The vendor of as we speak’s Good Value or No Cube VW Dune Buggy notes within the advert that, at 80 years of age, they don’t want the venture of bringing it again from a decades-long stint in storage. Might or not it’s properly sufficient priced for somebody with a bit extra time on their fingers to take action?
The 2001 Ferrari 456M GTA that we checked out final Friday was a consignment sale carrying a price ticket of $69,500. That’s not a loopy amount of cash in terms of Ferraris, however most of you continue to averred that to spend a stack of that measurement for a Prancing Horse, it’d need to be a guide, gated shifter version. We do, in any case, have our requirements. The outcome was a lamentable 58 % No Cube loss for the in any other case lust-worthy grand tourer.
Have you ever seen Dune Half Two but? Hopefully, you noticed Dune beforehand, so the sandy storyline made some sense. One takeaway from each movies is simply how unhappy and offended everybody resides on the eponymous sizzling, desert planet. I believe, nonetheless, that I perceive the motivations behind these dire feelings. It was manifested by dwelling in a world filled with sand dunes however with the entire lack of dune buggies to get pleasure from them, owed to some type of worm which may eat you must you want to exit and kick up some sand.
Fortuitously, we dwell on a planet the place the menace from worms within the grime is proscribed to the specter of the icky illnesses then carry somewhat than digestion. Due to that, now we have cool outdated dune buggies like this 1968 VW-based White Wind Meyers Manx knockoff.
Born within the Nineteen Sixties, the dune buggy was the reply to the query, “What are we going to do with all these outdated VW Beetles we’ve received simply mendacity round?” Bruce Meyers designed the now iconic “bathtub with fenders” dune buggy first as a sand racer. His expertise with boat constructing meant he knew the best way to work in fiberglass and that medium proved excellent for Meyers’ easy however sturdy design. A VW Kind 1 (Beetle) chassis, together with the suspension and drivetrain, served because the donor for the automotive, shortened by a foot, with the entire thing proving lighter and permitting for larger tires than the inventory VW.
Meyers’ solely vital failure in designing the Manx dune buggy wasn’t even his fault. The design’s success bred a slew of copycat makers, and whereas Meyers had patented the design of the Manx, it was dominated too fundamental a design to warrant a patent and the courts rescinded the unique rights to the form. Meyers would deal with this difficulty along with his follow-up, making the Manx SR a way more difficult-to-copy design.
Earlier than that, nonetheless, Southern California noticed Manx copies sprout like weeds, submitting the backs of automotive magazines with adverts touting the chance to “construct your individual in simply a few weekends!” One such firm was White Wind, and in line with the advert, that was the supply of this dune buggy, which was constructed by the vendor in 1969 and has been stored by them ever since. The identical design, with its nostrilled nostril, was offered by an organization known as Desert Fox beneath the “Spoiler” identify, proving the incestuous nature of the entire dune buggy constructing biz.
Remarkably, the VW chassis upon which the buggy is constructed was solely a yr outdated on the time. Maybe it had been totaled in an accident or suffered another indignity that made it a prepared element of a dune buggy conversion. The advert notes that the automotive was moved to Montana from its unique house in Texas in 1971, the place it was used for greater than a decade, racking up 4,169 miles (3,000 of these towed, doubtless behind and RV) earlier than being parked in 1986 and left to its personal gadgets. As you’d anticipate, the vendor claims it “ran when parked.”
Since then, nonetheless, issues have gone barely downhill. The padding and fabric on the fiberglass seats at the moment are completely gone, having been sacrificed to the solar and the climate. The gel coat on the sparkly fiberglass has additionally worn in quite a few locations, and the chrome is exhibiting some pitting and rust.
Curiously, the engine isn’t out of a Beetle however is a 1600 cc VW mill from a Kind 3. That’s mated to a four-speed transaxle, and this being a ’68 chassis, that ought to feed an unbiased suspension with joints at each ends somewhat than the sooner swing axle design. The tires are big and look to be as outdated because the hills and therefore would require substitute. The engine will even require consideration—and a brand new battery—as will the brakes, gasoline system, and… properly, that’s just about all there’s.
On the plus aspect, the title is clear and the vendor has tidied up the automotive so it doesn’t truly appear to be it’s been sitting exterior for practically 40 years. The advert claims that age and an already full dance card preclude the current proprietor engaged on the White Wind, and therefore, it’s up on the market with an asking value of $5,900.
Does that appear like an excellent value for a traditional dune buggy that simply wants some sorting? Or is that an excessive amount of for a easy automotive that truly wants a lot?
You resolve!
Helena, Montana, Craigslist, or go right here if the advert disappears.
H/T to mpssweeney for the hookup!
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