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Possibly the first of its kind, Aero Buggy is a purpose built dune buggy designed for racing. Built by brothers, Scott and Mark Hannum, Aero Buggy was a culmination of experience. Mark Hannum is the founder and owner of Sewfine. If you are in the VW circuit, you’ve likely heard the name and undoubtedly seen their products. Scot Hannum was the assistant crew chief for John Force, and at the time Aero Buggy was built, Scott was employed at Bandimere Speedway in Denver Colorado.
Scott and Mark built many custom VWs during the 80s. Many of these collaborated builds were featured in prominent magazines, the likes of which included Dunebuggies and Hot VWs. The brothers also found themselves building a number of drag VWs due in part, to Scott’s drag racing past. While employed at Bandimere Speedway, Scott started an event entitled the High Altitude Bug Fest. It has since changed names to the Colorado Bug-in which still runs each August.
What would have been July, just a scant 30 days before one of the annual Colorado Bug-in events, the brothers got a crazy idea to build and debut a VW drag car for the event. Their vehicle of choice? A fiberglass Dune Buggy, VW powered of course.
It was an undertaking that many wouldn’t have considered, having built cars in the past, understanding how each one would bring their skill to the table, and already having an understanding of each other’s strong points it seemed possible to pull off an impossible task. You see, when building a drag car, not only does the vehicle need to be built to sanctioning body standards of safety, engine displacement, weight, etc, but it needs to be built to the driver’s standard as well. The car also has to be tested, tweaked, and dialed-in.
So it was with a spark of a crazy almost impossible idea, that Aero Buggy was born.
Aero Buggy was raced for a few seasons. Her best time was a 10:27 et. In 1986 during the Bug Fest, with Mark at the wheel, Aero Buggy fell victim to a crash ending her season.
It was time for Mark and Scott to discuss Aero Buggy’s fate. As most vehicle nuts go, it is difficult not to upgrade when the opportunity presents itself. The wreck of Aero Buggy afforded the two a chance to do something different, and it was decided to divorce the body from the chassis, stretch the chassis and outfit it with a Porsche Speedster body for the ’87 racing season.
As of this writing, no one knows exactly where Aero Buggy is now. After all, that was 20 years ago. If you are reading this and know something about Aero Buggy please send an email: dunebuggyarchives.jay@gmail.com to update us.
Official DBA Aero Buggy Gallery
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