Gaslands - Buggy I

My thoughs on buggies for Gaslands part I

Gaslands rules feature a list of different vehicle types. 

Every motorized wasteland scenario needs some sort of fast lightweight offroad vehicle - The buggy. The term probably originally dates back to the Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as The Beetle. A cheap car with simple mechanics. And as some people found out soon, a car with surprising offroad-capabilities after a few, but significant changes.

So the "Buggy" was born. It came in two variations. 

Baja Bug

A stripped down original Type-1 buggy lifted with stronger suspension, offroad tyres, maybe a sand board and a roll cage. The Baja-Bug, a desert-racer.

Meyer's Manx kitt-car

The other was a fibreclass body kitt-car on the Type-1 chassis that became popular with hippies and the surfer subculture.

These cars were more recreational.

Another possible origin of name are the lightweight horse carriages used for racing. 

Anyways. A "buggy" in the modern sense, that is the base of Gaslands' rules, is a leightweighted car with two seats and a rollcage, often made by customizing small cars or scrap-building. Or purposely built for races , based on a tubular frame recently.

Popularized by the Mad Max series that again heavily influenced the post-apocalyptic car-based wastelands aesthetics of Gaslands.
I'd add: offroad capabilities/tyres and preferably a rear mounted engine. And best open-wheeled or at least with distinguished fenders.

And as said before: lightweighted, small. So not your typical rallye-raid-SUV or trophy-truck.

Buggies are useful in the game. They are cheap and quick. And they are fun to build. So logically most Gaslanders will have a few in their collection.

But what diecast cars to use?

There are a few lists in the net to be found. Here is mine with some examples. 

I) The Beetles

The second most obvious choice I Think is the Custom Volkswagen Beetle.

It comes in two varieties. With roof  rack and without.

Here is my version:

Pro: right scale, pretty mean look
Con: very low original floor clearance. For offroad you need a wheel swap at least and maybe a custom suspension. 
Debatable: It is heavily customized. Heavily chopped, no fenders, special axhaust(s).

I called it the second most obvious choice, because there is of course a new mainline version of a classic Baja Beetle.

The Volkswagen "Baja Bug"  

it's a great casting, nearly battle ready. There is only one problem: Scale. It's significantly too big for a 1:64 car. If you don't mind a VW Buggy bulkier than your average American muscle, o.k. There you go. But I'm at least slightly bothered by it.

There also are several varieties. The premium models feature a closed roof or an special roof rack. The mainline version has a roof rack that is part of the roof casting.

Pro: Battle ready offroader
Con: Too big in scale
Debatable: I personally don't like the mainline tyres.


The above model is a follow up to a classic Hot Wheels. The 1980s Baja Bug.

The original is even bulkier than the new one. It's a classic, but I personally think that the overall shape is sightly wrong, and the chassis is unecessary fat.

On top of that: It's an out of production model, so it may become hard to find and maybe expensive.

Pro: Total classic
Con: Too big. A total classic -> harder to find and more expensive.

Debatable: Overall shape slightly weird, A total classic (Hot Wheels fans might object to Gaslanders ruining it)



Another classic - the VW Bug.

It's been around since 1989 but still in production. With some changes. This is a slightly modified Type 1 or Beetle. This gives you a lot of options to customize it.

It's also slightly too big for 1:64.

Pro: Total freedom to modify
Con: slightly too big



Matchbox has a similar Baja-Bug casting, called the Volkswagen Beetle 4X4






I find it slightly less appealing than the Hot Wheels version due to its snub nose. And it has the same scale issues.

Pro: Battle-ready
Con: Too big


Of course Matchbox has a variety of castings of the classic Type 1

1962 Beetle

Beetle 4X4 (predecessor of above 4X4)

Sand Digger (Another, even earlier  go at it, with targa roof and open V8 in the back)

Beetle Taxi

Volks-Dragon

They even had this Flying Bug.

And more...

II) Sandrails - Open wheeled dune buggies

When I think of dune buggies I envision long cigar shaped bodies, open wheels, open suspension and angular roll cases. One term to distinguish them from similar vehicles is "sandrail".

Sandrails are produced for recreational and racing purposes. But there are also military vehicles, commonly called LAV oder LSV (Light Attack/Strike Vehicle). They are typically sandrails with guns attached. Some have a gunner-seat.

LSVs seem just made for Gaslands.

Let's start with the obvious:

The Enforcer (or Mega Destroyer or Super Cannon)
A military buggy with an assortment of weapons, that differs from version to version, but commonly features at least two side mounted machine guns. And it is really big. Or rather long.

Pros: absolutely battle ready, easy to mod
Cons: casting maybe a bit lacking in detail. Very long



Dune It Up is a classic dune buggy. 

While it is a quintessential sandrail, I don't much like it for Gaslands builds. It's too big, and especially too long. Also the nose is weirdly sahped.

Pros: a dune buggy. Has nice parts.

Cons: Too big. 

Debatable: Shape is weird

Mountain Mauler

I think it's supposed to be a hot rodded Jeep. Not my favourite casting. It looks a bit rough. More like a rock crawler than a buggy. But still a legit choice for Gaslands. Size is o.k. on the slightly too big side. It has potential though. 

Pro: battleready and also a good base for extensive modding
Con: slightly too big, more a rock crawler
Debatable: a bit ugly



Dune Buggy (fast n furious spy kid racer stuff franchise thing)

Decent size and nearly the right look. Roll cage, suspension, spare tyre, open wheels... But somehow it looks weird. Like a cheap mock up of a dune buggy. The front is looking o.k., but the rear is missing something. I don't know. Just looks unfinished.

But the casting is not cheap. It even features a suspension.

Pros: Battle ready, working suspension

Cons: looks somehow weird.

Roll Cage

The Roll Cage is a weird casting. It could be just a chassis without a body. It could be a typical dune buggy. The perception changes with the paint job.

Size is a little too big for a buggy. But the polygonal roll cage is really great. And it has two seats and a rear enginge.

Pro: with the right paint and maybe a bit of raised suspension it's a great buggy.
Con: too big.



Blade Rider

Futuristic & mean looking car with great offroad tyres. But OMG is this big. Too big. Would work better as a performance car, I think.

Pros: looks good. 
Cons: way out of scale



Corkscrew Buggy

I love this casting. Almost. The body is made of plastic, which makes it feel a little cheap. And the wings are oversized. Fortunately the body is made of plastic as I said, so the wings can be easily chopped off. 

Pros: Good size, nice casting
Cons: Plastic, Wings are too big

Matchbox has a classic open wheeled 2006 Dune Buggy.

I'd love this casting, if it was a little smaller, and more easy to come by.

Pro: just look at it
Con: scale, again


I've never seen Matchbox Dune Buggy in the wild.
Seems decent sized. And looks as if it has potential. A bit of modding, to get rid if the sluggish look, maybe? Who knows. Here's a pic...

Con: I have no clue, where to get one... 

Roar by Four

A little more sleek and futuristic looking ist this:

Again I only know this from images. But looks promising.

Polariz RZR

This little buddy looks like a golf kart on steroides. I think it's supposed to be a quad qith roll cage. For a 1:64 buggy it's off scale. 

It has some nice parts though. 

Pro: novelty

Con: scale too big

That's a weird one. The Modified Racer

I got one on Ebay. Looked promising on the pic. But the actual car is wayyy too big. the scale is so weird. Matchbox wiki sayis, it's 1:55. I wish it was smaller. Still got some nice parts out of it...

Pro: -

Con: Way out of scale

Sahara Sweeper

This one is a wasteland pro. Nicely detailed. Complete with proto gunners-seat. I like it. Never had one, though. Looks like from the same batch of some other Matchbox cars I have, which makes me fear, the plastik could be soft and cheap looking.

Pro: looks like a blast to armour up.

If you think hot rods again, here is one obvious choice. As obvious as the Bone Shaker at least:

IIa) Hot Rod Buggies

The Mad Max movies, especially Fury Road gave us an other archetype. Following the idea of the original VW modded into buggies, the movies have several hot rod styled classic cars with offroad tires and suspension.

Sooo Fast

This is simply my favourite model for buggy building from a hot rod. It has a nice, sleek shape, it is really small, and above all. It has a rear engine. Come on, a freaking rear engine!

I made one. Another one is WIP.




The only downside is, there are currently no mainline versions of it. So you have to go Ebay-hunting

Pro: everything, man

Con: it gets harder to find them

Perhaps one of the less obvious choices is the Rip Rod

Man, I hate this original casting. It has weird proportions, looks cheap with its plastic body and his weird "grille". 

I like hot rods. So someone gave me a Rip Rod as a present. Well... O.k. I can see the point, maybe...

I had it on my desk for bit. And some day when looking at it I thought: Hmm, it does have a roll cage under its cabin. So maybe I can use that. 
I took it apart, and beneath the original body I found one of the best looking Gaslands buggies so far.

This is what hides under that ugly skin

And this is a WIP of it. I'll finish it, as soon as I come up with a color scheme.

Pros: great size, great potential
Cons: ugly AF pig nosed abomination, until you take it apart.

Speaking of hot rods...

Open wheeled hot rods are a good base for buggies, too. Just think of the Nux car in Mad Max Fury Road

The most obvious choice is one of Hot Wheels all time favourite castings - The Bone Shaker.

Like many others I love this casting. I mean, a hot rod with a skull-grille. How badass is that?

The only problem with its use as a buggy is again scale. Actually the boneshaker is a truck. It's somewhat downscaled. It's even worse with the Baja-Shaker

Apart from that, it's a great casting and a good base for a buggy.


Yes, I did one, of course.

Pro: Nice casting, easy to mod
Con: Scale slightly off

'32 Ford

Another of my favourite castings. Yeah I know Nux' car is a Chevy, but really, don't you see the possibilities?

Pro: nice casting, nice parts

Con: none, really. Maybe a bit too big

Fiat 500C

O.k, you should get one. It has an incredibly nice big engine. And a cool rollcage. As a buggy? Hmmm. The Fiat 500 is a very small car. I mean, it's really tiny. The dragster model should also be tiny in comparison to other drag racers, right? 

Yeah, but that's Hot Wheels for you. Scale is just a rough guideline. I know many Gaslanders don't care. Which is fine. To me... I care a little. 

You could technically modify the car to an extent, where none of the Fiat is left. It could be a regulary 1940s coupé. In that case go for it. But as it is, I don't really like it.

Pro: nice parts

Con: way out of scale

The 1935 Ford Pick-Up

It's an incredibly nice casting, a great base model for hot rod or rat rod customs, and also for buggys. The size looks o.k., the car is chopped nicely, so it works. 

Pro: Nice casting, at least the metal parts.
Con: Guys, what's with your plastic? I mean look at that blurry details on the engine. Really? Why? 



Matchbox has a few more recent 1:64ish classic cars, that could be modded. 

1934 Chevy Master Coupe 

1936 Ford Coupe

1932 Ford Model B Coupe

1933 Ford Coupe

They are all decent quality and all are slightly too big in size.

-> Read Part II