I just got this nice letter and photo set, which I’m reproducing here verbatim –
Enjoyed your blog very much. Every once in awhile I’ll google Invader GT and see what pops up. Usually not much, but this time your blog came up. So if I may bore you…
In 1974 I ordered a Invader GT kit. The body design was the full rake (which I felt looked better than the later design change that took the rake out of the windshield.) Back then it cost me $400.00 for shipping from California to Illinois and I the kit cost somewhere around $900.00. Picked up a used running 1969 VW for $600.00 and sold the body for $400.00. The whole project came to about $3000.00. Finished the project in 1976, my wife to be bought herself a new 1977 Firebird 350 cu.in. with T-top for $7000.00, hmmm maybe something doesn’t add up here, oh well too late, water under the bridge.
Should -a, could-a, would-a. The doors, Should-a pitched the clear top sections and molded in the bottom sections. You roasted your butt off driving around with full doors on in the summer time. And the car just didn’t look right with the doors off. You had the option to cut and drop the pan area where the seats went so you could have a little more head room. I chose not to go that route (should-a). Never put wipers or defroster system into the kit because even then I knew it was a fair weather car.
Finished the car out with a rebuilt VW engine, American Slots, rocker panels were 18 gauge steel, tail lights came from the GMC truck department, side market lights where from a 1974 New Yorker, fender mirrors from some custom catalog as to the gas filler lid. Key type hood pins from J.C Whitney. For the doors and to hold them shut I used on the inside spring loaded hood latches you found on CJ jeeps back then. Paint was candy apple red with a silver metallic base coat from the “House of Colors”. I don’t think I put over a 1000 miles on the car before I sold to some guy from Strawberry Point Iowa.
If I had it to do over again, I would of bought a dune buggy body for half the cost and time and spent more time with the wind in my face and enjoying the country side. There was also at the time another kit offered which I almost went with I think was called “Vandura”? You cut off the vw body just behind the doors and added on the kit that made it into a panel truck. You could keep the vw front fenders and hood section or replace it with a fiberglass section that made it look like a 1940 Ford. I almost bit on that one. Don’t get me wrong, I think the kit was a nice design for the time and sure cost a lot less than a Sterling. It was just a time in my life and thought thats what I wanted, maybe it was Corvette envy I don’t know. I couldn’t afford one of those so I went for what I could. Today if I was into the do it yourself car thing, I’d go with a bare bones “Rat Rod”. See ones taste does change with age. Again, great blog
-Ben
A friend of mine wrote me this morning, commenting, “you are one of those rare individuals that who can see something good in just about anything as evident by your apparent love of the Invader.”
Hahaha.
He attached some pictures to help out with the flood of Invader content I’ve had lately, the first being a photo of his first kit car way back in 1981 — “the cars were skinnier back then and so was I… I wish I had half that much hair today.”
He bought the car from a guy in Sacramento who was advertising it as a Sterling for $1,000 — which of course it wasn’t. But he wanted the car anyway, and managed to talk him down to $700, not too bad a price since the body was in perfect condition. As you can see it was the particularly sleek model with the raked back windshield and the half-doors. Looks like a missile up on that trailer.
When the car was later sold, it was bought by someone who said they’d been involved in the Invader project from the start, and were planning on modifying this one and taking molds off it to create a new version. The second picture below is a card from his business that shows the concept car he was planning on selling it. I don’t know if it ever got past prototype, but I absolutely love the fastback design — I think it’s my favorite Invader GT variant of all. It retains the spirit and look of the Invader, while correcting its awkwardness and giving it a much faster appearance.
Because he’s got the doors — why doesn’t everyone??? — as well as some extra touches like the tilt-column steering wheel and aftermarket a/c, Bennett that’s selling this Invader GT (more pictures and info here) sent in some more pictures showing those aspects. He’s asking only $1,500, which is a great deal for this car. He’s also got the engine running since the ad was first posted, and everything on the car works — taillights, headlights, signals, even the Kenwood stereo. Contact him at greenwenterprises@yahoo.com.
Bennett is selling — for just $1,500 — one of my favorite iterations of the Invader GT, an early model with the raked back windshield. It’s way sportier and less “buggy” looking than most Invaders, but as I understand it, it does sacrifice a little in the headroom department. This car sits on a 1960 VW pan with a clear Ohio title (the car is in the Columbus area). Tail lights are out of a ‘73 Chevy Vega and the wheels are Mickey Thompson Torq-Thruster IIs. It’s also got a GM tilt steering wheel to make getting in and out easier, as well as Stewart Warner gauges, and a rare aftermarket A/C unit mounted behind the seats — something you definitely don’t see very often in a kit car.
The body is in very good condition and the pan is solid. He has one complete door for the passenger side, and a partial door (missing the plexiglass) for the driver side — that is, this car has the doors that I so regularly pine for! He’s missing the passenger side headlight cover. The engine turns over but does not currently run — it was last registered in 2001 and has sat covered since then.
Drop Bennett a line at greenwenterprises@yahoo.com. This is a nice model of Invader that you rarely see up for sale, and his price is more than fair… If I was in the Ohio area, I’d buy this one!
Matching the colour of the ‘74 below, this Invader project was stretched by about 8″ to accepted a turbo Subaru driveline (and 17″ wheels as you can see). The owner is currently working on finishing the interior, and as you can see, he’s also fabricated half doors using hand-bent tinted lexan.
This photo from way back in 1974 shows what great lines the Invader had from some angles. I think that’s a reality of a lot of kit cars and other vehicles designed by “amateurs” — great from one side, awkward from another.
The owner — a recycling facility (junk yard?) — wasn’t sure what they had, but readers here will instantly recognize it as an Invader GT body shell, ready for mounting on a VW Beetle pan. The body is solid (the Invaders tended to be well made), and you can either pick it up in Port Orchard, Washington, or they can arrange shipping. It’s a no-reserve auction with an opening bid of $49.99 on eBay (#370154428938), so I’m guessing someone will get this one for almost nothing.
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