This trike is currently on eBay (#190230739859) for about a thousand dollars at four days to go. Not much is known about it as it’s a “barn find”, but the assumption is that it was handbuilt (which I’d first assumed using foam sandwich construction, but in reality it’s a steel body) during the eighties. Apparently it was shown on the ISCA circuit and won a class championship in Handbuilt Sports for the Great Lakes Division. It’s been in storage for two decades, and has only 185 miles indicated on the odometer. The fuel pump seems to be dead, but other than that it runs (so whoever buys it will have to trailer it, but shouldn’t have too much trouble getting it going).

It’s built around a 1973 nicely detailed 1600cc VW driveline with a 4-speed transaxle. Suspension at the rear is VW IRS with coil-overs, and the front is a custom design built out of 2″ plated square tube. Gauges are Stewart-Warner and the upholstery is crushed velvet. It’s still registered as a VW Beetle, but I doubt that registration would hold up in most states.

After the young owner died, my friend Dave took on this car from his mother to sell for her. It started life as a Bradley GT with an assortment of Testarossa kit parts (the ground effects, rear end, and front grill) grafted on. I took these photos right after he got the car — since then it’s had a few more pieces glassed onto it. It’s certainly odd looking… The body is sitting on a VW chassis with a turbo modification, and push-button controlled air suspension for clearing speedbumps. The doors have been modified to contain rolldown windows, and overall the car was quite nice.

The only thing more metal than the Manta Mirage is selling your Manta Mirage to finance your metal band… That’s the story behind the Mirage below, which was sold for $10,000 — probably the best price you’ll ever find for a running Manta. It was built with a fairly stock setup on the tube chassis (short version), a VW front end with variable height air suspension, and a 327 V8 mated to a Corvair transmission. Chris had bought the car with an unknown history, so we don’t know who built the custom rear end with the molded in wing.

This one-off custom Oldsmobile Toronado was appraised with a replacement cost of $175,000 and a “fair market value” of $105,000… The eBay auction (#270244834481) is currently at $8,500 with no bids, and it won’t surprise me if that’s where it stays. The current owner bought it with the intention of painting it and getting it on the road as an outrageous show car — and I agree, it probably would be quite striking — but never got it out of storage, with other projects taking priority. The Toronado was widened and lengthened significantly (so it’s about the size of a 1960 Lincoln convertible), with the addition of a Carson top and rumble seat in the back. Each row of seats (including the rumble seat) sits three.

John writes,

“I’ve had over 40 classic cars, and I’ve never received as much attention as I do when I’m driving this around town. It’s so low and comfortable it’s like driving a bed down the road. The removable back window and doors let you feel like you’ve escaped from the go-cart track! It’s a perfect car with which to enjoy the open road!”

His Bradley GT looks like it’s got a bit of fiberglass repair in its future (and a couple other things), but it really looks great and like a mountain of fun, especially with a paint job that suits it perfectly. This example is of course on a VW Beetle chassis (1966), with a 1300cc engine. It runs great and there’s no reason this couldn’t be a daily driver. John is asking $6000, and you can see tons more pictures both after the break, and on his website at Sunset Classics, where he’s also got a Testarossa replica built on a Camaro.

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Beginning in the early eighties, Covin built a Porsche 911 Turbo replica (both in this style and as a flatnose). Normally built around VW components and a fiberglass body, Luke’s example is running a 2 litre twin cam Vauxhall engine, currently for sale on eBay UK (#180254304436, located in Somerset). While it’s true that you can now buy a genuine Porsche 911 for not much more than a Covin replica, the truth is that the Covin is a far rarer vehicle, as well as costing less to maintain and insure… If you’re interested in more info, check out Covin Technical.

Many ages ago, Al Kramer built several Bradley GT kit cars. He figured he could do a better design, and set out to create his own car. Then the second version of the Bradley came out, and Al built seven of them, also saw problems that he thought he could solve with his own design, and was encouraged and continued his work. He built this car by first building a scale model in clay, and then building it at full size in wire frame. Over this he attached burlap, onto which he sprayed resin to harden it. Bondo was used to finish the form, and then a layer of lacquer. Finally, it was waxed and he took molds off it to create his body. It uses a Ford Pinto windshield and rear window, and the side windows were to be Plexiglas.

But, time passed, his eyesight aged, and his successful custom cabinet business began to take up more and more of his time. Al has decided to sell his project, which comes with:

• A drum pump for spraying fiberglass resin with the chopper attachment to dispense the fiberglass strand.
• Hand tools for rolling in the chopped strand.
• A 5 Gal pressure pot for gel coat.
• The first pull off of the molds required to produce the body and associated parts.
• All of the molds that produced the first pull.
• The VW beetle chassis with engine and transaxle, and steering column with appropriate steering wheel.
• Mag steel direct bolt wheels with 60 series tires.
• Photos of some of the process to get to this condition.
• Interior Dashboard, bucket seat shells.

It’s a little sad seeing long term projects like this for sale, because I know how hard it is to find someone who can really see your vision and adequately take it over. If you think you might be that person, drop Al a line at al.kramer@reneproducts.com.