This is a matching pair of dune buggies with tubular steel frames created by celebrated artist Benedict Radcliffe, they’re based on VW Beetle mechanicals, and they’re both operable and fully-drivable.
Radcliffe is an artist best-known in automotive circles for his incredible 1:1 scale sculptures of some of the most iconic cars ever made – vehicles like the Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari F40, Lancia Stratos HF, Porsche 934, and more.
The two vehicles you see here are a first for Benedict Radcliffe, rather than stationary sculptures of cars or other machines at 1:1 scale, they’re actual functioning and drivable cars.
History Speedrun: Benedict Radcliffe
Benedict Radcliffe is a British artist and fabricator whose signature work is a full-scale “wireframe” sculpture series of everyday objects and, most famously, cars reduced to their essential lines in steel. Radcliffe’s work looks like a three-dimensional drawing – they’re technical, precise, 1:1 scale, and usually very brightly colored.
Radcliffe studied at Glasgow’s Mackintosh School, then leaned hard into making things with his own hands as much as designing. Early on, he worked in commercial fabrication including interiors and furniture alongside sculpture, and his pieces are typically jig-built, welded, and finished more like engineering prototypes than traditional sculptures.
Perhaps his most important early project was a personal exhibition piece titled Modern Japanese Classic, it was a 1:1 wireframe Subaru Impreza P1 made shortly after he graduated in Glasgow. This piece set the template for much of what followed – automotive icons rendered in steel rod (or tube), then painted or powdercoated so they pop against their backgrounds.
Over time Radcliffe’s work has won him global recognition, and it now includes subjects including a London taxi (a Heathrow Terminal 2 commission), and the aforementioned Lamborghini Countach, Ferrari F40, Lancia Stratos HF, Porsche 934, and even a full-scale excavator.
His process is always hands-on – technical drawings and photos are distilled into a set of lines, then cut, bent, welded, and finished. Radcliffe’s sculptures have now been displayed at some of the world’s most prominent galleries and museums, and many pieces have been sold into major private collections.
Each of these buggies started life as real, pre-existing dune buggies that were then bought by Radcliffe and stripped down to their bare mechanical elements. He then fabricated brand new tubular steel frames directly inspired by the most iconic dune buggy of all time – the Meyers Manx.
The Benedict Radcliffe Dune Buggies Shown Here
The two vehicles you see here are a first for Benedict Radcliffe, rather than stationary sculptures of cars or other machines at 1:1 scale, they’re actual functioning and drivable cars. Each of these buggies started life as real, pre-existing dune buggies that were then bought by Radcliffe and stripped down to their bare mechanical elements.
He then fabricated brand new tubular steel frames directly inspired by the most iconic dune buggy of all time – the Meyers Manx. In so doing, Radcliffe has combined the tubular steel look of early sandrail buggies with the lines of the Bruce Meyers-designed Manx.
The two buggies are finished in Green/Yellow and Orange/Black. They’re powered by 1.3 liter and 1.9 liter VW flat-four, air-cooled engines respectively, and the Green/Yellow buggy also benefits from the fitment of independent rear suspension (as opposed to the earlier swing axle rear) and a “Freeway Flyer” gearbox with upgraded internals better suited for modern highway driving.
Inside is a relative term when it comes to vehicles like this of course, but inside the Green buggy you’ll find black leatherette and corduroy cloth-trimmed Porsche RSR-style seats. Inside the Orange buggy you’ll find black leather-trimmed Scheel-Mann front seats plus a rear bench seat, with a black leatherette-trimmed centre console and floor panels.
Of the two vehicles, the Green buggy is by far the quickest, thanks to a series of major mechanical upgrades. It’s powered by a 1.9 liter VW engine with an Autolinea race case with 94mm pistons, an 86mm counterweight crankshaft, 5.4 inch I-beam con rods, and much, much more.
Of the two vehicles, the Green buggy is by far the quickest, thanks to a series of major mechanical upgrades. It’s powered by a 1.9 liter VW engine with an Autolinea race case with 94mm pistons, an 86mm counterweight crankshaft, 5.4 inch I-beam con rods, an Engle FK8 camshaft with 30mm followers, CB Performance Panchito big valve cylinder heads, 1.4:1 ratio rockers with bolt-up shafts, and 44 IDF carburetors.
Both buggies are now being offered for sale as a pair, with the proviso that they’re for off-road and/or display use only. If you’d like to read more about them or place a bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
