^^^ Now that's cool! Dune buggying was pretty popular in So Cal when I was a young one, and I agree that chopped down American cars were what was used before VW's. As I recall the term used was Dune Buggy, so I'm pretty sure that term did not come from the VW "Bug". And in my recollection the buggies had dual rear wheels, I'm not sure how they did that. The family that we used to go camping with out in the dunes had 2 buggies, one flathead V8 Ford and one Chevy with inline 6. And as I recall the Ford would rev faster and the teen ager's preferred driving it, and the Chevy revved slower, but torqued it's way up the dunes; znd the parents preferred driving it. Two different ways to do it, one was spinning the tires and throwing sand and the other was just lugging up the dune. I remember them coming over to the house and setting up a projector and showing home movies of driving the buggies out in the dunes, and inviting us to go out with them, which we did several times. Those were the days, with the families sitting around a screen and the lights turned off watching home movies, LOL! I'd like to see those movies now and wonder if the kids still have them.
Saw this the other day... Yes it says 70's, watch the first minute.. It's 95% all flatty buggies! (Ford flatty)
I took this picture I couple of years ago at the annual old school roundup at glamis. There are still a few of these old sand rails that show up every once in a while.
Yes I found it in a old quansun building in back corner on 3rd Ave. Yuma. Showed to my uncle an he had tears of joy in his eyes he couldn't believe one of his builds survived. I bought it in 1978 got parts needed water pumps an misc. At local junk yard fired right up after sitting 20 years. Sat in my back yard another 20 years an fired it up. My biggest regret was never getting to restore it before my uncle passed. It was on the TV show you asked for it , time life photos, Rod an custom Oct 1954 issue, an other car mags. A full center page write up with uncle Will in Yuma newspaper 1970. Thank you for asking
Your grandfather probably knew my uncle Will Hawkes and Sandy who tragically was killed out in dunes when his buggy flipped an broke his neck I believe. That was will hawkes brother in law.
This Aussie '34 Ford ute sort of fits in here. It,s in the dunes ( or desert as kids are,nt dressed for the beach ) . Also has what look like General Jumbo wheels with baloon style tires.
I need to find a newsletter I have from about 1960 (?) about the sand dunes buggies club called the Flea Baggs.
Macs is still in business and is only 40 mi from me. I had a buggy back in the early 70's and ran these dunes, lots of fun. There have been all types of homebuilt buggies. Back when they had a style referred to as saucers. They had the engine in back, mostly flatties and the driver right up front. These were similar to the later VW buggies but all homemade from the frame up. Nowadays you need to have a reservation to get on the dunes and it's big money riding up there, trucks, ATVs, motorcycles, etc. It's really crazy at times and more than one person has been killed. Many from going over the crest of a dune and nosediving and flipping end for end, others headon collisions at the crest of a dune
Very cool! Thanks for sharing. I used to live near Yuma High and I am quite familiar with those quonset hut buildings on 3rd. A great piece of history you've got there.
Wow, that's awesome! That's exactly what I was talking about, even shows the dual rear wheels that I remembered. Thanks for the memories, that video is gold! Thank you.
Hello, One day I was in an industrial area loaded with car repair shops and smog check shops. I thought what I saw up the street was an old modified, Model A. Well, it was a modified Model A shortened sedan. The chassis was not a normal Model A, but designed to make use of different suspension and larger tires. It reminded me of those modified “dune buggy” makeovers from old cars. They are not as sleek as the full 4130 tubing frames and either modified vw motors or a small block Chevy motors sitting in the rear section, with room for 4 in the seating area. Those are pure sand dune movers. At least, the Arizona ones look like they could be "streetable" and this one in So Cal certainly looks the type that would drive out to the California/Nevada sand dune/desert dirt areas for a day in the dusty locales. Jnaki In early So Cal history, we did not live near sand dunes other than one on Coast Highway near Malibu. But that anomaly was for hiking and sledding on cardboard sheets, only. No cars allowed. For those that wanted sand dunes, it was a drive to get to them on the coast or inland desert areas. They started out with cut down car chassis builds, but the "hot rod" versions became sleek and turned into an industry. The local older guys just cut off what body parts they did not want or were damaged beyond repair, so the remaining running chassis, body and motor, plus tires was perfect for the huge dirt lots and empty areas away from the neighborhoods where kids play daily. Most of these areas were wide open dirt areas, so it was fun in the dirt and sand, locally, until the authorities came to put a stop to the activity. It helped to live on the outskirts of a community only separated from large industrial places by huge field and dirt lots. Wow, that is where Lion’s Dragstrip was first created, in a large open field away from most homes by farmer’s huge planting fields. But, as the industry grew, so did the appetite for custom-made steel tubing chassis kits. Those from homemade shops/garages to the commercial frames made from rollbar material. It just seemed like the old chassis/motor/tire creations had moved on to the sleek, big/little tire full suspension chassis modes in the desert dunes and magazines. YRMV
I like the old moniker for these as, " water pumpers"...since bugs are air cooled. So much innovation and fun built into these cars! I used to mentally mix them up with " doodle bugs", only because that's what my gramps called Beetles, and " doodles"are more tractor.
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