This past week in half I've finally landed a dune buggy barn find of sorts. When I was saw the ad for this I could tell there was a bump on the hood. Me and the wife went and looked at it last Thursday and sure enough it had a body tag that was painted over. The guy never said what it was. So I made him an offer which he turned down, he said that it had only been advertised two days and he wanted to see if he could get his asking price. I then went back Last Sunday with my neighbor so he could see it at that time I made another offer and he declined. So when I got back in town he texted me with a counter offer which I told him that I would think about. So on Weds I texted him and told him I couldn't do it at that price so I came up a little more and he said you got a deal. Ok this Thursday I went back and picked it up in the rain. Luckily he had a portable winch to get it on the trailer. My neighbor Marks wants it so I'm letting him buy it from me. He has a buggy  so he'll just have to switch body's after he gets it paint and such. Its a 68 production number 1386 suppose to be Royal Blue I'm happy with my long body Allison and I'll get to see the Manx transform into a nice ride. Plus get to work on it. It has some holes in it , in the back area that have to fixed, Mark found some cracks in the hood I didn't see near the windshield. Seems to have the original roll bar. The pans are shot and the tunnel has been ripped open near the shift coupler opening. Plus were it was shorten at don't look so hot either. Has duel port eng but it maybe locked up from sitting 20 years. Did notice it had a adjustable beam. I'll post up some pics soon.

Vince, you gotta tell us what he was asking and what you paid for it!!!!

Ditto on Kellison Jim's request. Your story was a real "cliff hanger" of sorts, almost like a mystery novel less the figures........

Hummm you guys drive a hard bargain he was asking 1800.00. Pan was really butchered up by the access plate to the shift coupler plus pans are shot. Lets just say I got it for less than 1500.00. Did find out today through some Samba member that help me it has a AS 21 case which from what I read is a decent case. It was a FI engine at one time. Has a 34/3 on it now. Its been rode hard over its life. Mark my neighbor is buying from me, he found some cracks in the hood near the windshield on both side. The windshield has braces on it prob because of the cracks. He doesn't want the seats so Im going to put them up for sale (66 Mustang) may sale the eng also. He going to paint it ect and put it on his chassis. Seems like its about five different colors in the back area. Its a 63 frame

I love barn find stories. Nice score.

Mike T

Any body on here from PA, the reason I asked my neighbor who is getting this buggy found a little tag under the right fender screwed to the body. Its a Pa Dept of revenue  with a short serial number. He called the dmv there and the guy told him that he had been working there 30 years and Mark was like the 25th person to call about one of those tags. Guy told Mark that the old records have been micro fiched. The guy told him that the tags were issued to get a title . It was probably the original builder of it  . Makes you wonder how it got to South Georgia. It came from a town that had a Air Force Base makes me wonder if that how it got down with the owner getting transferred.

You know what?, you got a starter for a project. These little Fun Cars are slowly disappearing from the landscape.
You guys fix it up and have fun with it..................

yep that's what the plan is, the way my neighbor operates it will be right and a eye catcher. Im at the beach we came a different route just to see if we could spot any buggy's sitting up didn't see any but I know where what looks to be a Empi near here but it looks like is running and driving. I think he's going back with the royal blue paint and he wants to get the white wheels with the smoothie hub caps.  I think keeping it blue is the way to go If I had one down that far I'd bring back the original color

Vince;  That's how it works in PA. You get a Specially Constructed Vehicle Title after what PENNDOT calls an "Enhanced" Inspection at a special inspection station. Pass that and you are issued a new Title stating 0000 as the year and SPCN as Vehicle Make. It's an involved process and can be painful. Many just attempt to register the buggy as the Bug it was built from. Many are successful.

Of course the laws are different now I am sure from when that Buggy was built. PA changed to the current Enhance inspection rules in 2007.

Michael T

oh yea this thing wont pass now HA HA, Thanks for the info. It doesn't even have seat belts in it. But its a neat piece of the history to have that little tag. Mark is going to put it back on after he gets done with the body. I hope maybe the guy in PA he talked to will help him track the tag in the old records.  I work for the PD here so IM going to try and track the GA records on it.

Vince, are you a police officer? I was for 30 yrs.

Yes I am 22 years now, work in investigations. I got more time with the City so Im at 20 months till I can retire with 30 years. But Im going to pick up something else Hopefully with the Sheriffs office.  Georgia has another retirement fund that Im in so I need to keep putting into that to make 30. You can get your money at 55 but it will be a reduced rate. I'll be 50 when I retire.

I got 18 months, then I will go into the DROP program down here in Florida. Be safe! And thank you.....

Dave you and me are close, Ive heard of the drop program but never understood how it works. Since Im close to the Fl line I talk to some people from Leon CO Sheriffs office from time to time, good folks there. Be safe

ON another note the GA DMV was no help on checking those numbers. Im going to tell my neighbor to call the PA DMV back and see if someone there will research that number on the iD tag. The guy said that the old records are on micro fisch. Then if we get name maybe we can find them on FB and go from there.

Vince, I was a Homicide Detective most of my 30 yr career. I've been retired for a little over 23 years. I always felt a guy needs to go on to something else after retirement. Mine was Airbrushing and Sign painting. I've done that for over 58 years now and still do. It keeps me busy and I enjoy it. I don't handle anywhere near to load I used to, but it's still fun. I didn't have the option of a Drop Program, but my wife and I do fine.

Glad to hear from another guy in blue. It was a good job, and I always respected everyone I came into contact with. I worked permanent midnights in the inner-city right up to retirement. No one else wanted that job.

Drop = Officially retire from state (FRS) Florida Retirement System. But keep the job and work up till 5 years. After 5 years you have to leave. During the drop your "Retirement" check gets deposited into an FRS savings earning a set compound interest rate. At the end, you can either roll it over or take the lump sum. So if you earn 80k a year for retirement, in five years you would have $400k plus the interest, probably $500 plus.

Im in Corrections. Most believe that is not law enforcement. Worked 2-years with the City of Ft.Lauderdale (which I lost because they were not in the FRS) and have 23 and a half with the Sheriff. I'm pretty much "burnt" but keep chugging along.

Dave, I never figured how Corrections wasn't considered Law Enforcement. My uncle was a deputy warden in Missouri State Prison system for many decades and he knew a lot about law enforcement as he dealt directly with the criminal all the time.

As  for getting burnt out, I think that happens more to corrections people. I don't know how you do it. I worked plain clothes right in the heart of the violent crime area and I felt I had an Angel with me all the time. Been spit on, pee'd on, beaten, stomped, clubbed with a nightstick, cut, stabbed and shot (the latter a freak accident), but survived it all and left on my two feet standing upright. I don't miss it, but I did enjoy putting bad people away. It was always a challenge. Never abused anyone.

Good Luck to you

Dang Bob my hats off to you, My Dept is not that big 60 man, we're down a few right now. I work a alittle of everything theres not but 6 of us and three supervisors. I do a lot of property crimes and try to keep up with the pawn shops ect. But Im getting burnt dealing with stupid people. I read reports and Say "really" your reporting that. But its a job. I've been lucky and spent most of that in CID and was on the road for 7 years. I don't think I could wear that gun belt for 12 hours now my lower back is touchy. Its a good dept we have good equipment and a lot of training.
  Dave I wish we had the drop program sounds like a pretty good deal. Hang in there .

I've been working a special detail now for 22 years straight. 4- ten hour days, Thursday thru Sunday. 10am to 8pm. Never a weekend off. But I like it that way. Can get things done.

Dang Bob my hats off to you, My Dept is not that big 60 man, we're down a few right now. I work a alittle of everything theres not but 6 of us and three supervisors. I do a lot of property crimes and try to keep up with the pawn shops ect. But Im getting burnt dealing with stupid people. I read reports and Say "really" your reporting that. But its a job. I've been lucky and spent most of that in CID and was on the road for 7 years. I don't think I could wear that gun belt for 12 hours now my lower back is touchy. Its a good dept we have good equipment and a lot of training.
  Dave I wish we had the drop program sounds like a pretty good deal. Hang in there .

You guys be careful, retirement is what it's all about. Your health is critical. I've seen so many of my buddies dying cause they didn't think they would ever get sick and die. I don't smoke or drink, thank God Im still around. BE SAFE!

Old thread, but what even became of this Barn find? Anyone working on it?

Mike T

My neighbor got the buggy from me, since he has a short chassis, we've striped the paint off down to the orginal but he hasnt done anything on it. Its sitting in my yard. He did get estimate from a fiberglass guy who was fixing my pool steps, He may let that guy go ahead and fix it to the point of painting it.

Looks like a lot of work, but lie you say. these little cars are disappearing from the landscape. Berrien still sells a body kit for as little as $1,700.00 in plain colors. Metal Flake will cost you about $2,500.00