If You Loved the Meyers Manx in the '60s, You’d Really Dig the Volkswagen I.D. Buggy in the '20s
Inspired by the Meyers Manx of the 1960s, Volkswagen's I.D. Buggy concept gives us the beach-life feels.
Car and Driver's 1967 cover shot of the original Manx contributed to the popularity of the dune buggy.
Volkswagen is in talks with specialty carmaker e.GO about licensing VW's MEB electric-vehicle platform for use in custom-coachbuilt models.
When Bruce Meyers built the first Meyers Manx dune buggy in 1964, he had no idea he'd be part of a growing off-road adventure culture, let alone a key influencer for the beach lifestyle. His creations were made from fiberglass and rode on the classic Volkswagen Beetle chassis, often using stock flat-four engines from the Bug as well. Now, 55 years later, Volkswagen is paying tribute to the Meyers Manx and the man himself with the all-electric I.D. Buggy concept.
The I.D. Buggy pulls heavily from the Manx for design inspiration, right down to its simplistic interior and open cockpit. It inspires the same desire for freedom, sunshine, and mischief as the original.
When Meyers's company was first starting out, orders were few–a good thing, since there was just one mold for the fiberglass body, which lengthened production time. When Car and Driver featured the Manx on the cover in 1967, sales took off, with as many as 300 orders pouring in to Meyers's shop that same month.
"They liked the look, this crazy look," Meyers said about his customers from the 1960s and '70s, many of whom make up today's 5400-member Manx Club.
Similarly, modern-day auto show audiences have swooned for the bright green I.D. Buggy, both at the Geneva auto show where it made its world debut and, more recently, this week at the New York auto show. The I.D. Buggy rides atop Volkswagen's new MEB modular electric-vehicle platform that has spawned six electric concept cars, some of which have been promised for production. The I.D. Roomzz and I.D. Crozz SUVs are expected to be the first entrants to the company's new all-electric range, but this I.D. Buggy, with its lack of doors, roof, and rear seats, is not a likely candidate for production.
That's unfortunate-but that may not be the end of its story. Volkswagen's currently light on the details, but company spokesman Mark Gillies told C/D that German company e.GO is in talks to license the MEB platform to use in specialty coachbuilt electric vehicles, and that certainly makes us think of the possibilities . . .
"I'd do a modern Manx. It might even have doors! That's a joke," Meyers told media at the New York auto show, when asked what he'd design if he had access to the modular MEB platform himself. "Simplicity would have to be a part of it."
We're hopeful for a resurrected dune buggy of some kind. What does the 21st century need more than a new open-top adventure mobile with a 21st century twist?
('You Might Also Like',)
