja. After modifying a VW Kombi bus with wide rims (called “Little Red Riding Bus”), he used his expertise in boat building to design the first fiberglass-bodied dune buggy, the Meyers Manx, created in his garage in 1964.
Meyers borrowed the "Manx" name for the shortened, taller-wheeled, more maneuverable VW Beetle mods and is derived from the comparably stubby Manx cat breed. The tailless cat in the logo, as featured on the hood ornament, is stylized after a passant heraldic lion, its right forepaw brandishing a sword.
Featured on the April 1967 cover of Car & Driver magazine, the buggy drew national attention, but proved too expensive to be profitable, and only 12 kits of the monocoque Manx were produced. So Meyers went off-road racing, and he and a buddy off-roaded the Ensenada run and their 39-hour run broke the existing record by four hours.
Buggies became such a hot seller in Southern California that they spawned “The Buggy Boom” of 1969, and while Meyers, over the years, put out some 7,000 buggies, perhaps as many of 250,000 look-alikes may have been created by others.
During the 1970s, Meyers and his company built the Manx 2, Meyers Tow’d, Manx SR and Resorter/Turista. His company also built two utility buggies for the LA County Life Guard contingent and one for the California Forest Service.
In 1976, Road and Track Magazine called the dune buggy “a genuine sculpture, a piece of art.” Meyers reflected on the honor saying, “Its form was fun. Big wheels on small cars, no doors.”
In the 1990s, dune buggies enjoyed resurgence and by 2000, Bruce Meyers was back in business with a new series of vehicles, including the Kick Out Manx SS, a direct descendent of the original Manx, the new Manxter, and its sibling the Manxter 2+2.
A frequent guest star at Carlisle Events shows Meyers made his Carlisle debut at the 2008 Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals and was such a hit that the Carlisle Team insisted he come back in 2009 and many shows thereafter. He was an annual celebrity guest who also displayed his legendary work nearly every year after.
Some of his most memorable appearances include:
2008 – Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals -- Appearing with his 2006 Meyers Maxter 2+2 Dune Buggy with Manx builder John Denmat. The two conducted the final assembly of the very first Manx Kick Out SS.
2009 – Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals -- Showcasing his Meyers Manx fiberglass dune buggy
2010 -- Carlisle Import-Kit/Replicar Nationals -- Present weekend to sign autographs and pose for pictures along with his works
2012 -- Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals -- A meet and greet and part of the show’s “Living Legends” presentation …lines around Building T to get his autograph
2015 – Carlisle Import and Kit Nationals -- After more than fifty years in the business, Meyers appeared as part of his “51 Years and Counting” tour, swapped stories signed autographs, interacted with Manx owners and offered kit and car building advice.
2016 – Carlisle Performance and Style Show -- Presented history, gave autographs and brought a slew of his creations with him.
To celebrate Bruce Meyers’s life, this year’s Carlisle Import Performance Nationals, May 14-15 at the Carlisle (PA) Fairgrounds has teamed up with The Manx Club for a tribute. Meyers’ wife, Winnie Meyers will be in attendance for the weekend and a special display of Manx dune buggies will be displayed in Building T all weekend as well as a banner that guests can sign and which will be presented to Winnie Meyers after the show. There will be a parade of dune buggies around the show on Friday at 4pm, and at 8pm on Friday, there will be a presentation with a video at the Grandstand. A wide variety of dune buggies will be parked around the stage.
> Visit www.CarlisleEvents.com for more on the automotive hobby.
Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He's been a "car guy" since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years. </I>
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