Inventing the Baja Bug - The Miller-Havens Enterprises Story

Until Miller-Havens, there were no Baja Bugs. Sure, plenty of people had chopped the Bug around to gain more ground clearance, the most polished of which was build by Gary Emory and his dad Neil: (Photo courtesy Gary Emory).

Neil Emory was famous for running the Valley Custom Shop in Burbank, California until family friend Chick Iverson approached him with an offer he couldn't refuse - move the whole family to Newport Beach and run the body shop at the Chick Iverson VW dealership (formerly Cotton Goff).

Many of the now-famous players in the off-road VW scene lived in that area, and a community of friends was formed. Bruce Meyers would buy parts from the Iverson parts dept. - staffed by Gary Emory. Drino Miller and Sanford Havens worked for Bruce at the time, and when Gary dropped into Meyers Manx one day in his completed car, Drino and Sanford were the ones most interested in making a kit.

When I spoke to the late Bruce Meyers on the phone in 2020 for a Baja Bug book project (currently on the back burner), he told me that he wasn't particularly interested in making a kit and gave his two employees his blessing to go ahead.

The original Miller-Havens kit was designed by Sanford Havens and Miller-Havens Enterprises was formed. Pick up an old copy of Dune Buggies & Hot VWs magazine from the end of the 60s or early 70s and you'll likely see an ad or two from Miller-Havens. This was their demo car - featured widely in magazine articles about the company:

They coined the term Baja Bug and used it extensively in their ads - before this, 'Baja Bugs' were referred to as Choppers in magazines. Hence, although Miller-Havens didn't fully invent the concept of off-road Beetles, they did produce the first kits and coined the Baja Bug phrase.

The first MH kits were brought to market in 1969 and they were of exceptional quality and fit, with thick hand-laid fibreglass and comprehensive fitting instructions. The fitting of these kits was covered in several VW and off-road magazines at the time.

The original kit had bobbed rear fenders and a short, scooped, rear engine cover. This was revised for 1971 into the 'California' kit, due to new California regulations introduced for engine and wheel coverage. Arguably, the California kit is far prettier than the early kit.

The Miller-Havens 'California' kit was the inspiration for the incredibly detailed Tamiya Sand Scorcher RC car, introduced in 1979. I wanted an original 'Scorcher as a young kid and would realise this dream many years later; the Tamiya Sand Scorcher was the inspiration for one of our designs:

As far as Miller-Havens Enterprises goes, VWoA came after them, as with many other VW scene businesses at the time - claiming that they owned and had sole rights on the use of the word 'Bug'.

Countless people also 'splashed' (copied) the kits, as had been the case with Bruce's Manx buggy. Most of these copy kits are of terrible quality. Sanford Havens left the business after a couple of years and Drino Miller changed the name from Miller-Havens Enterprises to Drino Miller Enterprises.

Drino was an accomplished off-road racer and car builder - he was particularly adept at squeezing a lot of horsepower out of the VW flat four and won the overall 1970 Baja 1000 race in a single-seater car he built. A young Marty Martindale is in the background checking out the car at the event (Courtesy Marty Martindale):

Marty Martindale and his father were great friends with Drino and used to travel with him down to Baja for race events. Marty's dad's yellow car reportedly wore the first ever Baja Bug kit manufactured by Drino and Sanford and had a Drino Miller built 2180cc engine. Here's a picture of that yellow car - based on a '65 Bug. Note the 13" rear wheels - popular at the time for better tire to fender clearance. (Courtesy Marty Martindale):