|
Deserter Series One Our original '67 Deserter dune buggy was visually a shameless clone of Bruce Meyers' ingenius design, the Manx. In order to make the car more roadworthy, however, we extended the body to fit on a VW pan shortened to 84" wheelbase, instead of the then-customary 80". This in turn enabled us to hang a little more horsepower off the back end. In '68, we built a Deserter Series One with a 1600 Porsche Super in the rear, and, after a quick review of the SCCA rule book, went to Lime Rock to mix it up with the sports cars. (Therein lies another story.) While the Deserter line was my concept, the actual protoypes and production parts were made next door to Dearborn Automobile Company(in Marblehead) at Autodynamics, then the largest manufacturer of racing cars in the country. Company products included the SCCA National Championship Caldwell Formula Vees, the D9 Formula Fords (by 1970, the car to beat in SCCA) and D10 Formula SuperVees. In addition, Ray Caldwell had designed a Formula 5000 car for Brett Lunger, and was working on a new Can Am car for Sam Posey. The company had a dyno shop, chassis fabricating facilities, a fiberglass shop, and engineers Ray Caldwell and Fred Jackson. All of us knew that we could build a Corvair-powered rear-engined Deserter with readily available parts, but we also knew that it wouldn't handle well enough to be competitive. Deserter GS I asked Ray Caldwell and his chassis builder, Bill Woodhead, to design a mid-engined layout for the existing Deserter Series One buggy body. We knew that the doorless "tub" of the Deserter was very light and pretty rigid, and we had this idea that a floor pan could be molded out of fiberglass, incorporating the seats in the same piece. And so it came together. A mild steel tubular frame was designed, and the "floorpan" was cast fiberglass with two impressions of my butt in it. These two pieces were bonded and riveted together to form a mid-engined frame more rigid than the company's Formula Ford chassis! Pickup points were incorporated at the front for VW beam axles, and in the engine bay to carry Corvair or 911 or VW engines. The best we knew about swing axle suspensions was used to locate the VW transaxle FV style, behind the engine bay. The result was an 85" wheelbase Deserter GS, which weighed in at under 1300lbs with a Corvair amidships. The weight distribution was nearly 50/50 instead of 30/70 for a (rear-engined) Deserter GT or 10/90 for a Manx. We called the mid-engined model "GS"; not after the Buick Gran Sport but after the ski race "Giant Slalom". I believed that the real market for the car was for autocross competition and street use, not the SCCA sportsracing classes then dominated by Can-Am cars. Indeed, Bill Goodale became SCCA National Solo Champion in a Deserter GS during the 70's. We did make a few kits available to customers for the annual hill climb at Pike's Peak, and we built a GT-style GS/VW for me to do the 1971 event. After the event I ran this car with a Corvair engine in SCCA and at a few 1/4 mile ovals. The 1969-72 Deserter GS cars and kits were made with the newer GT-type body... basically the same tub with slicker body design. All of the 1969-72 rear-engined Deserters had the GT body made for a VW swingaxle floorpan shortened to 84" wheelbase. Deserter GT After the Deserter GS was sorted out and kits were selling smoothly, I wanted a new body design for our cars. Most Deserter customers were using their cars on pavement, so I envisioned a sleeker body with the same adequate engine and tire coverage. A stunning, clean-looking new design emerged among all the "second-generation" buggies....... the Bounty Hunter. I quickly made arrangements with its talented designer, Californian Brian Dries, for the rights to use his design for the next Deserter body style. Our challenge for this new Deserter GT was to take the Dries style, stretch it 4" to fit VW floor pans of 84" wheelbase, assure that it could be licensed for road use in every state, keep the kit pieces to a bare minimum for easy manufacture, and retain the quality of easy assembly by amateur kit builders. This new body also had to be useable for the next iteration of the mid-engined GS. In the end, no single body part or curve was retained from the Dries design, but the distinctive look was honored. Various tricks were used to enhance body rigidity without adding too much weight. Windshield posts were cast in aluminum, and were similar to the Dries design for Renault Dauphine windshields. They had threaded holes in the top of each post for the attachment of a soft or hard top header. A hard top was designed with gullwing doors. The rear fender wells were made wide to accept the longer 1967 and later VW swing axles with 15X10 wheels mounted. I sold the business to Autodynamics in late 1971, and Reeves Callaway became the sales manager. Deserter cars and kits are no longer made by Dearborn Automobile Co., and we do not sell or trade used Deserter cars or parts. The Deserter information contained herein is for historical purposes only, and it is hoped that it will assist restorers. -Alex Dearborn |