Should I buy this beauty?

Dune Buggy Classifieds. Find it, Buy it, Post it, Sell it!
mykee50
Posts: 35
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:43 pm

Should I buy this beauty?

Post by mykee50 »

I'm looking to buy a Manx. Can I get some advise on this offering? Also any advise on how to get it from CA to Seattle (other than driving or towing)? Thanks, Mike

http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1967-m ... /#comments
lastmanx
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Location: Ashland Massachusettes

Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by lastmanx »

no you should not. you can buy a brand new gelcoat genuine Meyers manx today. gelcoat is colored fiberglass(so your body will NEVER need paint or body work. that is the only way they came from Meyers. you will be certain of its authenticity. you only paint a buggy when its original gelcoat is no longer presentable. once painted you have no idea if body was repaired. but mostly gelcoat lasts when taken care of. it goes bad when not cared for. suntan lotion. sweat .salt.sand ruin paint over time. the buggy has no dash gages speedo etc. so you have to put that in. motor is basic. the top bid is now to high for a buggy that needs work to drive. if you wish to put it on a trailer and continue to pretend its original then buy it. for use you need a speedo that has warn lights so you know if oil pressure or charge is good. gas gage?. you could easily duplicate the look. but hey if you love it buy it. :lol:
mykee50
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Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:43 pm

Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by mykee50 »

Thanks Lastmanx, that's the way I was leaning. Gauges would have been a must for me. I just started looking a couple of weeks ago. That's half the fun, right? I got the bug... lol... That is one clean Manx though. He said its never been off road or in the sand. It's almost to my 10K limit already anyway. Thanks again for the insight! Mike
lastmanx
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by lastmanx »

here's a little more insight. since the rebuild no off road or sand of course. but what about before. truth is most early 1960 to 1970 dunebuggys went off road. many were never street registered. they were DUNE buggys and it was fun to do it. its only today people don't want to go off road. that's not to say all did but most did. I was lucky to find the man that built and repaired my first buggy. at a local car show he recognized it as it had a removable rear section making engine access easy. I loved that feature until I found out why. he told me it was due to its owner having an engine fire melting the rear. he had another body hit in front so he grafted its rear to the burnt one. he only did this once and it was on mine, that's how he knew he built it. he then took pleasure in telling me how the original owner beat the hell out of it everywhere, and rolled it at racepoint beach (the same beach I drive today) yep he was correct it hit so hard the long tyrod end dented the underside gas tank. seriously why wouldn't you want to by a new manx body. no offence the company could close someday. they are not GM or FORD. Bruce is 90 years old and does what he wants. before I bought my Manx SS in 2000 new bodys were not available for 30 years with no promise of ever coming back. all bodys came colored fiberglass never needing paint until they were discarded and left to disrepair. you can't use a magnet to find body filler so you will never know. all the ones I sold were originally owned by different little old ladys that drove them only to church on sunday HONEST.
mykee50
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by mykee50 »

Thanks Lastmanx, there's always THAT to think about, lol. How about I just buy the following. My dream list...

Manx Chassis California Condor chassis, built ready to roll
Manx Kick-Out body
Fat Performance engine with an IRS tranny

And all the goodies to go with it. $20K later (or more)? Maybe?

I don't think that it's fitting in my $10K budget

Don't get me wrong, I really appreciate your experience and your point.
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enesset
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Joined: Sun May 06, 2012 5:00 am

Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by enesset »

Let's be clear about the BaT Manx, that is a short distance, on road parade/show car. If your goal is to be out on sunny days with your wife or child or friend and just going to and from cars and coffee then this is a great car.

You have to decide what is important to you and how you will use it and if that answer it is light off-road use and light abuse this one is not for you. You could find many people who have already thrown a ton of money into a black hole and you can help them try to climb out of it by buying their already built trail Manx for $.50 or less on the dollar

If you're going to do some serious off-road or doing sand dune jumping or monkeying around down in Baja like I am then you better find a very good nearby VW mechanic or have the space and competence to build your own ...,I will post a build thread on mine soon....prepare not not care about the budget if you build it yourself. I will exceed $20k on my build. It all adds up crazy fast...I'm considering building mine as a learning experience so that I know every bolt on it and when the time comes and something bad happens somewhere far away, with any luck I'll be able to troubleshoot it … That's one of the reasons why I didn't buy one that was already built.

If you are handy and want to build your own.....every once in a while a signature Manx kit comes up for sale and I almost went that route.... would be very fulfilling.,,,, it seems like the basic signsture Manx kits trade in the $5000 neighborhood.

Your use should dictate the purchase or pass answer. I don't think the $10k number is scary knowing now what I do about build costs but this might go well higher given the audience and reach of BaT so prudence at a certain level should be exercised.

Keep us in the loop if you decide to take the plunge.

Oh you asked about how do get it from Napa to the Tacoma-S.Seattle area..... Get a car trucking service to transport it..... My Manx came from Dallas Texas to San Jose and I think it was $800… And I bought a 1975 Chevrolet Laguna S3 out of South Carolina and that ran $1400… I'm guessing Napa to the tacoma Washington area would probably run in that $800 range,
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enesset
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by enesset »

lastmanx
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by lastmanx »

What drive? no speedo no gas gage, light switch. if your afraid to drill a hole in your buggy or unsure how to wire it your screwed. the ad story tells of the manx company not the actual buggy. In 2000 I built my Manx SS for $15,000 in receipts. the price included all shipping of parts. the 1967 frame was stripped basic frame head and tunnel. but I was building a brand new buggy. new floors new engine trans front end interior every thing. I cut vw had experienced welder weld it. yes I know every nut bolt inch of car. so when it fails i'm to blame and fix it. Ok it is used seasonal 1/2 year has 34k miles. I built it for me not following any trends as there weren't any back then. but I knew exactly what I was doing. If you want a nice buggy at a good price first learn how to fix and work on them: then go buy a broken one at a bargain price from a newbie that has gotten frustrated with it. You need to be able to diagnose what it needs. example rusted out floors=easy fix , 34pict carb worn so doesn't run= easy fix bad grounds bad wiring = easy fix. broken rubber trans mounts so pops out gear drives sideways=easy fix. if you cant or won't learn to work on vws don't buy one with issues. the bat ad has known issue of noise from front wheel that for $10,000 was not fixed, really what else didn't get fixed. so new buyer has 2 known issues no gages, switches, and front wheel problems. it is in no way a ready to drive bargain. its not ready to drive that's all i'm saying.
Buggy-Crazy
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Location: Asheville, NC

Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by Buggy-Crazy »

I thought the sell would be about $15 k, your in the $10k range which sounds like a good buy. The assembly looks to be a good one, go for it!


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lastmanx
Posts: 394
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Location: Ashland Massachusettes

Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by lastmanx »

when you get your first speeding ticket with no speedometer tell the police officer that the buggy was a great buy he will probably agree.
mykee50
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Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 4:43 pm

Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by mykee50 »

Wow! Just looked at the selling price on that BaT Manx. $25,250. I can hardly believe that. Hopefully the guy on here will get back to me about his signature he's thinking of selling, number 82 or something like that. This is the fun part, the looking... Mike
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enesset
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by enesset »

Beautiful manx and a strong sale price. I n6oticed the gentleman that bought it also semi-recently bought an '85 Ferrari 308QV so it is possible he is a collector.

I agree about the "looking/searching" being the fun part. It took me forever to find a tagged '69 Yuma Yellow. It felt like Rick out of Texas was always a step ahead of me! 8-)
lastmanx
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by lastmanx »

wow such a deal for 25k and you only need to fix the noisy wheel the "VW expert" couldn't fix, oh and of course put gages in that's easy right? just a minute let me put in another fake bid see if I can get it to 30k (newbies pay attention this is not how it works)
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enesset
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by enesset »

I don't know about a deal but a strong price for sure! That seller did amazingly well. The buyer is a wealthy collector, it will get stored in Georgia and used on short trips on very few days.

I'm building my Manx from the ground up....there is very little so far that I can see that would make a noise in the wheel area so he has a bad bearing (easy) or a rubbing brake line (easy).

I hope gauges aren't hard....I've done my Miata, my early bronco, my Laguna S3 and still am building my Manx so I hope the Manx isn't a pain in the rear. On all the other builds I've done I used ultra-lite auto meter and this time on the Manx I am likely going to use analog gauges.

I'm glad to see a strong sales price on this. I have my car collection and all of us that have a Manx would benefit from the upward market pressure if anyone wants to sell....I'm 42 years old and this will be a very long term hold for me so I'm not selling but I'm glad the hobby is getting an increased level of attention.
lastmanx
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Re: Should I buy this beauty?

Post by lastmanx »

I was being very sarcastic as to the description. once painted it is not as it left manx. in my experience this high price in not normal. yes the wheel could be an easy fix or not either way it was not fixed being my point. most experts fix. as to gages the point being they are not there so you need to buy some and cut the holes in the uncut dash to mount and wire. why? obviously it is a replacement dash as original would have been plastic and not in good shape by now. the real point of a Meyers manx is to build it and brand new bodies are available TODAY. if you still have things to fix or finish you have a project manx not complete restoration. but anyway good luck with your build.
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