{"id":2101,"date":"2026-10-18T22:19:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-18T22:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/?p=2101"},"modified":"2026-10-18T22:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-18T22:19:11","slug":"rare-1970s-meyers-manx-certified-karma-coachworks-sr2-street-roadster-surfaces-for-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/?p=2101","title":{"rendered":"Rare 1970s Meyers Manx-Certified Karma Coachworks SR2 Street Roadster Surfaces for Auction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The original Meyers Manx dune buggy, endlessly copied, modified, and re-created across generations, stands as an indisputable icon of automotive history. Merely laying eyes upon one is often enough to instantly conjure mental images of the California coast, accompanied by the timeless harmonies of the Beach Boys singing about sun, surf, and warm summer evenings cruising along the Pacific Highway. Yet, visionary designer Bruce Meyers did not limit his creative ambitions to the sand and dunes. While the classic buggy was built for off-road frolics, Meyers ultimately set his sights on the pavement, giving birth to a fascinating street-oriented lineage that remains deeply compelling to collectors and enthusiasts today.<\/p>\n

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A particularly wild and obscure piece of that asphalt-focused Manx history has recently emerged on the enthusiast auction platform Bring a Trailer. This rare machine is a Karma Coachworks SR2, a striking open-top sports car that bridges the gap between classic dune buggy culture and custom 1970s coachbuilding. Determining the exact model year of such a vehicle often involves a bit of detective work, as the underlying mechanical backbone consists of a 1970 Volkswagen chassis, while the custom fiberglass bodywork and assembly took shape slightly later in the decade. <\/p>\n

For automotive historians, the connection to period publications adds significant provenance. A Meyers Manx SR famously graced the cover of Car and Driver<\/em>\u2019s May 1970 issue, where editors highlighted how the car pegged the fun-to-drive meter for a remarkably modest financial outlay, mirroring the democratic appeal of the original off-road dune buggy. The "SR" designation stood for Street Roadster. Bruce Meyers\u2019 core concept with this iteration was to take the mechanical simplicity and spirited ethos of his initial success and adapt it into a more tarmac-oriented funster designed for carving up coastal switchbacks and city boulevards rather than conquering desert sand traps.<\/p>\n

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First-generation SR models are notably rare today, with production estimates suggesting that only around 200 examples were ever constructed by the factory. In a fascinating footnote to the eccentric automotive landscape of the 1970s, one of these rare factory-made examples ultimately found its way into the hands of serial entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin. That encounter is widely believed to have served as a partial inspiration behind Bricklin\u2019s later automotive venture and the development of the distinctive, gull-wing-doored, fiberglass-bodied SV-1 sports car.<\/p>\n

This is precisely where Karma Coachworks enters the narrative. Following financial struggles and shifting market conditions, Meyers temporarily folded his original business operations in 1971. However, enterprising coachbuilders at Karma Coachworks, based in Costa Mesa, California, believed there was still robust commercial potential in the concept. Collaborating with Bruce Meyers for design input, the firm developed the SR2. Much like its predecessor, the recipe relied on a straightforward yet effective automotive architecture: a bespoke fiberglass body mounted atop a shortened Volkswagen floorpan.<\/p>\n

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Finished in a menacing shade of gloss black, the visual vibe radiated by this particular Karma Coachworks SR2 leans heavily away from the sunny, carefree beach aesthetic and looks more akin to a "Batmobile Junior." The car manages to pack an extraordinary array of theatrical styling elements into its remarkably compact 80-inch wheelbase. It features an aggressive rear spoiler, dramatic scissor doors that swing upward, and an aggressively staggered stance highlighted by extra-chunky rear tires designed to put whatever power is available squarely onto the asphalt. For open-air motoring, the car is equipped with a removable roof panel and removable side windows, allowing drivers to tailor the cockpit environment to the weather.<\/p>\n

Tucked out back in its exposed engine bay sits a 1.6-liter Volkswagen air-cooled flat-four engine of indeterminate factory output, though standard tuning configurations of the era typically placed it in the neighborhood of 70 horsepower. Fueling duties are handled by a Holley "Bugspray" 2110 carburetor perched atop the engine, breathing through an exposed air filter and expelling exhaust gasses via a dual-pipe system. While 70 horsepower might sound modest by modern standards, it is more than adequate for a lightweight fiberglass roadster that weighs roughly as much as a child\u2019s swimming pool. Power is transferred to the rear wheels via a traditional four-speed manual transaxle operated through a Hurst floor shifter, engaging the driver directly in the mechanical experience.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/figure>\n

Beyond offering what promises to be a barrel of laughs\u2014and perhaps the occasional adrenaline-fueled scream\u2014from behind the wheel, the primary appeal for serious collectors lies in the vehicle’s documentation. This specific SR2 carries genuine Meyers Manx certification, validating its heritage and authenticating its place within the broader history of the brand. While it represents a slightly overlooked chapter of the Bruce Meyers story compared to the ubiquitous utility of the standard dune buggy, it occupies a unique niche in kit-car and coachbuilt history. It may lean a bit closer to Black Sabbath than the Beach Boys in terms of its dark, custom aesthetic, but it remains fundamentally dedicated to delivering maximum fun in the sun.<\/p>\n

Interested collectors and enthusiasts tracking the auction will need to act quickly, as bidding on this piece of 1970s custom car culture is scheduled to conclude on October 21.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The original Meyers Manx dune buggy, endlessly copied, modified, and re-created across generations, stands as an indisputable icon of automotive history. Merely laying eyes upon one is often enough to instantly conjure mental images of the California coast, accompanied by the timeless harmonies of the Beach Boys singing about sun, surf, and warm summer evenings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":2100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[411],"tags":[1664,414,412,413,2754,2756,2755,2753,2752,1788,2472,182,2757,415],"class_list":["post-2101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-automotive-industry-and-financing","tag-auction","tag-auto-loans","tag-automotive","tag-cars","tag-certified","tag-coachworks","tag-karma","tag-manx","tag-meyers","tag-rare","tag-roadster","tag-street","tag-surfaces","tag-vehicles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/amercanfirstfinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}