In November 2020, Bruce Meyers sold his company Meyers Manx for an investment firm called Trousdale Ventures. At the time, Trousdale founder and CEO Phillip Sarofim said, “We are assembling an international dream team of passionate and innovative souls to bring back the Meyers Manx legacy. the joy, freedom and expression that Bruce and [wife] Winnie created. “Two months later, the man who has done so much to boost the Southern California vibe is The Beach Boys, by creating alcohol Buggy, died at 94 years old. Sadly, he’s not here to see where Sarofim is taking the Manx. Autoweek talked to a member of Sarofim’s dream team, designer Freeman Thomas, and at least we know for now that the first new Meyers Manx will be electric and will appear next year.
What we don’t know is what the upcoming buggy will look like, but it doesn’t look like it will be far from the original. The design team digitized one of the first Manx and scrutinized it, in part to ensure continuity. Freeman told AW, “[One] The goal I wanted was to completely not change the size of the Meyers Manx,” added, “It’s like taking the original 911, and it goes through all the generations of evolution from the 901 to the 964. In terms of dimension. , it’s still the same car, but it’s been improved. It’s just a better, more capable car. “
Another reason for thorough research is that the first bug out of the door will run on electricity, so designers and engineers have found encapsulated solutions. Trousdale is a shareholder in Coreshell, a company that has found a way to expand the process of coating the inside of electric vehicles the battery for industrial production. The coating slows down the degradation of the anode and cathode during charging, the benefit of the battery according to Coreshell CEO Jonathan Tan is “not only longer life but also the ability to charge into a higher voltage range , higher limits and squeezes more juice from each battery charge, extending its life and preventing heat loss.” That last advantage is a fancy way of saying fewer battery fires.
The powertrain being tested will now deliver 240 horsepower over a 240-mile range, in return for a 400 pound weight gain over the original Manx. Prototypes will hit the market next year to see if, as Freeman puts it, their creation is “something you love and you want to ride as much as possible”.
Note that Bruce Meyers won’t be offended by any of this, as he has already launched a 2014 Meyers Manx electric prototype.
However, there will be a petrol-powered version after the EV for the purists. Towards Autoweek for the full story of what Freeman and his team have planned.
