This project all started three years ago when a friend of mine, Walt and his sons Little Walt and Tyler, decided to build a dune buggy. I helped them out with some parts and rebuilt a lowered front end for them. I wasn't really that fond of the body style of this buggy when he got it. I'm more partial to the classic manx style then to this rounded fender type. The car turned out beautiful. Walt and the boys sanded the faded finsh down and re-cleared the big metalflake paint job to a shiny luster. The interior done in white adds to the striking appearence of the buggy.

Like I said, at the time I wasn't that fond of this perticular style. After taking it for a ride I was sold. These cars are so fun to drive no matter what style they are that I was grinning from ear to ear. I had thought about building a buggy for quite a while. I'm a big fan of Steve McQueen. If you have ever seen the movie The Thomas Crown Affair then you might have seen my original inspiration for the buggy. There are some great scenes in the film where he is driving a custom built Manx on the beach and jumping the dunes The buggy has an early tranny which makes for some pretty low gears. Even though it currently only has a 1500 single port in it I was amazed at how snappy it was.

So I was sold. I had wanted a buggy for a long time and decided that it was an easy project while I waited for Walt to finish the paint on my 65 standard. Not long after I found a buggy on E-Bay and decided to bid. I won the bid for the small sum of 300. Walt and the boys trailered it for me. When I arrivied to pick it up, the chassis was in terrible condition. The body also had a considerable amount of cracks in it. It appeared as if it was used on the old chassis and run through the woods for it's primary use. Go to the gallery to view pictures of it when I first got it.