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  View original topic: Cool Old School Sandrail
ZARJDR Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:50 pm

Saw this car at a recent Cruz'N Eureka carshow, show is a "Make a Wish" sponsored event. This car was so retro cool I had to snap some photos and share them with Y'all.




ZARJDR Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:53 pm

Here is another one



check out this use of factory pedal cluster to operate hydraulics!



different view


ZARJDR Fri Oct 14, 2011 7:57 pm

and some of the details on the car





Current owner and restorer is the son of the original builder, I was there when he started it and put it on the trailer to take it home, one word......Gnarly!

motorbreath53 Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:07 pm

That looks AWESOME.

It also looks like an efficient way to die. :lol:

UncleDirty Sat Oct 15, 2011 2:02 am

I saw it in last months Hot VWs, very cool car. Must have been nice to see it in person. 8)

Manx102 Sat Oct 15, 2011 5:34 am

ZARJDR wrote:


A very nice restoration and a neat bit of history. Thanks for sharing your pics with us ZARJDR.

The picture above with the buggy doing a wheelie in it, shows what was the biggest problem with the early shortened tube buggies was. As the sand tire technology improved, especially the Padla Trak style paddle tires and that coupled with the VW engine horsepower increases, made trying to keep the front end down and not doing wheelies was a real big problem with them.
We once put our Manx's Padla Traks on our buggy just to see what they would do and the buggy climbed the Pismo Dunes extremely well with them. But it was so wheelie happy we never put them on again and we just stayed with our old groved Copper tires on our Purple buggy for the rest of it's days.

chubby53 Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:30 pm

very cool.

po7g Sun Oct 16, 2011 12:28 pm

I like the Hydraulic clutch pedal setup. anyone know what master he is using for that. Would a brake master work for that I wonder?

dirtkeeper Thu May 17, 2012 8:13 pm

Manx102 wrote:
A very nice restoration and a neat bit of history. Thanks for sharing your pics with us ZARJDR.

The picture above with the buggy doing a wheelie in it, shows what was the biggest problem with the early shortened tube buggies was. As the sand tire technology improved, especially the Padla Trak style paddle tires and that coupled with the VW engine horsepower increases, made trying to keep the front end down and not doing wheelies was a real big problem with them.
We once put our Manx's Padla Traks on our buggy just to see what they would do and the buggy climbed the Pismo Dunes extremely well with them. But it was so wheelie happy we never put them on again and we just stayed with our old groved Copper tires on our Purple buggy for the rest of it's days.

whats up with the front tires they look like they have duct tape on them?

KopfenJager Thu May 17, 2012 8:52 pm

way cool! You couldn't pay me to drive that thing, but its stil awesome none the less.

Failproof Thu May 17, 2012 9:33 pm

10 years ago i would have been all over blasting one of those around. The older wiser me wishes i still would! That thing would be a blast! Throw some 8 foot long wheelie bars and baloonies on the back, and climb them hills!

jk pretti Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:36 pm



Who new that a couple years after the original post that Manx102 and the guy with the old sandrail would run Pismo together (March 2013).

jk pretti Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:37 pm



More Pismo action from 2013. Photo by Stefan Ball for Airmighty Magazine.

jk pretti Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:39 pm



Old School Buggies Rock!!!

All four buggies were built in the '60s and they have all been passed down from the original owners to their sons. Black buggy (Small Block Chevy), Manx (1835cc), Green rail (2180cc), Red buggy (Ford 390ci FE big block). Photo taken at Pismo, August 22, 2015.

Mal evolent Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:35 am

what I fantasized my go kart was when I was driving my go kart.

What I would have fantasized my pan buggy was if I drove one of those:



always going for the upgrade.

weasel_ugs Sat Dec 03, 2016 2:53 pm

jk pretti wrote:

Old School Buggies Rock!!!

All four buggies were built in the '60s and they have all been passed down from the original owners to their sons. Black buggy (Small Block Chevy), Manx (1835cc), Green rail (2180cc), Red buggy (Ford 390ci FE big block). Photo taken at Pismo, August 22, 2015.
I remember seeing those old waterpumpers at Glamis in the late 70's, they never seemed to be very good a climbing the dunes though.

jk pretti Sat Sep 07, 2019 7:25 am

The red water pumper is a great dune climber. Big horsepower, muffler tubing frame provides light weight, and well balanced with the front engine layout. Multiple hill climb championships from back in the 1960s.

jk pretti Sat Sep 07, 2019 7:42 am


mr_bill Tue Sep 17, 2019 5:54 pm




Me in our tunnell-buggy topping Comp Hill @ PISMO during the 2018 Old School Buggy reunion



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