Jay Leno Gets A Dirt-Slinging History Lesson In A 190-HP Baja Bug
A guy who couldn’t afford a dune buggy decided to take matters into his own hands, and so, he created the Baja Bug. That’s the story of Gary Emory. A man who wanted a dune buggy, but his bank account wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about it. So, around 1966, he traded a 80cc Suzuki motorcycle for a wrecked 1957 Volkswagen Beetle and got creative. The result helped launch the Baja Bug movement. Now, his son Rod Emory has brought a chrome-yellow tribute to Jay Leno’s Garage, complete with roughly 190 horsepower. Dad’s original idea was affordable off-road fun. The family apparently decided extra horsepower was a perfectly reasonable inheritance.
The First Baja Bug Started With A Wrecked Volkswagen Beetle
Gary couldn’t afford a Meyers Manx kit, but he had something pretty useful: a family that knew its way around a body shop.
His father ran the shop at Chick Iverson Volkswagen Porsche, and his brother Don handled paint. Together, they turned the battered Beetle into a dirt-loving little troublemaker.
They shortened the nose and tail, raised the suspension, and modified steel fenders to fit bigger tires. Front fenders went on the rear for extra width. No fiberglass kit, no instruction manual, just skilled people making a Volkswagen do things Volkswagen hadn’t necessarily planned.
Finished in 1967, Gary called it the Bobbed Beetle. According to Rod, a magazine writer nicknamed it the Baja Bug, which admittedly sounds much better on a T-shirt. Meyers Manx fiberglass specialist Drino Miller saw the potential and subsequently developed the first fiberglass conversion kit. That gave other Beetle owners a way to join the fun without having an entire family of metalworkers on standby.
Gary didn’t turn his creation into a kit business. He just kept driving it. Sometimes, the guy who starts a movement simply wants to go play in the dirt.
The Family’s Baja Bug Tribute Has About 190 Horsepower
The original Baja Bug was eventually totaled in a rollover. Years later, Gary and Rod started collecting parts to recreate it, but Gary died before the project was finished.
The family completed it in his honor. Rod’s daughter Jade contributed cutting and welding work, his son-in-law Drew finished the metalwork, and Don returned to spray the same chrome-yellow paint he had applied in 1967. He’s now 80, and apparently retirement can wait when there’s a family legend to finish.
The tribute also gets two upgrades Gary always said he wanted: independent rear suspension and a bigger engine.
That engine is a FAT Performance-built 2,650cc Type 4 previously used in one of Rod’s Porsche Outlaws. It produces around 190 hp, while the whole car weighs approximately 1,800 pounds. Suddenly, that friendly yellow Beetle looks like it might need adult supervision.
Audrain’s 1974 Super Beetle Baja also appears in the episode, offering a more traditional take with an estimated 50 hp. But the yellow tribute brings the extra punch when Jay heads into the dirt.
There’s sliding, bouncing, and a moment when Jay announces he almost rolled it. Thankfully, this family reunion doesn’t need another body-shop appointment.
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