Borrego Buggy Blast

April 16-18, 1999


80 Manx Club buggies pause for a photo on a dune
(click on photo for larger version)

The Manx Dune Buggy Club gathered for Spring Rites in the Borrego Desert on April 16,17,18, 1999 at the Desert Ironwoods Motel & RV Park. The location is about 3 miles West of Split Mountain Rd. on the South side of Highway #78 in Borrego Springs, CA. This is the second time we stayed here because of the RV facilities, store, and swimming pool.

The weather had been dreary the week before but cleared up and actually threatened to skip spring and go straight to summer. The daytime highs for our outing reached 95 degrees fahrenheit - not too shabby for April when there is snow in other parts of the country!


Pictures by David Helland and Jon Carlson (J.C.)

J.C. The 7 AM breakfast on Sat. morning was enjoyed by all as we left our problems at home and psyched ourselves for a great weekend (although some "let it all hang out" a little too much).

 

Bruce begins the day by lining up the buggies for the "Show & Shine"

 

Dave Young brought his aluminum V8 powered buggy and wowed the club with his engineering talent. (see "Buggy of the Month")

 

Bruce Meyers got all excited when he saw the lime green buggy on the left. It is one of the first production Manx buggies ever built. Bruce said he hand built the bumpers and windshield which tipped him off about the age of this collectible.

The buggy on the right is owned by Rudy & Marlise Mueller and has a Corvair engine with Mercedes fuel injection.

 

J.C. Our Saturday trip began with our traditional "Picture Opportunity" with 80+ buggies stretched out on a huge sand dune.

We then took off for the Mud Hills to the south of the Borrego Off-Road Vehicle Park.

J.C.

 

The Mud Hills are a maze of winding trails though narrow canyons.

We periodically stopped to enjoy the view.

 

The youngest member of the club just learned to walk and is a member of the Dave Young family.

Bob Yahn proves that his perfect and completely original green metalflake Corvair-powered Manx can be driven on the dirt!

 

Saturday dinner was a barbeque beef specialty provided by the Ocotillo Wells Fire Department.

It was a fine feast enjoyed by all. We especially liked the cool fire station and great food.

J.C.

 

J.C. The Gill Orr Ensemble provided the evening's entertainment. These guys really know how to play the guitar!

Bruce and Winnie took the intermission to hold an impromptu club meeting. We discussed how to improve our outings with more organization and how to keep all the buggies going in the right direction (but it did not help much on Sunday).

J.C.

 

Sunday morning we hold the club raffle and awards ceremony. Winnie works hard to get vendors to donate prizes and we reciprocate by posting their cards and web address on our web page.

On the right is proof the the "Dog Days of Summer" have arrived in the desert!

J.C.

 

J.C. What is wrong with the picture on the left ?

The problem is that the owner of this buggy bought Brazillian king pins. The moral is don't trust your life to parts from Brazil (i.e. no king pins and no brake drums - they break regularly).

Jon Carlson's Resorter was lookin' pretty! --->

J.C.

 

J.C. Andy's Kublewagen led the group through the weekend. Now if we could just get all those buggies to follow them......

Mel Baker relaxes before going home. Home is all the way back to Croydon, England. That is one heck of a trip for a weekend in the desert!

Bruce Meyers cleans the sand out of his socks before heading home.


Sponsers for the 1999 Borrego Buggy Blast

Sponser Location
B & R Buggies Oceanside CA
Beard Seats Buckeye AZ
Fiber-Tech Santee CA
Goldmine VW Parts Whittier CA
Greg Reed’s Sport Buggies Santee CA
Small Car Connection Hesperia CA
Interstate VW San Marcos CA
Johnson’s Bug Machine Santee CA
Kar-Tek Chino CA
Off Road Warehouse Escondido CA
So Cal Imports Long Beach CA
Sonrise RV Escondido CA
Split Mountain Park & Country Store Borrego Springs CA
Steve’s El Cajon CA
The OVW Co. Escondido CA
Up Yer Bug Vista CA
Vee Dub Parts Unlimited Huntington Beach CA
Vista Transmission Vista CA
West Coast Metric Harbor City CA

 


Show n’ Shine Results

Category Winner
BEST OF SHOW Rudy Mueller #5
BEST MEYERS MANX 1st --- Bob Yahn #294
2nd--- Rudy Mueller #5
BEST MANX-TYPE 1st --- Bill Passey - #287
2nd--- Steve Thorne - #786
BEST TOW’D 1st --- Steve Widdowson #469
2nd--- Ron Willingham #42
BEST OFF-ROAD 1st --- Dan Young #795
2nd--- Jerry Isbell #750
BEST STREET 1st --- Bill Grice #740
2nd--- Bob Yahn #294
BEST UNCONVENTIONAL 1st --- Bill Grice #740
2nd--- Mark McClellan #1021
MOST IN NEED OF TLC Mark Gera #538
FARTHEST TO GET HERE Robert Hunter #938 - Winnemucca NV
NEWEST MEMBER PRESENT Nora Dobranszky #1028
PHILIPPE AWARD 1st ----------- Tony Anderson #188
2nd ---------- Dan Young #795
3rd ---------- Jay Hulet #120


Last updated Sun Apr 25 14:45:14 PDT 1999

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