The Mint 400 announced today that off-road luminary Bruce Meyers has been named Grand Marshal of the 2020 BFGoodrich Tires. Widely known as the inventor of the Meyers Manx, Bruce Meyers is a true monderen renaissance man. A surfer, sailor, guitar/ukulele player, artist, engineer and founding father of off-road culture, at 93 years young Bruce is still building and selling the original off-road buggy, The Meyers Manx.
Meyers drove the very first Meyers Manx, “Old Red”, with Ted Mangels down the Baja Peninsula to beat the standing Tijuana to La Paz motorcycle record by over five hours, resulting in the formation of the National Off Road Racing Association and the very first Baja 1000 the following year. Over 50 years later, Meyers will drop the green flag during the 2020 BFGoodrich Tires Mint 400 and send off the best racers in the world on a 428 mile battle.
“Bruce Meyers is the godfather of off-road culture. When you think of the Southern California dream of driving down the beach with your girl and your surfboard in the glowing California sun, that dream was created by Bruce Meyers. As if that wasn’t enough he took his now famed “Meyers Manx” down to the Baja 1000 and won it overall! This guy was the “King of Cool” long before McQueen, Newman, and Garner climbed into a car,” stated Mint 400 CEO Matt Martelli.
When Bruce converted the first VW to a Manx, the world fell in love with the inexpensive practicality of the platform. But most of all, it was the “cool” factor that sold The Meyers Manx. The idea that you would magically be transformed into a good looking movie star exploring be surf breaks of Baja by simply climbing in and strapping your surfboards to the top.
Bruce went on to race as a proving ground for the Manx platform and won multiple off-road races. The immediate demand for the Manx was massive, orders flooded in and knock off manufacturers sprang up overnight with over producing over 350,000 copies via some 300 companies worldwide. Bruce didn’t just invent a vehicle, he invented the off-road lifestyle to which he is still a part of. Bruce and his wife Winnie continue to build and sell Manx vehicles to this day.
