"The Hillbillies," as my parents referred to the family that lived in the duplex across the street from us on Long Island, not only changed automobiles with fascinating regularity, but they also built some of their own cars as well. Well, not exactly built—more like assembled. They built "dune buggies," just like our 1969 Meyers Manx, from kits.
The elder "Hillbilly," a mechanic by trade, bought fiberglass bodies from a Meyers Manx distributor and would bolt them to the running gear of junked Volkswagen Beetles. He and his sons, the youngest a good five years older than me, would dismantle the junked VW, cut out a section of the chassis to shorten the wheelbase, and bolt the whole thing together. All in their backyard over the course of several weeks. Amazing.
That was, in fact, pretty much how the Manx was designed to be built. The original kits used the mechanical components and chassis of a Volkswagen Beetle, with the chassis shortened by roughly 14¼ inches to reduce the wheelbase to about 80 inches. The fiberglass body then mounted on the modified VW floorpan.
He'd sell the finished buggies soon after, but not before we neighborhood kids would get rides in them. My first ride in one, with the windshield laid down flat, was as thrilling as the first time I rode a motorcycle. While my myriad traipses across the street to watch—and sometimes even help with—a project mortified my mother, the wonderland of car parts, tools, sweat, grease, blowtorches, and the sound of an exhaust-free, air-cooled VW engine was far more interesting than anything I could ever find in a book.
I don't know if it was my mother's inexplicable disdain for those people or contempt for people who made a living working with their hands in general that irked her as much as it did. Any interest I had in anything that wasn't some sort of intellectual pursuit irritated her to no end, and my time spent "across the street" would be the first of many points of consternation between the two of us.
My brothers never stepped out of line, and they've done quite well for themselves; my older brother is a real estate tax attorney, and my younger brother is a CPA. Me? Well... My mother either did me the greatest service or disservice by ultimately dissuading me from a life she sarcastically referred to as a life "in the pits." Jury's out on that one.
She may have dissuaded me, but she couldn't douse what has become my lifelong interest. I sure would like to try and assemble one of these myself. That would be fun.
While VW Beetle chassis are about as hard to find in junkyards today as a Model T, Meyers Manx continues to offer kits and complete buggies based on the original concept. The company's modern Classic Buggy uses restored Volkswagen chassis, while its current lineup also includes the Manx 2.0 EV and other modern interpretations of the original.
Remember: assembly required. I'll take a "Kick-Out" in sparkly blue, please.
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