By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, eBay

It was the world of California sun, surf and fun in the early 1960s that inspired Bruce Meyers to craft the ultimate dune machine and all-around recreational vehicle. But the domino that Meyers toppled with his first prototype, Old Red, would lead to something bigger than Pismo and California itself; the whole nation wanted what the Manx offered. And this was the 1960s remember, so B. F. Meyers & Co. couldn’t simply throw buggy body kits on Amazon to be drop-shipped the world over.

Thus dozens of other companies sprung up all over the United States selling fiberglass-bodied buggies, each with a unique sales avenue or regional base. One such company was Allison, hailing from a different world of sand and sun — Daytona Beach, Florida.

Allison’s aptly named Daytona dune buggies were the product of a husband and wife team of Kenneth and Arlene Allison, with a handful employees at their Port Orange facility. Producing four to five buggies a week, Allison enjoyed relative success in the fiberglass buggy market with something like 600 buggies built. Allison’s products were done in the familiar buggy style, but with thicker, hand-laid fiberglass than many competitors. The company also built many high-performance buggies based on Porsche donors, along with deluxe builds billed as the Cadillacs of dune buggies.

But more stringent motor vehicle codes in the 1970s made it difficult for dune buggy manufacturers to turn a profit, and like many others, Allison looked for a different direction in the early 1970s. Most notably, Allison produced an MG-TD replica into the 1980s.

With the resurgence of buggy culture and the enduring appeal of the VW air-cooled platform, Allison buggies have become respected classics today with a loyal following. Offered by it original owner in great, unmodified condition, this Allison Daytona has to be one of the best out there. Check it out here on eBay.

Built on a 1966 VW platform and completed in 1969, this Allison echoes all the great styling cues of the buggy’s heyday. Its fiberglass bodywork is finished in a medium blue metalflake with fantastic throwback striping that the owner claims is original from Allison.

Making an equally strong statement, are the ET slot-mag wheels wrapped in original Goodyear bias-ply tires. Now you probably won’t want to drive far with these installed, but they do take the buggy’s period-correct look to the next level. If it were mine, I’d hold onto the mags and bias plies for their presentation value and grab an additional set of wheels and tires for driving.

Out back, the Allison sports a VW 1,600 cc engine modified with a big-bore kit, cam and 42 mm Weber carburetors. With close-ratio gears in the transmission, the seller reports that the buggy is fast and fun, and needs to be seen in person to be appreciated.

With five days remaining in the auction, the current high bid is $5,600. But that’s quite a bit shy of the seller’s Buy-It-Now price of $14,000.

See the Allison buggy here on eBay.