KAZ, who’s been building kit cars since the seventies, scanned a few photos from his archives for us. From start to finish below are a Bradley GT, a Kelmark GT, a Laser 917, a Marauder GT, a 40s-style Willy VW conversion, and a Talon.
He built lots of Bradleys, including three Bradley GT cars for a Bradley dealership that opened in Houston in ‘76, who unfortunately went under months later. He also built four Kelmarks — this one below with the great paint job was done by Richard Hildebrandt of Houston. He also bought a Kelmark from the insurance company that had been built by Kelmark themselves and was stolen, then recovered it at the Mexican border where the thieves were apprehended. It was fast, with a 2100 cc dual carb VW engine, and an awesome Blaupunkt stereo.
Thomas’s Laser 917 (write him at presidentthomasabinford@gmail.com), posted first last year, is built on an IRS VW pan with a Karmen Ghia front end (for the disc brakes). It’s got a transmission, but no engine. The fiberglass is in “pretty good shape for the age”, but it does need a full restoration of both the body, interior, and pan. He’s open to car, bike, or sandrail trades, and for cash is willing to let it go for just $1,500.
Lucky bastard Tony sent in this letter and set of photos. I am very, very jealous of his toys! My daughter begged me to get a dunebuggy again (we had one when we lived in Mexico) when she saw his, but I really like his tube chassis Laser 917.
Having been a follower of your web site for a number of years, I thought I would take an opportunity to share with you some of my toys and a little history.
I live Northern California and have been into kit cars and dune buggies for many years and just recently had an opportunity to own/drive my dream car.
I was fortunate to find a rather well built Countach replica for sale at a very reasonable price in a nearby town. The Red Countach in the photos is built on a lengthened late model Fireo chassis with a fully adjustable coil-over shocks and aftermarket tubular front suspension. The engine is a 327 cubic inch Chevy connected to a 4 speed transmission. The pictures of this car do not do it justice, you would not believe the attention this car gets whenever it is out. I cannot think of a single trip out with the car that someone didn’t either want to have their picture taken with it or took a picture from their cell phone camera while I was stopped at a light or stop sign.
The car is horribly unpractical to drive on a regular basis and has blind spots that will drive you nuts. The car is so wide that you have to have a custom built platform from which to do even routine maintenance on the motor. Even cleaning the inside of the front windshield is a major task because the windshield is so raked back. I am not a little person by no means and not as flexible as I was when I was younger so getting in/out of this car is by no means an easy task either. For all the draw backs to this car, I would not have traded the experience of owning one for anything. The feeling you get from driving a car like this more satisfying than any inconvenience.
When I first got the car I told my wife I was going to have to loose some weight so I looked good getting in/out of the car. She pretty quickly reminded me that all I needed to look was married. Although she never drove the car and didn’t really want to, she enjoyed it too, mostly because when I drove it, it put me in a very good mood.
Unfortunately a planned future move forced me to have to sell the car which I did to a person back east. I have heard that the car is again for sale now at more than twice the price, I was asking for it. Hopefully it will find a good home someday. I look forward to owning another one when the time is right.
I will be working my Laser 917 which I have modified with a custom tubular frame, automatic transmission and stroked small block 350 Chevy. Not wanting to have to deal with a gantry, like you would need to work on the space shuttle, I am in the process of converting the car to open cockpit with a tilt back end for easy cockpit and motor access.
For right now my wife and I are just enjoying our street legal dune buggy for around town.
Tony
An eBay (#160308413156) seller has just posted this Laser 917 that he’s decided to start the big project of building custom ground effects for it… I guess the project ended up being a little too much for him as it’s now up for sale. I like where he’s going on the front end, but the rear panels (grafted from some import racer bodykit) leave a lot to be desired in my opinion… Luckily no real damage has been done yet so there’s no reason that a buyer needs to stay committed to it.
Advertised right now on eBay right now (#300254142695) in Mason City, IA is this fairly nice looking Laser 917 on a 1966 VW Beetle chassis with a 1300cc engine. The truly hilarious is that it is both listed as, and proudly advertised as with a large sticker reading “PORCHE“. Car comes with a free “BOLEX” watch.
Really, I don’t know if this is a terrible typo that no one has ever had the heart to correct, or if it’s a very clever piece of kit car self-mocking humor. I really hope it’s the latter.
Thomas, who’s located in the Atlanta area, has this Laser 917 (A-model I think) on a 1972 VW Beetle pan for sale. It’s missing the engine but other than that is complete with the transmission, all the wiring, a complete gauge package, and so on. The side window is in the car but not mounted. He’s asking $4,500 or trades like a sandrail, dunebuggy, or motorcycle.
I just noticed a pair of Craigslist ads (797045564 and 797033066; Jhonpaul @ 360-801-3722) in Seattle advertising a pair of classic Elite Enterprises kit cars. First up they’ve got the more common Laser 917, built on a VW pan with a Buick V6 powering it. Asking price is $5,000.
More interestingly, they also have a Mini 18 (aka Mini Max), something you almost never see for sale. He’s asking $3,800 for this ultra-rare kit car. Both cars are running but could use work, with the Mini 18 needing more work.
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