This story begins back in 2005, when I started looking for a running street legal dune buggy. I thought this would be the perfect car to haul people and gas to our deeded lake shore property and it was the first car I ever drove when I was 13 years old. It took about 6 months of searching and bidding on auction sites before I found one that seemed to fit the bill, and bought it sight unseen from a private seller in Missouri for $4,500. The one great surprise after purchasing it was a manufacture serial tag on the body that was covered up by the upholstery and after checking it turned out to be one of the original Meyers Manx dune buggies which I have since had authenticated by Bruce and Winnie Meyers.

The project started the day the hauler showed up and we met him at a gas station to drive it home before work. It started right up but took a while to find the reverse gear. As I was driving home all smiles (with my wife following), I noticed she started slowing down and my windshield was getting something on it. After pulling over I realized that the rear main seal was bad and oil was spewing out on her car and without a top on the dune buggy was spraying the back of my business suit, hair and inside the windshield. We made it home, but my suit ended up in the garbage.

From that point forward it has been a rolling restoration and has served us well in getting to and from our lakeshore property and taking weekend trips around the area. For a while my wife nicked named the car "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" as one of the valves were stuck and would backfire quite a bit when driving. I thought it gave it some character at the time but thought I should put some new heads on it before we got stranded or pulled over for a noise violation. I have done all the work on the car myself (with the help of the internet) and the final cosmetic restoration was completed last spring. This car has brought more smiles per mile than any other car we have owned and is just an all-around fun car to work on and drive!

The actual list of mechanical work done has been extensive, basically I have replaced almost all moving parts (except the core engine), front axle, shocks, brakes, steering box, transaxle, removed the rats nest of wires and re-wired the entire car, rebuilt the dual weber carbs and replaced the dual exhaust. For the cosmetic restoration, I replaced the entire interior with a more period correct style, replaced the windshield and rollbar, added carpeting, replaced all the gauges and wrapped the dash with the same material used on the seats. Lastly, added an alpine stereo with some waterproof speakers.

The most extensive work I did was to the exterior where I sanded the entire body back down to the original lime green gelcoat and repainted it a metallic blue in a homemade paint booth in my barn. I had never painted a car before but with some encouragement from my wife and having some experience working with fiberglass/paint when restoring some vintage snowmobiles, I decided to give it a go. I did not want to spend too much on the paint, so opted to use rattle cans (over 140 cans total of rustoleum between the primer, color coat and clear coat). I have to admit, it did turn out better than I expected, and no one believes me when I tell them I did it with rattle cans. In hindsight and some sore fingers next time I will splurge and get an actual paint sprayer. Lastly, I replaced the rims and tires with some period correct chrome Cragar SS and BF Goodrich Radial T/A's.

The story ends like a reality TV custom car episode, my wife and I were up till 1am the night before putting the dune buggy back together for a car show we were going to meet some friends at. When we took it for a quick test run in the morning, I noticed one of the carbs was leaking so I had to take it apart in the driveway while she loaded up the chairs and cooler. Luckily, it was a quick fix (the float was stuck) and we made it 15 minutes before the car show registration ended. As with most things in life, it is not the finish line that is most rewarding but the journey that got you there…although a second-place finish isn’t bad either.