Bradley Automotive was a producer of fiberglass kits and (to a lesser extent) complete kit cars in the 1970s. The GT, based on a Volkswagen Beetle chassis, was their first and most popular model. The company had a complicated history, including a fictitious founder, and the marquee was gone a decade later. The seller’s survivor from 1970 is one of the finished vehicles the company built and performs as it should. Located in Meeker, Colorado, this little “funmobile” is available here on Facebook Marketplace for $7,500 OBO
Bradley began in California as Gary’s Bug Shop, named for one of the partners. Later, as it grew, operations moved to Minnesota under Bradley. Besides using a Beetle chassis for its products, the Type 1’s drivetrain was employed, like the 1600cc air-cooled 4-banger in the seller’s car. Money was always in short supply and the company was over and over taking out loans or selling shares in itself. After many attempts at “shell games,” the company threw in the towel in 1981, hold sold as many as 6,000 GTs, plus other parts and vehicles.
GTs borrowed parts from other builders’ inventories, like the windshield made for C2 Corvettes (1963 to 1967). This factory example is said to have 9,000 miles, but that sounds very low (put on by just two owners). It runs and drives, so perhaps the seller won’t have to do any work to begin enjoying the GT. These vehicles have plexiglass gullwing doors and windows, and they will come with the sale along with paperwork going back 55 years. The seller says he/she may be up for a “cool” trade but doesn’t define what cool is.
Out of all the kit cars made i always thought the Bradley to be the most ugly, and yet they sold many.
IIRC, they were *cheap*. As a kid, I thought these were fantastic. That design has not aged well though, in my eyes, and I can see now that they look pretty flimsy.
I sure like the idea of kit cars, and I suspect as EV production ramps up, the notion of buying a platform and bolting a custom body onto it (kinda like we did with VW pans) will have a place in the market. Am quite keen to see what indie designers come up with.
Damn. Nice shape, having a roof saved the interior, had to be garaged. I have a convertible one in white with black interior. Forward most spark plugs hole stripped out so needs the motor dropped for access. And, if you are going to build a convertible kit car, why wouldn’t you create runoff holes in the floors… Um, duh… Makes a nice wading pool until the floor pans rust out…
I’d rather walk.
Autism on wheels.
Ah, metallic root beer brown! You can’t get more 70’s than that.
What behemoth did those side mirrors and front bumper mounted turn signals(?) come from?
Those really ruin what few nice lines this car has.
JC Whitney is your friend!
The “GT” triggered a hike in the insurance rates, which made these just too expensive to insure. That’s what killed them.
The profile of these always reminded me of the kiddie rides at the travelling carnivals that go round in an endless circle.