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Jeffries Unwinds His New KYOTE

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN  A HIGH-STYLE CALIFORNIA CUSTOMIZER TURNS HIS HAND TO DUNE BUGGIES?
Take a Look...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

KYOTE

Copyright  August 1968 Dune buggies, The Fun Car Journal by Ed Orrx

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 To most of the off-road crowd the name Dean Jeffries might not mean anything.  But if your interest in things automotive goes back to hot rods and wild exotic custom cars, then Dean is well known and admired.  Who can forget the unreal, asymmetrical "Manta Ray?"  And who hasn't seen the futuristic touring car shown each week in the opening scenes of The Monkees' TV show?  The same man is responsible for both.  Now he has turned his creative talents toward the Buggista and the Streetista (those are the street buggy fans).  And it is starting a whole new trend.
As all the dune buffs know, buggies are a ball to drive on the street if you are willing to take the same chances taken by people who drive racy-looking $20,000 sports cars-that is,  every knurd on the freeway tries to run over you while looking at your car.  So it is only natural for someone to design a bug oriented more for the street than sand.
  Why not?  For less than two thou you can have a hot, roadable car that will stop traffic like a high rise mini-skirt.  This was the crowd Jeffries had in mind when the idea first came to him to build his Kyote.  I don't know when that was, but last August I got my first glimpse of the chicken wire and steel rod frame that would eventually be a mold.

And I went right out of my chicken joking mind.
  Here was a VW sports car, pure and simple. And don't give me that jazz about the Ghia.  Translating lines on paper to curves in glass takes time and the car is not finished at this writing but will be by the time you read it.  And the picture only shows the half of it.

 
 
 

Not shown in the picture are the curved side panels that run from the waistline to the floor pan.  You can go two ways with these.  Either have holes cut on the inside for big side pockets or use them for bladder type fuel tanks to augment the 14 gal. fiberglass tank built into the nose of the car. This gives you about nine skillion miles of range with the good old VW type of fuel economy.

  Two other panels still in the mold stage are the front and rear sections.  In the front there is a piece that runs back under the nose for better aerodynamics. and in the rear there is a section that fits on the back and opens for easy access to the engine to say nothing of the spoiler effect it gives.
  Eight bolts hold the panels on and eight nuts  removed will take them off and you are ready for the sand.  The wide rear fenders, and they are wider than they appear in the picture, will cover  a 12 in. tire for street legalness.
  Up front the fenders house a pair of recessed headlights that are due to be covered with plastic covers just like the big GT cars.
The covers not only add class to the car but they make it the only buggy with built in protection for the headlights-not a bad idea.
  Tops are still on the drawing boards, but should take shape soon.  Jeffries plans three models-a coupe, a fastback and an old touring car style like the top on the Monkees' car.
  Most kit cars are offered in two kits, A and B.  The Kyote comes in three ways, A, B, and C.  The A kit is just the body.  The B includes all the hardware for mounting and the windshield.  The C kit is  all of the above, with the street panels included.  Jeffries'  prices are competitive with most kit manufacturers and the car is currently being laid up by hand.
  Call it a STREET BUGGY or a DUNE ROD or whatever you want, the Kyote sure looks like fun.

Original article submitted by KYOTEBOY
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