Dune Buggies exploded in popularity in Southern California in the 1960s. Light, fast, open cruisers capable of chewing up the sand, they were the perfect beach car for the perfect beach scene. Initially built by crudely modifying heavy steel cars, SoCal native Bruce Meyer recognized an opportunity with the versatile and cheap, yet light and durable new material making waves in his surfing community: fiberglass.

Drawing on his boat and surfboard building experience, Meyers constructed his first dune buggy using a dramatically shortened Volkswagen Beetle platform fitted with a fiberglass monocoque body and a mix of VW and Chevrolet parts. Naming his creation “Manx” after the stubby housecat, Meyers shocked the world in 1967 by winning the inaugural Baja 1000 off-road race in Mexico. Sales exploded after its Baja dominance and the Manx cemented itself in 1960s popular culture, even being driven by the king of 1960s pop-culture himself, Steve McQueen, in the iconic The Thomas Crown Affair.

This wonderful Meyers Manx is a verified original example complete with a certificate of authenticity issued by the Meyers Manx Registry. Presented in quintessential dune buggy colors of orange and black over tan bucket seats with period diamond stitching, the car also retains its correct VW Beetle donor speedometer and Meyers Manx-branded, white horn-ringed steering wheel. It also features the Manx options of front and rear bumpers, removable hardtop, and wind wings.

The 1,835-cc “big bore” VW flat four-cylinder engine is said to be recently rebuilt and also feature a counterweight crankshaft, Crane camshaft, and CB Performance cylinder heads with dual Solex carburetors. All this potency is transferred to the widened Manx staple “big and little” cream painted steel wheels through a VW four-speed transaxle with EMPI shifter.

“More Smiles Per Mile” was the Meyers Manx tagline in the 1960s and that is exactly what the next owner will experience upon turning the key and stepping on the gas.