Manx Club

Photo Credits for the 2106 Manx Club Calendar

I failed at doing this last year, but have pledged to make it work this year. I am posting the calendar credits for the 2016 Manx Club Calendar. What I'd like to do is have the person who's buggy and/or photo appears for that month write up a little history of their buggy, and the photo history itself. I'd like to try and keep it in order, if possible, starting with the Cover Shot.

Here's the list of photos by who submitted the photo for the calendar: (Buggy information included if known)

Cover John Marcinka

January: Tom & Kathleen Iacoboni

February: Top: Stacey White
Bottom Left: Jim Russell
Bottom Right: Dave Knapp

March: Tim Fayville

April: Top: Tom Baker
Bottom: Tim Byrnes

May: Jonathan Bickford

June: Top Left: Keith Dusharme
Top Right: Tim Byrnes
Bottom: Chris South

July: Bud Zeller

August: Top Left: Alexandra Rodrigues
Top Right: Bryon Borchard
Bottom Left: Rich Cramton
Bottom Right: Keith Dusharme

September: Me!

October: Rebecca Powers

November: Vince Simansky

December: France Rousseau(David Cash's Buggy)

If there is a mistake in the above information, please feel free to message me here or on Facebook with corrections.

John Marcinka - You're Up!

OK , here goes .
I feel honored that the picture I submitted of Bruce driving my buggy was chosen for the calendar cover .
Let me first say I'm not sure if that photo was taken by me or Keith Dusharme , its a photo I have in my C2C photo album , that is a conglomeration of shots taken by both Me & Keith.
That photo was taken at the last rest stop of the Sea 2 Sea Safari .
After Bruce's buggy had mechanical issues on day 1 and was sent back to California , Bruce , determined to cross the country in a buggy , rode passenger in different buggies each day of the journey .
For the final leg of the trip I didn't feel it would be right for the "Father" of the Dune Buggy to cross the finish line into the Outer Banks as a passenger of one of his creations , so I offered Bruce & Winnie my buggy to drive into the Manx on The Banx .
I later had some of my "non buggy" friends question my letting an 87 year old man drive my buggy ! I knew it was in good hands as Bruce had driven my buggy twice before in Pennsylvania .
So there it is "The Story Behind The Picture"

For the story on the car, go here - http://www.flipdocs.com/showbook.aspx?I ... 589_535789 page 76. The story behind the picture is shorter. The picture was taken after dark at a local cruise night that had a big sign to the right of the car. Kathleen used to bring the electric palm tree and plug it into a outlet in the sign. A friend photoshoped the picture to cleanup the background. Some of you may not recognize the car without the surfboard on top. The story behind that is that I had broken the surfboard and roof while loading the car into our boxvan after displaying the car at the Sand Sports show in Costa Mesa, CA. Yes I caught HELL for that! Brian - thanks for using the picture in the calendar. Tom Iacoboni

February top picture. The blue buggy is my wife's. Her parent's owned the car for about 30 year's. In 2011 we were visiting her grandmother in Indiana. I spotted the buggy buried in the garage. I had no idea they still had it. I went back to her parent's and sat on the porch swing with her dad. I said "Gene, when you decide to sell that buggy let me know". We came back home to Fl. and the phone rang. It was my father in-law. He said "son we've been talking about that buggy and if you kid's want it you can have it". I could here him choking up as he said it. I was speechless. So, I bought a tow dolly, drove 1100 miles north and picked up the car. When I got back I just had to tear it apart and completely restore it because that is what I love to do. And that is how this Dune Buggy journey began. Now I'm building the 5th buggy in 4 year's and it is my second original Manx. The silver one is my 3rd build that I did for myself. They are keeper's.

Cool Stories! Thanks for posting and I hope the rest do too.

Great stories!! Who is next?? (I don't want to line jump!)

Mine is the lower right in February. In Ohio you don't see these things. I went on Ebay wanting a rail buggy when I saw this one with a 2.5 hr drive to check it out. I won the bid with only a pic. suppose to be running. HA. from the first spring I owned it 12 yrs ago it Rufus has been out every year. a total rebuild including wiring. I have turned every bolt at least once. Painted it my self (first attempt at painting). Rufus is a Pirate Buggy...a close copy of the real meal deal. I represent the buggy people at car shows and cruise-ins.it only travels 1500 miles a year but fun is had by all. I named it Rufus because I wouldn't say to a lady what I have yelled at him during the rebuild. THANKS BRUCE!!

Hey all!! So it's my turn!! Well just about everybody knows about Sancha, she is an original gelcoat pretag Manx and she is loaded down with a bunch of rare parts and accessories!! She isn't a restored show car, she is just an original old Manx that still catches some attention here and there!! The final assembly was finished up while I worked for Meyers Manx so she kind of came full circle, Bruce was there when the body was originally built in Newport Beach and he was there for her resurrection!! When I bought her I got the body sitting on the pan with a 3" lift and 4 Jackman wheels and that was it for $1400!! It took me about a year to put it all together and finished her just before Big Bear 2015!! The calendar picture was taken during MOTB 2015 down at Jeanettes Pier at sunrise!! I parked her under a streetlamp and snapped 5 or 6 pics with my cellphone, it is completely untouched and the colors in the sky came out incredible!!

Thanks Tim! Incredible find for $1400, and all the accessories.... Man! Still a beautiful buggy in all aspects!

It is time for the April 2017 Credits post. There are 6 buggies in April and I only know anything about one of them. I also know something about the Monster Truck in the background. It is sort of a local celebrity and was a past sponsor of MOTB events.

The lower picture from April was taken by me at Diggers Dungeon during the MOTB 2015 event. The buggy on the right is Maximus owned by Dave Carnivale, Kermit is in the middle, and Grover on the right is owned by Tony Meyer. Of course, Grave Digger is in the background.

I have always had a thing for cars. I have a die cast collection and have had many different different real vehicles. My wife, Barb, didnt always get the way I like cars and would rarely go to car shows with me because I wouldnt just look, I had to talk to the owners.

Our town has a big car show on the 4th of July sponsored by the River Road Cruisers car club and Barb decided to go with me that day. As we walked around between all the great cars, we came upon a couple of beautiful dune buggies. Ive always liked dune buggies, but didnt think Barb would go for one. So, I thought I would test the water and see what happens. I asked her, "What do you think of those buggies?" She said, "Those are pretty cool!" Well...I thought I would push my luck and ask THE QUESTION..."So, what would you think about us getting one?" Now, I was expecting the typical answer of "they arent practical" or "we can spend our money better" or just a flat out "no". However, her response was, "Yeah!! That would be cool!! Lets get one!" Let me tell ya, you could have knocked me over with a feather! I was dumbfounded that my wife actually agreed to getting a dune buggy!

So, the search was on. We started scouring facebook, newspapers, the samba, craigslist...you name it. I had a list of the items that I wanted the buggy to have (running, driveable, etc) and we started whittling down the candidates. We kept coming back to this one little green buggy in Wisconsin, but it didnt meet our criteria. So, we kept looking. A week later, we compared notes, and we both found we were coming back to this little green buggy in Wisconsin. It was not running, it was in boxes, and needed lots of work. However, this little buggy had struck a chord with both of us, so I contacted the owner and after some negotiating, we struck a deal. I borrowed a buddys trailer and off to Wisconsin we went.

We loaded this little green buggy on the trailer, loaded all the parts and boxes in the truck and headed back south. When we arrived back, the fun began! As he sat there in our driveway, he got his name...Kermit. It just fit. Kermit the Dune Buggy was officially named.

We then worked on him for about a month and took him out on Labor Day weekend for his first official family outing. We were having a great time! Barb was riding shotgun and my daughter Kimberly and her friend Rachel were riding in the back. Lots of singing and fun. Warm breeze and sun shining....all was right with the world. Then, Kermit started to slow down. I jabbed the gas, but no luck. I look behind me, and there is a ton of smoke. Pulled him over and a pushrod tube seal had failed and puked all of his oil out. The engine was toast and we had to call a friend to bring my truck and trailer down to retrieve Kermit. Tragic, yes...but it worked out.

I found another engine and had Kermit back on the road in a few weeks. That was when we found out about the ECVW 14 trip. After some discussion, we decided to go for it. And that meant tearing Kermit down and going through him to make him long distance worthy. Took 5 months, but it was successful and we made the trip. Man, was it worth it!

Now, we dont have any hesitation about driving him anywhere. He has gone coast to coast, east to west, and almost north to south. We have a few more states to make our lower 48 goal, but we will get there. And when we do, we will still have a smile plastered on our faces!

That's a great story Timothy! Tanya and I had a similar experience, but I'll save my story for September. This month's credit goes out to Jon Bickford, an avid collector and competitor. Somehow we both seem to find the same interest in buggies, but he usually wins out on the purchase. Lol.

I had an extra Calendar, so I took it to my work. No one is usually there but me, but lets me keep track of what day it is for my paperwork. This week I has a crew there helping me perform some sampling. They really enjoyed the Clalendar and spent time each day re-looking at it.

It reminded me just how special our buggies are, and how much other people like them too.

joescoolcustoms wrote:I had an extra Calendar, so I took it to my work. No one is usually there but me, but lets me keep track of what day it is for my paperwork. This week I has a crew there helping me perform some sampling. They really enjoyed the Clalendar and spent time each day re-looking at it.

It reminded me just how special our buggies are, and how much other people like them too.

Joe, funny you mention this. I have my calendar(s) at work prominently displayed on my office wall. I conduct my staff meetings in my office and each month (when the buggy changes) I'm asked numerous questions about it. I'm willing to bet I have one the best educated non-buggy owning staff in the US I've gotten lots of questions about Jon's Tow'd on this month's page.

Bud - sounds like a bunch of "brown nosers" to me! LOL Tom