BOXX
Welcome to the BOXX journey! We appreciate your interest in seeing the BOXX become a reality. Build and drive your own unique transportation vehicle. BOXX, from the past, for the future.
Overview
Build your own personal BOXX. Drive BOXX to the store. blow away your friends. Use it as a showpiece for your business. BOXX is the modern day version of an innovative automobile that was produced and inspired by the California surf culture in the 70’s, the Brubaker Box. Impossibly rare, there are only 19 known examples of this historic design left in the world. Help save the Brubaker Box from extinction, and get them back on the road. Now is your chance to own a BOXX fiberglass body kit
Please join DRIVEN.co and help save this automotive art design masterpiece from extinction. You could own the next BOXX to be built and driven around town!
The Swamp Boxx by DRIVEN.co
DRIVEN.co has obtained the original very first Brubaker Box.
This is the same car that appeared on the cover of Car and Driver magazine in March of 1972, all the sales brochures, and several movies.
We tracked it down and found it dilapidated and left for dead in a Florida swamp. We could restore the car like we often do, and see it go into a private collection but we think the BOXX is truly special. It deserves better. It should be driven and enjoyed by you, those interested in art design and automotive BOXX aficionados everywhere.
If you are shy this may not be the car for you. BOXX draws a crowd and attention everywhere it goes. Some say that BOXX was the very first true modern mini-van, but BOXX artistic design almost defies traditional descriptions. Its quirky utilitarian design was innovative in its day, and has become iconic. It still looks futuristic today.
BOXX is a fiberglass body shell kit that fits on an unmodified Volkswagen Beetle chassis after the car’s body is removed. BOXX turns a funky little Volkswagen Bug into one of the coolest cars you could ever possibly drive on the street. Want to be the center of conversation anywhere you go?……..then this is your ticket!!
YOU and BOXX?
BOXX is an amazing piece of artistic design that you can use and share. BOXX attracts attention like no other vehicle. Put that together with your business or enjoy the roads and shows with something no one else has.
BOXX is built to your personal tastes, by you, or with your kids, or buddies. Each unique BOXX displays your take on the classic design and your pride of ownership.
BOXX is rare and almost extinct. Join the team to save BOXX. Let’s get them back on the road, be it electric, hydrogen, 4×4, autonomous driving, or?
That’s the gist of BOXX…intrigued?
For us geeks, there is a TON of information, history, BOXX future plans to go electric, 4×4 & more. Dig In !!!
BOXX is a stunning example of artistic product design……rolling art, if you will. BOXX is a fiberglass automobile body, produced by DRIVEN.co. BOXX is a tribute to the Brubaker Box & AutoMecca Roamer sports van of which there were roughly 28 produced in the early 1970’s. BOXX can be adapted to fit a wide variety of different power plants and chassis such as electric (EV), hydrogen, hybrid or off road 4X4.
YES, there is financing! We have arranged long term financing to fund your project. With your good credit, you could own a BOXX kit for as little as $239 per month!
The Brubaker Box started life in Southern California and had roots with the renowned Art Center College of Design. Curtis Brubaker’s idea was to create a sporty, utilitarian, and safety minded production vehicle. Designer Curtis Brubaker and his team of Harry Wykes and Todd Gerstenberger, brought the design to life as the Brubaker Box. The Brubaker Box was released in 1972 to rave reviews and sent shockwaves throughout the automotive world. Its artistic design was futuristic and unique back in the 70’s and this still holds true today.
Only 3 Brubaker Boxes were ever built. The company had plans for Volkswagen to provide chassis and drivetrains but the deal fell apart. Brubaker was forced to close shop after the car made the March 1972 cover of Car and Driver magazine (above), which is the image many people remember.
Mike Hansen, an initial investor in the Brubaker Box, formed AutoMecca to continue to build additional cars. These second generation models were renamed the Roamer Sports Van. AutoMecca built just 25 more cars before they too ceased production.
AutoMecca even built and raced an off road racer named the “Baja Box” which competed in the Mickey Thompson Off Road Series race at Riverside, CA. Mike Jr. was at the wheel and Dad riding shotgun. Mike Jr. told us that because the driver seating position was so far back in the car, the Box was very safe. That turned out to be a very good thing because one second after this photo was taken, the “Baja Box” crash landed on its nose and its racing days were over.
Interest in the BOXX design has only increased through the years. With retro styling being so popular and world wide resurgence of interest in component cars, the timing is right. BOXX has the ability to easily adapt to other modes of alternate power sources such as electric or hydrogen, or for simplicity, keep it original, utilizing plentiful and inexpensive VW Beetle components. Many of the beetle’s parts readily transfer over to applications on BOXX.
With so few original examples of the Brubaker Box, high enthusiast demand and their skyrocketing value, BOXX fiberglass bodies make sense. They allow this tour de force of rolling art, to once again be seen on public streets, to be shared with fellow enthusiasts. Only 19 examples are known to still exist. so unfortunately most originals sit hidden in garages or languish in collections out of public view. Since most enthusiasts have never actually seen one in person, BOXX has become almost a mythical item…a unicorn of iconic artistic design.
Many people’s first exposure to the Brubaker Box was through movies and TV. The 1976 television show “ARK II” featured a modified Brubaker Box they named “ROAMER” for the series. The Roamer likely became the most famous Box, where it appeared to be driven by children and even a chimpanzee. A Brubaker Box was also featured in the movie “Grid Runners”.
But perhaps the most memorable appearance for the Brubaker Box was being featured in the classic movie Soylent Green, a 1973 Sci-Fi thriller set in, interestingly, the year 2022.
Almost 50 years apart. Curtis Brubaker poses with his creation. Both of these photos showcase the first streetable Box that he designed and built!!!!
We’ve been looking for 40 years. DRIVEN.CO finally received word of an unbuilt kit that had been languishing in a storage facility since new. It was incomplete, piled over and inside with trash and junk, but to us……it was a priceless treasure.
Once we started to re-create missing parts, we were shocked by the incredible popularity that the BOXX generated. DRIVEN.CO began to look into the viability of creating a modern day version of the fiberglass body. We then found out that lightening can sometime strike twice.
One of the 3 original Brubaker Boxes that were manufactured had been unearthed in Florida. DRIVEN.CO found ourselves immediately on a plane flying across the country to rescue another Box. Indeed, there was a Box that had been claimed by the swamp, sitting out in the backwoods for some 25 years. We met up with a couple of great guys and were able to drag the Brubaker Box out of its swampy grave.
We have since been able to share “SWAMP BOX” with television and internet audiences through the shows AutoBiography and Motor Trend’s Car Kings. Driven.co’s You Tube Channel and DRIVEN TV on Roku are also very popular. It is heart warming to find out how many people actually remember the Box and meet so many that couldn’t believe it actually existed. As is unusual for car shows, it seemed that every age group found the Box appealing and were fascinated with BOXX and it’s potential for the future. Loved by “techys”, off roaders, the custom crowd and purists alike.
Though we didn’t realize it at the time, and after much research, our fondly named “Swamp Box” turned out to be none other than the very same original brown Brubaker Box featured on the Car & Driver magazine cover! DRIVEN.co has built some pretty awesome cars but we’ve never seen one draw a crowd like BOXX does. Even in her rough condition, she is a favorite!
For some of us, the first Brubaker Box was saw was on TV. The 70’s TV show ARKII featured a modified Box named “ROAMER”. It was driven on the show by children, and even an ape.
Manufacturers, Suppliers, Sponsors? We can use all the help we can get. Leave us a note with your interests!
