We’ve known for a while that plans for a modernized, electric version of the legendary Meyers Manx — the car that sparked not just the whole dune buggy craze but the entire sub-industry of Volkswagen-based kit cars — has been in the works. Designer Freeman Thomas, the man behind the Audi TT and VW New Beetle, took over the resurrected Meyers Manx company in late 2020, and now that the new EV Manx has been revealed, I can see that Thomas was an excellent choice. The new Meyers Manx company has created something that feels modern yet is unmistakably a Manx, all eager and fun and yet capable-looking at the same time. What’s especially exciting to me is that at a glance I can see at least one significant legacy old air-cooled VW part in there.
Before I talk about that part, let’s just take a quick look at the original Manx, and talk a bit about the man behind it, Bruce Meyers. Bruce died in 2021, and it’s important to remember that he started out as an artist – a sculptor – and that the look of the Manx was a very carefully considered balance of emotion, fun, practicality, and mechanical constraints, filtered through an artist’s eye. As Bruce described it:
“I’m an artist and I wanted to bring a sense of movement and gesture to the Man. Dune buggies have a message: fun. They’re playful to drive and should look like it. Nothing did at the time. So I looked at it and took care of the knowns. The top of the front fenders had to be flat to hold a couple of beers, the sides had to come up high enough to keep the mud and sand out of your eyes, it had to be compatible with Beetle mechanicals and you had to be able to build it yourself. Then I added all the line and feminine form and Mickey Mouse adventure I could.”
The Manx inspired countless copycats; in some ways, it was a victim of its own design achievement. Sometimes you hit the nail on the head so hard, so perfectly, that nobody else sees a point in doing it any other way.
The new EV Meyers Manx 2.0 understands this, and updates the design instead of starting over, which is the right choice. A great example of how close the new design is to the original can be seen in the part that the new and old one share: the front axle.
Yes, that’s right. The same old-school double torsion-beam front axle assembly that has been bouncing the front wheels of over 20 million Beetles since 1938 (with updates over the years, of course, but the design is basically the same) is a crucial component on an electric car right here in the fresh new year of 2022. It’s incredible.
Meyers seems to be telling outlets that the only shared part from the original is the headlight housing, but they must be referring to the body, because that is definitely an old-school VW front axle. I bet the steering box, which is pretty integrated to the axle, is there, too.
Maybe they re-engineered it and it just looks the same? I suppose that’s possible. [Editor’s Note: I’d say it’s likely. -DT]
Meyers Manx says they’ll have the car to show at The Quail car show on August 19th, and I’m going to be there, so I’ll roll under there and see if there’s any other exciting old-school surprises.
I mean, that axle is proven. Why would they bother to change it? It works. It ain’t broke, so you know the rest.
It does seem that everything else about the Manx 2.0 is new. It’s only 1,500 pounds, not that much more than the original, and comes with either a 20 kWh battery for 150 miles of range, or a 40 kWh battery – both lithium-ion pouch cell types – that can go up to 300 miles. Honestly, for a car like this, I suspect that even the 150 mile one would be fine, but if you want a full day of driving on dunes and getting to those dunes is a bit of a haul, then I can see where the 300 would be useful.
That said, those estimates seem a bit generous for batteries of those sizes, and I’ll be curious to see what official testing reveals.
I’d suspect that there’s a weight difference between the two battery sizes too, but that doesn’t appear to be mentioned specifically, at least not yet.
Design-wise, the proportions are incredibly close to the original, but of course there are notable detail differences. There’s an air intake, likely for battery cooling, on the lower front fascia, behind the push bar, and its impressive how well it blends into the design, considering original Manxes never had or needed such an intake.
Around back the most obvious change is there’s no air-cooled flat-four engine hanging out of the back, likely with a big stinger exhaust and lots of intestinal-looking header pipes. Instead we get a mesh and a fairly enclosed little rump, where the pair of electric motors, one per rear wheel, hide. There’s some sort of gearing going on in there as well, and Meyers Manx has said the power can be “up to” 202 horsepower, enough to get the featherweight buggy from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds. That’s an improvement over the original.
Perhaps more important, though, are those taillights, because they represent the first serious attempt to adapt the 1962 to 1967 (US market at least, much later in other markets) Beetle taillights into a modern design vocabulary.
So far reaction from most parts of the Taillight Community have been positive. The overall shape of the old light is retained quite remarkably close, but the interior is hollow, giving the light a radically different look. The diffuse plastics of the light give an interesting gaussian blur effect to the interior, and the overall look feels modern but unmistakably that taillight.
I’m not yet clear on the location of the turn indicator or if it illuminates amber or if the interior illuminates or anything yet. I can see that reverse lamps and retroreflectors are in separate round units below, sort of suggesting an old Manx’ exhaust outlets.
A Manx’s interior has always been minimal, as it’s barely inside anything enough to even be an interior, and the new one is no exception:
There’s a lone gauge with everything in it, just like the original, which used a Beetle speedo/instrument cluster, and the twin arrows bursting from either side of the gauge seem to be buttons to control lights, wipers, etc. The gauge design looks to be inspired by old Beetle VDO gauges, but with some interesting depth effect going on.
Also, I bet those wipers are the same as what the original used, too.
The steering wheel appears to have no airbags, suggesting this will be a low-volume car and fit within the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015, allowing Meyers Manx to build up to 325 cars per year and not having to require airbags or crash testing.
Meyers Manx will be selling 50 cars in 2023 as part of a Beta program, and owners can give feedback to help refine the car for its full production in 2024. This is one of those rare cases where I wouldn’t mind paying to do some of a company’s work for them. I know, I know. But it’s a Manx!
Speed Buggy is back!
I love this design so much. However, I don’t like those production numbers. 325 units? Seriously? It might as well be one of those other amazing cars we have always wanted in the U.S. but can’t get our hands on. (I’m talking about you, VW California.)
probably the two biggest issues will be overall price in the end and the inability to take a wrecked EV bug and drop this body onto it.
I love that it was designed with an intentional flat spot to set a drink or two.
I miss cars you could set things on.
My 98’ Ranger can wear many cans and still has room for a couple of butts.
My wife’s Fiesta, you can’t set a snail on that thing without it sliding off.
Is the top removable? I don’t see any evidence that it is. This one just doesn’t do anything for me.
I’ve wanted a VW Manx for a long time, but it seems that well sorted ones just keep getting more expensive.
Maybe for my next project…
It’s got the look, but will it make legit Speed Buggy noises?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jDtM9QlTq8
Boy, they were just high all the time at Hanna-Barbera, weren’t they?
At H-B and their friends at the Kroftt Brothers studio. Speed Buggy, H.R. Pufinstuff, Banana Splits (Kroftt designed and produced the live-action Splits scenes for H-B), and Wonderbug (Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created Wonderbug for Kroftt).
And don’t forget the Hair Bear Bunch. Three hippie bears riding an invisible motorcycle? That’s some pretty good weed for that kind of high!
Of course, you can’t ignore Ruby-Spears’ greatest creation, Shaggy from Scooby-Doo. Think about it: He’s sloppily dressed, has a raspy voice, has a scraggly unshaven beard, prefers to ride in the back of the van, and has an extreme case of the munchies, with a strong hankering for doggie treats. And his counterpart, Alex Cabot III from Josie & The Pussycats, was no better. Forget the mod clothing; he never took off his shades during the entire run of the series. AC3 was on a permanent high!
So Jason. Have you thought about updating your Beetles taillights with these new ones from Meyers? I wonder how the taillight community would feel about that.
I managed to find an unfinished Meyers Manx SR kit recently. Planning in bolting an electric motor to the bellhousing of the transaxle.
Very excited to see new buggies being built!
They approve:
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/scoobydooandguesswho/images/7/76/102OfGhostsAroundHere.png
Shut up and take my money…
Then do the same to the Nova kit car.
God are those things still around?I hope they’ve made massive updates because they looked cheap and nasty even in the late eighties
I won’t be able to afford one most likely, but I fucking love it.
At long last, finally, this is the fruit of the promise that was the Low Volume Vehicle Manufacturer’s Act. Everyone else has to follow this act, so they better not half-ass it, because this is glorious.
Now that is a beautiful design. I hope it gets built.
I would daily that. Need some kind of windows for the side for winter though. Might be able to do something that would attach to the front hoop of the roll bar and pivot parallel to it.
They can build up to 325 turn-key cars a year under the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturer’s Act that allows the sale of reasonable “replicas” of cars over 25 years old. They have to meet current emissions standards, but not safety. They can also sell these as kits without a limit to numbers.
I hate manufacturers who have no new ideas so grab an old name and put a crap vehicle out. Except this isn’t that it’s awesome. Yeah no place for beer but how about a weed pocket? No motor out the back I think something creative could be done. As for price I think they need to sell around $50,000 because at $25,000 they will have more demand than 300 a year for the small market cap they need to be under. But if it’s not for road use does it need to pass road use vehicle tests? Also is this sold completely assembled or a kit? If a kit doesn’t need to pass certain aspects. If assembled kind of misses the Manx market. And maybe saying no similar parts is a way to justify a higher price? I would bet 40% at least matches between vehicle.
This could be completely street legal. The Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturer’s Act allows up to 325 turnkey “replica” cars to be built per year that meet current emissions, but don’t have to meet current safety standards—just basic stuff like lighting and such. They are unlimited in the number they sell as kits (if they go that route as well).
Putting an estimated range on this without discussing how big of a hit taking it on the sand has strikes me as very similar to not discussing towing impacts on EV trucks.
Hopefully they have a very responsive range estimator if the sand is soft.
I like it. Now to see how high the price goes.
I notice that the fender no longer allows you to put a beer there. I can’t help but think that Bruce would be a little disappointed in that.
I see no prohibitive curviness. If you can’t balance your beer there, it ain’t the car that’s stoppin’ ya.
Unless I’m missing something, that front shot on the lead-in looks to be at about a 5-10 degree slope to the inside of the car. Can’t balance a beer can on a slope.
Parked it on a 5-10 degree slope, problem solved.
I’ll be awaiting your report after the 19th!
Get us a shot of the belly pan, willya?
It weighs 1500 pounds? I’m impressed.
Time to consider an electric Lotus 7.
Funny. This is exactly where my mind went too when I saw the article. EV7 baby!
To be ‘one of those guys’, I’m not sure how I feel about this. I’m not anti-EV, but modernizing classics takes away a lot of their charm. Sure, it looks like an old Manx, but without the sounds and smells and feel, it’s not really what it once was anymore?
I sortof think the same for all these companies that EV retrofit classics….I mean, I get why it’s done and I imagine someday it will HAVE to be done, but it’s just not the same (let alone the cost to retrofit most classic cars).
No originals were harmed in the making of this. As to why you see so many replicas, it’s because the Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturer’s Act allows up to 325 turnkey cars to be built per year that meet current emissions, but don’t have to meet current safety standards. Obviously, with an electric, vehicle emissions aren’t a problem. The trick to it is that those cars have to be reasonably close “replicas” of a car over 25 years old. Add that to the expense of bringing even a basic vehicle to market and look to the entertainment industry for how they would rather mine past names and properties with established fan bases than take on the greater risk of something brand new that also requires a bigger marketing push and you can expect more of this for better or worse.
Oh, I know they’re not originals, they are new ones based on the old ones, but EV-powered. I was referring more to EV kits, like several companies in the UK produce to convert classics to EV powered (that are easily reversible), but the cost and benefits don’t outweigh the results to me. Yes, you get an emissions-free vehicle, but usually with most conversions, you lose a lot of character of the original car, lose a LOT of range, and the cost for the kits is incredibly expensive (to the point in a lot of cases you could buy a whole other version of the stock ICE model of that same car for the price of a kit…)
You end up with an XK120 that sounds like a golf cart and smells like ozone. No thanks.
That’s always been a concern of mine as well. I’ve got a 1972 Super Beetle and it just wouldn’t be the same without that loud, clattery air-cooled engine (that I rebuilt myself) out back. That said, I’ve always wanted to get a 1950s-1970s land barge an convert that to electric power. The big engines in those things were thirsty and almost hilariously underpowered given their displacement. The perfect candidate for an EV conversion.
The 70’s land yachts would also be great for electric conversion.
Super squishy suspension, couch like seating, no worries about performance, just isolate the occupants from the world.
And they’re also big enough to fit batteries all over the place and be just as heavy as modern EVs! 😛
Crash test? Bwa-ha hah hahahahah! And yeah, it’s cost about $50k if they’re only making about 300 or so per year. Still pretty cool.
Want.
I miss the engine on the back.
It would have been cool if they’d found a way to show off the electric motors at the back somehow.
I wonder if the platform could also be used to build an electric Gurgel?
I want to see a Brubaker Box before a Gurgel.
I really like the looks of this. If they can bring it in under $25k, that’s a solid winner. Sadly, it’ll probably be more like $50k.
Yeah. I fear it will be priced out of the toy category.
Now, if they could make it as a knockdown kit that you could build yourself… I have to wonder if electric kit cars might not be a “thing” in the near future.
Bah, I’ve been playing with electric-powered dune buggies since I was 12.
…Oh, you mean one you can actually get in and drive? Even better!