Frank’s got this solid looking Invader GT that he’s currently working on at his restoration shop in Arizona. I’ll say this regularly, but someone really needs to fabricate and make molds for half-doors for the Invader. There are enough of them out there that I’m sure there’s a market for such a product, and it radically improves the looks of the car.
This car is one in a long series of VW-based vehicles Frank has owned — he’s had about thirty in all. He’s whittled down his collection, and the only other one he has left is a bug sitting on a custom frame with a 500 CI Cadillac engine stuffed into the back seat. Yes, I’ve asked him for some pictures, so hopefully you’ll get to see that here soon.
Richard won this car — not even knowing what it was — in a game of cards… Right now he’s looking for doors for it, but I don’t think anyone is making them right now. My advice was to have half doors fabricated, since that really fixes the lines of the car.
Dan in Burbank, CA went to his mechanic and saw this Invader GT out front. He asked if it was for sale and for how much, and they replied, “if you can tow it out of here, it’s yours free of charge!” The shop didn’t even know what it was, but after a bit of investigating Dan discovered it was a circa-1974 Invader GT. No engine or transmission came with it, so Dan found those for $325 on Craigslist (a 36hp ‘57 engine and a ‘72 transmission).
His hope is to build the car to get 100mpg, possibly with a methane engine — he figures the aerodynamic lightweight body plus the tiny engine should give him a good start.
A while back I posted about a car that I ID’d as an Invader, even though the Craigslist seller was identifying it as a “Mantis”, a car I’d never heard of. Extremely lucky bastard Jason “Schmitty” Milsom managed to pick up this striking vehicle for the scant price of $2,000 and I am very, very jealous of his acquisition. He writes,
It turns out it is a Mantis Ageon or Targa after all. I just bought a “Mantis” Brochure on eBay (although I haven’t received it yet). It looks like the Kaylor Invader is actually a Mantis that they renamed Invader GT-5 for some reason. The title for my car says it’s a 1975 which is before Kaylor was building cars. It’s not running and has lots of problems. Since purchase I have installed a different engine (a dual port dual carb 1600 that was in an original 1944 Kubelwagen), installed a new steering column, did minimal electrics to make it legally driveable (lights, etc), installed pedals, cables, and so on, and just recently put the louvered cover (from a 240Z) over the big hole in the back. The car is only 37 1/2″ tall and an absolute blast to drive.
Have I mentioned how jealous I am? This is one of the most striking of the aggressive seventies exotic designs out there, and a very special car. Speaking of special cars, you may also notice a Trivette trike in the second photo!
[Note: I initially misspelled -- this is a "Mantis Aegean Coupe".]
Back in 1978 Len found this Invader GT’s body in a guy’s garage in Langley, BC, and fell in love with the shape of the fenders. He bought the body from him in 1978 and built the car up to where it is now, doing all the work himself, originally finishing it in Shell Oil yellow (that’s what the last photos in the set are). After a while he put it into storage in his brother’s barn, where it sat for a decade. He then pulled it out, and had to basically start over mechanically since the engine was seized, and he also changed the colour and body lines at the time, and then drove it until 2003. Since then he’s driven it out of the garage weekly to make sure the problem of the engine seizing up due to neglect doesn’t happen again.
The Invader was repainted about a week ago and is running well and is registered as a 1972 Volkswagen. Len is located in Cloverdale, BC (near Vancouver), and is asking $4,500. I think especially if someone builds the half doors (check out the other entries on Invaders here) they’ll have an amazing car. Reach him at lbeckett@shaw.ca.
If that’s not a typo, someone in the Austin, Texas area is going to trailer home the kit car deal of the year, this yellow Invader GT body for an asking price of $175 (assuming that’s not a typo) on Craigslist (#844359737).
After posting those last few Invader GT posts, Alan emailed me a reminder about a great looking one that sold on eBay earlier this year, done up in a racing style. I’m not particularly sold on the giant scoop (which appears to be an oil cooler) or the wing (not that they look bad), but those door pods make such an amazing difference to the lines of the Invader.
If anyone knows what came of this car, please write me!
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