Bruce Meyers Quote.
“If it’s a real Meyers Manx, you can park your butt on the fender anytime,” Meyers said, demonstrating as much in 2014. “The other thing about the fender: it has to be flat on the top to sit a beer on. Or pardon me, a Coke.”
Meyers Manx, the original beachcomber, aims for a return to relevance.
Bruce Meyers, who used his skills as a boat builder to invent the first fiberglass dune buggy, igniting the late-1960s craze for off-road driving, thrived until copycats flooded the market, died recently at his home in Valley Centre, California. He was 94.
Bruce Franklin Meyers was born in Los Angeles on March 12, 1926. His father, John, helped set up car dealerships for Henry Ford and his mother was a backing singer for various local bands.
Upon returning after WWII he attended art schools in San Francisco and Los Angeles for six years, specializing in portraiture.
He worked for several years at Jensen Marine on fiberglass yachts gaining valuable experience which would later help him build his revolutionary dune buggy.
Bruce Meyers with an original Meyers Man.
Towards the end of 2020, Meyers and his wife, Winnie sold the company to Phillip Sarofim, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Trousdale a Venture Capitalist Company , which promised to give the ‘60s-era California icon a new lease on life. For this new chapter, Sarofim will serve as Chairman and celebrated automobile and industrial designer Freeman Thomas will serve as CEO.
“Maintaining the old and introducing the new is what lies ahead,” noted the late Bruce Meyers, the legendary creator of the Meyers Manx dune buggy. “We feel that Meyers Manx LLC can and will do just that. With faith in their desire to continue our legacy, the future will be brighter, happier, sunnier than ever, a wonderful rebirth for what we have created.” Commented Sarofim.
The new company will be headquartered in a purpose-built building in the beach city of Oceanside, California and staffed with an international roster of designers, fabricators, and builders.
The new Meyers Manx company has several products envisioned, some electric powered, and built like the originals on rear-engine VW chassis, the company says, making them relatively inexpensive, as well as able to bypass federal safety regulations for new vehicles. The company vows, however, to make the new buggies as safe as possible.
Thomas notes that he will also be developing a variety of simpler-to-assemble Manx kits that will still appeal to hardcore Manx fans. More to come on this, he adds.
While some accessories and parts needed to build the Manx are currently available on the Meyers Manx website, Thomas says that his goal is to source and remanufacture rare, out-of-production parts for legacy Meyers Manxes. Affordable, undrilled bodies in your colour of choice will also remain available for those that want to customize themselves, he continues.
“The complete kits will come with easy-to-understand instructions—think IKEA/Apple—including all the correct hardware and making the Manx a fun, easy-to-build, do-it-yourself family project,” he explains. Thomas wants home builders to be the hero in their family.
While he plans to also protect Bruce’s legacy of simplicity and intuitiveness in his original creations, Thomas readily admits that a new design will be developed. The storied brand has powerful name recognition and meaning.
Something else he shares with us: The company will be inviting and sponsoring design competitions from around the world at places like the legendary Art Center College of Design, Royal College of Art, Pforzheim School of Design and CCS. This will create a global, youthful energy of fresh thinking that will be inspired by Bruce Meyers's lifelong creative brilliance. Meyers Manx will also invite a who's-who roster of visiting designers to design future ideas and create collections. Freeman also hints at a possible EV Meyers Manx.
Basic Meyers Manx kits start at just $2400 and can be found on the Meyers Manx website.
The Kick-Out Traditional Kit Includes:
•Fiberglass Body, Hood, and Cowl
•Mild Steel Dash Frame
•2 pc Fiberglass Dash Unit
Origional Bruce Meyers Plan
•Mild Steel Safety Bar
•Assembled Windshield
•All Body Support Bracketry & Fasteners
•Wiring Tube
•7” Headlights
•Mounted “Meyers Manx” Front Emblem
•Mounted “Kick-Out” Rear Emblem
•Mounted Serial Number Plate
•Instruction Manual complete with pictures
