Wild Desert Beetle

Herndon (USA), 11. October 2017

Rocks, steep canyons, Jogging pistes, a little point of view, pits, dust and sand. All these obstacles have to deal with the participants of the so-called "Baja 1000", of course, at night. To the fiftieth edition VW is reminiscent of the famous "Baja Bugs", and the resulting Buggies.

A wild Ride through the terrain

31. October 1967 was the first Baja rally ushered in, at that time still under the name of "Mexican 1000". 68 vehicles started in Tijuana, only 31 made it to 950 miles (the equivalent of about 1,530 kilometers) to the target, which was, as of 2017, in the Mexican city of La Paz. The winner of the required 27 hours and 38 minutes, great breaks were not there. At that time there was no prescribed course, only five fixed Checkpoints had to be approached. Although for a long time motorcycles were first on the field, won, finally, a Meyers Manx from the inventor of the buggy, Bruce Meyers.

The father of the buggy

Meyers developed his time in the United States the popular "Baja Bugs", later covered VW beetles for fun all-terrain rides, and more. So a four-wheel-powered Meyers Manx with a beetle engine in the rear was created for the first "Baja". Already in 1964, Meyers had screwed a self-designed plastic body on a shortened beetle chassis, the Buggy was born. Especially the VW Fans in California joined the small fun cars in your heart and on motzten you often. At the end of the 1960s, the Buggy-wave has also swept Germany, the most prominent manufacturer, the company Karmann was (with the blessing of VW). The 2017er-anniversary edition of the "Baja 1000" leads to the opposite of your name about 1,200 miles (1.930 km) from Ensenada to La Paz. The Hippie times of the VW beetle and co. are over, however, already for a long time: the victory high-tuned special fight race cars-built in the style of the Dakar rally.(rh)

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