BajaNomad

The classic Baja Bug

thebajarunner - 9-20-2021 at 05:08 PM

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...

advrider - 9-20-2021 at 07:24 PM

Very cool. Class 11 is still my favorite!

David K - 9-21-2021 at 05:48 AM

Herbie rides again!

pacificobob - 9-21-2021 at 06:47 AM

Love class 11. I have always been drawn to what I saw as an "affordable, working man's" race car.

SFandH - 9-21-2021 at 08:06 AM

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.

AKgringo - 9-21-2021 at 08:32 AM

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!

David K - 9-21-2021 at 08:57 AM

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!:


1975.jpg - 129kB

pacificobob - 9-21-2021 at 09:11 AM

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.

advrider - 9-21-2021 at 09:13 AM

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.

David K - 9-21-2021 at 09:47 AM

Quote: Originally posted by lencho  
Quote: Originally posted by David K  
It had a roof and side curtains for rainy weather.

How'd you deal with spares, having two different sized tires like that?


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).

David K - 9-21-2021 at 09:52 AM

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.

Gonzaga 74.jpg - 140kB

landcruising - 9-21-2021 at 10:42 AM

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.

David K - 9-21-2021 at 02:43 PM

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!

geoffff - 9-21-2021 at 07:52 PM

Love the bug photos, and teenage DavidK!