{"id":838886,"date":"2025-04-04T08:11:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/04\/new-meyers-manx-coffee-table-book-chronicles-a-true-california-story\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T08:11:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T13:11:35","slug":"new-meyers-manx-coffee-table-book-chronicles-a-true-california-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/04\/new-meyers-manx-coffee-table-book-chronicles-a-true-california-story\/","title":{"rendered":"New Meyers Manx Coffee Table Book Chronicles A True California Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/p>\n

Available online or at the Meyers Manx Cafe in The Petersen Automotive Museum.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>Michael Teo Van Runkle<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new coffee table book from Meyers Manx<\/a> celebrates a true California story, six decades after the debut of the original dune buggy. Part biography of eponymous founder Bruce Meyers, part business history and part forward-facing expose as the company re-emerges today under the auspices of investor Phillip Sarofim and designer Freeman Thomas, throughout 220 pages, veteran automotive journalist and producer Basem Wasef<\/a> weaves a compelling story complemented by historical photography, sketches and renderings, even plenty of golden age silver-screen connections.<\/p>\n

The book is a riveting read for anyone like me who loves classic cars, hot-rod culture and Hollywood lore. The story follows Meyers from a young age, a multi-talented surfer and sailboat designer who found inspiration in the world of kit cars and off-roading, before achieving almost overnight success with the first Manx. From there, the fledgling company\u2019s legend exploded, sparking rapid business expansion before an inevitable spree of ripoffs and imitations emerged to challenge the nascent venture. Wasef\u2019s narrative reveals the stellar highs and inevitable lows of such a tale, and hopes the book can set the record straight in vivid color.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Bruce Meyers’ surfing and sailing inspiration shines through in the Manx’s iconic design.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>Michael Teo Van Runkle<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Separating Fact from Fiction<\/h2>\n

\u201cBruce had written a couple of books about his experiences,\u201d Wasef told me, \u201cSo it was critical for me to disambiguate what was sort of an elaboration on the truth and what really happened. There were a lot of liberties taken with some of his storytelling, in the interest of telling a good story sometimes\u2026 And luckily it still is a good story, even if you shave off 90% of the hyperbole.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a probably deeper than most understanding of the brand and its history, which really helped me get into the writing process. But I couldn\u2019t have done it without the historical figures that thankfully are still alive to tell the story, people like Winnie Meyers and Nelson Sparks, Stewart Reed and current co-chairman Freeman Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps the highlight for me was learning about the pivotal role Meyers and his Manx played in the racing history of Baja California. In fact, the Manx set a record for the peninsula run\u2014beating big-bore motorcycles and inspiring headlines that helped to spark a new era of four-wheeling popularity. Then, a Manx even won the first Baja 1,000 race in 1967, which was known then simply as the \u201cMexican 1000.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The “King of Cool” himself insisted that a Meyers Manx appear in the 1968 film.<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>Michael Teo Van Runkle<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Such exploits quickly ballooned beyond the hardcore automotive crowd and became a true cultural phenomenon. Lightweight and affordable thanks to monocoque fiberglass construction (at first) plus easily accessible Volkswagen parts, the Manx epitomized a carefree lifestyle perfectly wrought in three dimensions.<\/p>\n

Hollywood took notice, and in 1968, Elvis Presley drove a Manx in the opening scene of Live a Little, Love a Little<\/em>\u2014though the Manx\u2019s personality shone through best when Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway enjoyed an iconic scene blasting a Corvair-powered Manx along the beach in The Thomas Crown Affair<\/em> (and I don\u2019t say so only because my grandmother designed their costumes in the film).<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very few things that are as intricately or intimately entwined with California culture as a Meyers Manx dune buggy,\u201d Wasef mused, \u201cIt just says California so succinctly. It\u2019s such a pure design, and I think that’s what’s led to its endurance. It’s just so reduced but so evocative at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Famous for his Audi, Porsche and Volkswagen designs, Freeman Thomas now co-chairs Meyers Manx with a … More<\/span> vision for both past and future.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/fbs-accordion>Michael Teo Van Runkle<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meyers Manx in the Modern Era<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, style points only go so far, and Meyers\u2019 business acumen\u2014or lack thereof\u2014led to his company eventually floundering and dissolving. Meyers later brought the Manx back to life for the 21st century, before selling the company to Sarofim shortly before his death in 2021, aged 94. The revitalized Meyers Manx company now aims to honor the original\u2019s spirit with a series of buggies, including an almost inevitable electric variant that may prove somewhat divisive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBruce actually had an electric concept of a buggy in the past,\u201d Wasef reminded me, as he wrote in the tome, \u201cSo it\u2019s not outside of the playbook necessarily. And in fact, anybody who off-roads will tell you that doing so without the noise of an engine opens it up to a completely different experience.<\/p>\n

“It’s also really intriguing to see how the design elements are still carried over. Freeman has done an amazing job of evoking, but not copying necessarily, the original design\u2014and modernizing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

From cover to cover, the new coffee table book screams design with engaging graphics, sun-soaked desert imagery, modern rendering of the forthcoming Manxes and even a familiar gel-textured cover. It\u2019s a perfect page-turner and artistic volume, spelling out a deeper story than perhaps even the most diehard Meyers Manx fans might know, equally enjoyable while revisiting bygone years or sparking imagination about the fun factor of future electric vehicles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Michael Teo Van Runkle<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Available online or at the Meyers Manx Cafe in The Petersen Automotive Museum. Michael Teo Van Runkle A new coffee table book from Meyers Manx celebrates a true California story, six decades after the debut of the original dune buggy. Part biography of eponymous founder Bruce Meyers, part business history and part forward-facing expose as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":838887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2890,3319],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-838886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-coffee","category-meyers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}