Tuthill, Meyers Manx team up for 'amazing' LFG
Pebble Beach debutant combines beach buggy cool with Tuthill rally expertise - to the dunes!
We’ve all imagined our dream automotive collaborations over the years. What if this manufacturer could just lend a few engines to that one, for what would surely be an amazing sports car; wouldn’t it be great if these folk just made this thing a bit better to drive; and imagine if this company styled that otherwise brilliant machine, for something nearing perfection. This latest Monterey-stand collab probably isn’t one that’s been discussed much, but it sounds absolutely brilliant: a Meyers Manx buggy, totally reworked and prepped for competition by Porsche rally specialists Tuthill. Talk about a dream team: ‘Meyers Manx, from the very beginning, shouts fun, laughs, days out and friends. Tuthill has facilitated more global adventures than perhaps most automotive brands on the planet. We thought we’d join forces…’
For the moment, it’s called LFG, which the press material would imply stands for ‘Let’s Flipping Go’; in truth, there’s a slightly naughtier word in the middle there, but we’ll leave that to your imagination. The message is clear: this is for the wildest, most thrilling off-road adventures possible, both solo and as part of the wider LFG community. See the first 20 of the 100 units built are going to be eligible for the inaugural LFG Baja tour in 2027, which will celebrate 50 years since the Meyers Manx won the Baja 1000 (or Mexican 1000, as it was in 1977). That surely promises to be the experience of a lifetime.
Particularly when you consider the spec. There aren’t a tonne of specific details just yet, but what has been shared from Monterey Car Week sounds absolutely sensational. The LFG is going to be offered with ‘several engine specifications’, the most notable of which being a four-valve unit ‘derived from the Tuthill K’; you know, the 11,000rpm flamethrower from super lightweight 911 projects. Imagine that, in this. There’s also going to be an Inconel exhaust, a six-speed sequential and four-wheel drive with front, centre and rear limited-slip diffs.
Proper stuff, basically, and that’s really just the start. The body is all carbon with a rollover structure incorporated, and each corner is supported by a pair of adjustable dampers with a hydraulic bump stop, so the LFG ought to be set for any level of dune bashing possible. Indeed, the dampers are said to be five-way adjustable, so budding Bajaists can tinker to their heart’s content. The all-terrain tyres are from BF Goodrich, while inbuilt GPS and a long-range fuel tank should help if an adventurous spirit gets the better of a driver. The amazing interior, complete with a full-width dash that actually looks good and the mother of all handbrakes, features air conditioning. So an LFG is going to be a challenge to drive, though hopefully not unbearably hard work.
Richard Tuthill said of the LFG: “We crave experiences that we can look back on for the rest of our lives. We now have an amazing car to help us to create these in a unique way. The car looks fun, mischievous, it has a character that I have genuinely never seen or felt. But underneath it’s proper – it has the capability to go wherever we point it, and we can do it safely and comfortably. In two minutes, it transforms from a fully air-conditioned enclosed cabin to a doorless buggy where the wind provides the air that helps us smile. It’s very special. I can't wait to get started.”
We might have the car of Monterey already, and Friday has barely started on the West Coast. Expect a few more spec and price details of the LFG later this year. And bank on a fair few being spoken for this weekend.
A modern day, comprehensively engineered rally buggy based on a fundamentally Porsche rather than VW bug mechanicals sounds pretty wonderful to me, especially if Tuthill run the Baja experience anything like their existing rally raids customer experiences.
Why waste your cash on a dumb super/hypercar which you'd be paranoid to drive anywhere, when you could hoon around in one of these
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