what year ????

1856 · Post by **1856** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:39 am

... it looks like the second generation right after the mono? Even in the original color, a true survivor.
Thanks Bill

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Tue Dec 13, 2011 8:42 am

That's one of the approximately 50 early floorpan Manxes which were produced between approximately November 65 and Summer 1966.

Here is a copy of a letter dated November 1965 signed by Bruce which says they've suspended production of the monocoque type and begun producing your early floor pan type.

When they made your Manx they only had one mold. After the August 66 issue of Hot Rod magazine came out(which would have been NLT June) with the Manx on the cover, they had an overnight back order of hundreds of bodies. The first thing they did was made additional molds to increase production capacity, but they also made the changes between your style floorpan Manx and the later ones, including the redesign of the rear license mount.

Another thing unique to your type of early floorpan Manx is the windshield frame which was hand made from flat aluminum bar instead of an extrusion. I'm not sure why you're asking though, I'm pretty sure you know this stuff as well or better than I do.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:33 am

Bill, Speaking of rare, I'm only actually aware of two others like yours, which with 3 out of only 50 odd originals is the lowest survival rate of any other type of Meyers Manx. Beside your Lime Green one built by Roger Smith, Glenn Knight has his slalom buggy which he's had since new and Rick Leddon has a blue one which has/had a Transvair engine. They also both have the non-extruded windshield like yours. I'm not saying there aren't others out there, but I only know of 3. I'd love to hear from anyone else that has one.

Here is the post Glenn Knight put on the old Buggy of the Month page.

http://www.lightner.net/manxclub/bugmon3.html

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 2:28 am

Would love to see em if you can find them.

I found one of the bumpers for those a while back

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 5:31 am

Wow, what great pics! That's 50% of all know surviving early floorpan Meyers Manxes in one place. Seriously, Thanks for posting those.

Mike1991 · Post by **Mike1991** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:27 pm

Inquiring minds want to know !!!

How many of these square opening bodies were produced? Does anyone know the date production switched to the rectangular opening body?

True or false: The square opening bodies are 82" from the firewall to the back of the rear seat? The rectangular opening bodies are 80" from the firewall to the back of the rear seat?

I built and have owned this one for 40+ years.

vwmanx · Post by **vwmanx** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 11:42 pm

I found this on the Samba and had to buy it...seemed that only a couple of people commented on it which surprised me. I could not believe that I was looking at an early manx for sale. More pictures later but add this to the early manx registry. I am particularly stoked as it is the "missing link" between the monocoque and the later manxes with extruded windshields. The hand made frames which bruce fabbed up were very similar to the monocoque frames..except for the folding down hinges. It is 95 % complete...missing the OG roll bar (I have a non chromed OG bar for it) and the z bend brackets up under the fuel tank. Gel coat is burned out in some places but it is an awesome old piece of history. WOOHOO! Off hand, can someone tell me what type of seats these are? They look to be old MG or similar...they fold forward. They have been mounted to old VW seat sliders so as to use the OG seat rails.

Sorry for hte size of image...will add another later.
Chris

,

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:13 am

Yes that is one of the early small square tail Manxes. They were made between November 65 and early Summer 66. I think there were only about 50 made. I sent an article to Anita about them that should be in the Fall Mania issue. I only knew of four remaining and yours is now the fifth. I'll need to edit my article.

Where are you located?

dcamomanx · Post by **dcamomanx** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 3:35 am

Chris,

I'm glad you got it and it went to a good home

Doran

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:21 am

Mike1991, what year did you build yours? Where did you buy the kit?

Mike1991 · Post by **Mike1991** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 8:24 pm

I built this buggy in the spring of '68 using a '65 rollover with less than 30k on the odometer. The body was purchased from a dealer in LA at that time. My recollection is in or near the Pasadena or Burbank area but don't hold me to that. The sales paperwork has been misplaced or lost over the years so no dealer name is available. The year the body was made is not known however since they changed over to the rectangular opening in '66 my assumption is the dealer probably had it in stock for awhile as everyone wanted the newer body which had more room in the engine area. The body had never been mounted or drilled. Original gel coat was Royal Blue. Faded it looked like the blue buggy in this thread owned by Rick in Texas.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:16 pm

The other five square tails I've seen still have the non-extruded windshield frame. What else did it come with other than the body? Is it in the registry?

Mike1991 · Post by **Mike1991** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 12:16 am

The body did not come with a windshield. That was fine with me. At the time I wanted the extruded windshield you see on it as the top was a much cleaner fit into the channel rather than the exposed snaps you typically see. Looking back at originality hmmmm maybe outsmarted myself. Yes it is in the registry.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 3:58 am

If yours is in the registry and verified as a genuine Meyers Manx, then I now know of the existence of six, first generation floorpan Manxes. That's three more than I knew about when this thread began.

Did it come with a foil backed front sticker? Did you get all the normal
brackets, hardware and instructions? Does yours have a bump in the rear
of the spare tire well to clear the exhaust header?

I've looked
at the non-extrusion type windshield frame pretty closely and its
definitely something a person could fabricate if they wanted.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 4:01 am

Chris, Those are probably Triumph TR3 seats.