Mitchell G. sent us the low cost 1965 Bradley GT that is for sale here on Craigslist for only $3,500. The car is located near Piscataway, New Jersey. The seller states the price is firm and based on the pictures, a buyer is getting a lot, if this is your cup of tea. As we all know, the Bradley GT is a kit car that is based on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis. This one is blue with a black interior and doesn’t look like it needs much work.
The seller has recently installed a new clutch and pressure plate and well as a number of engine repairs including a new carburetor, alternator, starter, distributor and fuel pump. The Bradley GT has new brakes that are said to need adjustment and a new battery. This car does not have a top or rear window. All the lights and gauges are said to work to make the car street legal.
Here is a pretty good picture of the interior which looks nice and you can see the shifter sticking up from the manual transmission. A lot of Bradley GTs has rough interiors but this one looks fine. The steering wheel sure looks little compared to larger American cars of the era but that probably would help me fit in the car.
.As many of you know the Bradley Automotive had a sad ending, like most car companies. In 1977, several key employees left the company and went to work for a competitor, FiberFab. The company was not ever able to recover the loss and was forced into bankruptcy in 1978. It later reopened as an electric car company but it was probably too early for this technology and never regained the market share they once had. So who has had one of these cars and why does this one seem to be priced so cheap?
We have one,like 3-4 years back my grandpa was looking online for a car for my little sister and found a Bradly GT and him and my dad went and looked at it and they came home with it, it had no motor but had a trans, my dad’s friend is big on VW Beatles and has a bunch of motors so my dad bought one from him and put it in the car and did a few other things to it and got it running and my sister is still to young to drive so it sits under a cover in the garage waiting for her to be old enough to drive and in the past year my grandpa has tried so meany times to try and convince my dad to sell it he won’t do he want to sell it and get my sister a more practical car (we don’t have doors for it either) and every time my dad is like no were not selling it, it to rare of a car if you wanna get her something else you can but we keeping the car and it ends there the car is an early Bradly and i have yet to see another that even comes close to the same paint job it is red with a black stripe down the middle (the non functional “vent” in the front is all black as well) and around the black stripe there is a smaller goldish color over gold flake stripe (it’s thin but pops out) and another like the orange but red and on the quarter panels there is a black oval with the goldish over gold flake separating the black and red and in the black oval it says in that same goldish color “Bradly GT” in a cursive print and honestly of all the Bradly’s i have seen on the internet and in person it has the coolest paint job i have seen (sorry i’m bad at describing things but trust me it looks good for sure)
That is the longest single sentence I have read in a while. ;)
Sorry forgot about the interior, it is black vinyl in diamond shapes except the dash which is black plastic and the floor is black carpet and the back area is the back vinyl tbh it’s in good shape considering the fact that when my grandpa found the post it was siting outside under a tarp.
More interested in the 1964 Galaxie…
Piston poney, don’t understand why your dad wants your sister to drive that deathtrap. If he likes it so much, he should drive it. Apparently, grandpa, who wants to get her a more practical car, is the smart one in the family.
Fabricating the top & rear windows is gonna be a grand, easy. I’d be a player at $1500…
There is no “missing top.” What’s supposed to be there, aside from the rear window, is a set of plexiglass gullwing doors.
And the sun will beat down on you if leave them on the car on sunny days ! I rode in a friends red Bradley in the summer once ,once
I agree with Grandpa, it’s not a daily driver, but a weekend toy. I’m sure the granddaughter would look “COOL” in it on the way to the beach or lake, depending which part of the country they are from.
I’m pretty sure wipers are req’d to be steet legal. Not seen on this car.
& measure the steering wheel …
http://www.hg.org/legal-articles/what-makes-for-a-street-legal-vehicle-31563
Those seats are intriguing – what make are they? & are they DOT approved, comfortable & lightweight compared to, say, a heavy ’60s GM bucket seat?
How’s it a death trap ? Can’t be very fast with the VW engine. Punctuation is going outta style I hear.
Chris, if you got hit with this it would be like riding in a potato chip. Plus that steering column is waiting to impale someone. I used to think these things were the coolest until I realized what would happen if you got in an accident. All this is the opinion of an old grey haired geezer. You think about dangers when you gain the years! Good luck and be safe…
Cheers
GPC
Yeah, these are dangerous. Not safe, like a “crotch rocket” motorcycle.
I built a Bradley GT in 74. Mine was metallic green. Corvette windshield. Got hot in the summer with the doors on, hoped it didn’t rain. Unsafe? Never concerned me. VW chassis and and a tweaked VW engine. It was a blast to drive and the girls loved it.
Forgot to mention that mine had Karman Ghia seats in it.