thebajarunner
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3687
Registered: 9-8-2003
Location: Arizona....."Free at last from crumbling Cali
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Mood: muy amable
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The classic Baja Bug
Boy does this bring back memories of the "good old days"
Having a lot of big pickup iron over my head and a lot of V-8 horsepower under my right foot always made me sort of overlook these guys
But, looking back, I think that they had the most fun,
Well, we all had fun, but for them the fun was all the deal...
https://www.hagerty.com/media/videos/how-to-race-the-cheap-a...
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advrider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1847
Registered: 10-2-2015
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Very cool. Class 11 is still my favorite!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Herbie rides again!
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pacificobob
Super Nomad
Posts: 2237
Registered: 4-23-2006
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Love class 11. I have always been drawn to what I saw as an "affordable, working man's" race car.
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SFandH
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6925
Registered: 8-5-2011
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I built one about 40 years ago from a '73 1600 using parts from Off Road Warehouse. No engine cover, modified exhaust pipes, one on each side,
fiberglass custom fenders, big rear tires, skinny nobbies on the front.
Great fun on baja dirt roads.
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AKgringo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5807
Registered: 9-20-2014
Location: Anchorage, AK (no mas!)
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Mood: Retireded
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Quote: Originally posted by SFandH  | I built one about 40 years ago from a '73 1600 using parts from Off Road Warehouse. No engine cover, modified exhaust pipes, one on each side,
fiberglass custom fenders, big rear tires, skinny nobbies on the front.
Great fun on baja dirt roads. |
My mom and dad had one about then that they hooked to the back of their motor home. They were avid rock hounds and spent most winters in the
southwest deserts, or touring in Mexico.
It was kind of cute seeing a silver haired granny tooling around town in a Baja Bug, which she did pretty often rather than drive her Pontiac
Bonneville when they were home!
If you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much space!
"Could do better if he tried!" Report card comments from most of my grade school teachers. Sadly, still true!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by AKgringo | | Quote: Originally posted by SFandH | I built one about 40 years ago from a '73 1600 using parts from Off Road Warehouse. No engine cover, modified exhaust pipes, one on each side,
fiberglass custom fenders, big rear tires, skinny nobbies on the front.
Great fun on baja dirt roads. |
My mom and dad had one about then that they hooked to the back of their motor home. They were avid rock hounds and spent most winters in the
southwest deserts, or touring in Mexico.
It was kind of cute seeing a silver haired granny tooling around town in a Baja Bug, which she did pretty often rather than drive her Pontiac
Bonneville when they were home! |
About 1972, my folks bought a Myers Manx (1600cc) street legal buggy they towed to Baja for a beach buggy. It was featured in the local Escondido
newspaper some year previous as the custom made Baja camping bug used to go to San Borja and L.A. Bay. It had a roof and side curtains for rainy
weather.
I turned 16 in Sept 1973, so this became my car to drive to school, etc. in. On Spring Break of both 1974 and 1975, a school friend and I spent a week
in Baja using it. We wend down the newly paved Hwy. 1 then back up the all dirt gulf road to San Felipe, an on home. We took side trips to Mission San
Fernando, El Mármol and El Volcán, Mission Calamajué, La Turquesa Canyon, Gonzaga Bay and Nuevo Mazatlan.
Photo of 17-year-old me and the buggy, in 1975, on the road to El Mármol. Two other vehicles joined us that year from Escondido. One was a Ford F-100
pickup and they let me put my camping gear in the truck bed rather than on the buggy roof. This was my first 'tour' job in Baja!:
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pacificobob
Super Nomad
Posts: 2237
Registered: 4-23-2006
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I traveled around the mainland in one i built in '73. I remember doing valve adjustments laying in the dirt along side the road. Frequent and accurate
valve adjustments along with proper oil levels were fairly dang important to the health of these hard working little motors.
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advrider
Super Nomad
Posts: 1847
Registered: 10-2-2015
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Very cool roof for the time, you were an overlander before anyone knew what it was! I don't think anyone even had a spare back then, we had a tube to
fit each size.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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I had one spare (on the roof, typically).
It was a smaller VW street tire.
The front Baja tires (in the photo) were normally the rear 'street tires'.
For Baja trips, I put the big Armstrong Hi-Way flotation tires on the back, and the (normally) back 'street tires' onto the front.
If I got a rear flat, which I did once, I put the front Baja tire on the rear and the spare VW street tire on the front. The jack lifted up the whole
side of the buggy so this was not too much of a big deal for young me.
The flat was south of Gonzaga Bay and at Alfonsina's, they patched the ripped-open sidewall with a 'boot' (not a shoe boot).
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by advrider | | Very cool roof for the time, you were an overlander before anyone knew what it was! I don't think anyone even had a spare back then, we had a tube to
fit each size. |
In this photo from my 1974 trip, you can see the top is loaded, with a canvas 'dust cover'.
This is coming down one of the steep 'Gonzaga Grades', south of Puertecitos. I asked my friend to get out and take the photo. We both were 16 that
trip.
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landcruising
Newbie
Posts: 7
Registered: 9-19-2019
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It was your type of story and this picture that got me started in off road exploring in the early 80s, I was only 5 when this picture was taken, but
many of my friends older siblings talked of similar trips and shared similar pictures and stories, that me and my friends later followed. This was the
stuff of legends when I was kid.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
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| Quote: Originally posted by landcruising | | It was your type of story and this picture that got me started in off road exploring in the early 80s, I was only 5 when this picture was taken, but
many of my friends older siblings talked of similar trips and shared similar pictures and stories, that me and my friends later followed. This was the
stuff of legends when I was kid. |
I feel a loss for those who love Baja but never got to drive or ride the main roads before pavement replaced them! It was the Wild West in a way...
The people at the ranches along the way were so nice and they catered to road travelers, sometimes selling beer, sodas, and gasoline from barrels.
As long as I an able, I will share the stories and photos from the 60s and 70s before pavement entered this virgin land!
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geoffff
Senior Nomad
Posts: 643
Registered: 1-15-2009
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Love the bug photos, and teenage DavidK!
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