Why This Manx Sold for $450,000 at Amelia Island

If we’re honest, it’s pretty down to two proper nouns: Steve and McQueen. This Con-Ferr Meyers Manx was designed specifically for the star’s turn in The Thomas Crown Affair.

Rumor has it McQueen himself had a hand in designing the buggy, which can be seen in the film. The Manx comes as McQueen drives like a maniac with Faye Dunaway in the passenger seat. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the driver and era, none of the shots below involve any stunt-people and that’s really just Dunaway screaming in that shot.

The Manx was given a cut down windshield, magnesium wheels, and the naturally aspirated flat-six from a Corvair to be sure that McQueen’s mania would be sated.

“Crown lives at the beach, and he has a sand dune buggy,” said McQueen. “I helped ’em design it, so I’m kinda proud of that. It’s set on a Volkswagen chassis, with big ol’ wide weenies, big wide tires on mag wheels, Corvair engine stuffed in the back…It’s very light, you know. It’s pulling about 230 horses, and the vehicle weighs about 1,000 pounds.”

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And that the car appears at all in the movie is thanks to McQueen. The script originally called for a Jeep, but when he saw a Meyers Manx jumping through the air on the cover of Road & Track, he knew he needed one for the film.

Although that engine is now back in the Manx, after principal photography finished on the movie, the car’s next owner opted to replace the engine with a lighter 2.2-liter, race-prepped VW flat-four.

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