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.
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.
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.
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The photos in this entry are from one of my favorite massive copyright lawsuits waiting to happen websites, Modern Mechanix, a huge and fascinating archive of scans from old Popular Mechanics and other classic tech culture magazines. There are many automotive entries, with a great number dedicated to homebuilt, kit, and other DIY cars… I thought I’d take a moment to show you some of these vehicles from the past, since most of what I post is current (or at least from the seventies).
Nicely streamlined, this vehicle built in the late 40s is incredibly sleek, standing only 39″ high (about the same as a Manta Mirage, and lower than a Lamborghini Countach) and built on a pre-war 20hp Jaguar chassis. The builder and designer, L. Leston, was a used aircraft parts dealer, and apparently the entire design of this car came from a moment of inspiration he had after finding the side/door windows on an old reconnaissance plane! I’d love to see this one in person — given how incredibly low it is, I’m sure the pictures don’t do it justice.
Robert, who has the Rotary Riot in the entry below, took these photos of a dual-engine one-off special at the 7Stock car show. As far as he knows it’s on a 914 chassis, with two side-by-side 13B rotary engines connected to a single gearbox, with the ability to run in either single or two engine mode. Anyone that knows more about this car, please write me or post in the forum.
I’m not sure if I should feel sorry for the person who won this car on Ebay for about £700… It’s kind of funny in a “I have a the whackiest Pope-mobile on the road” kind of way, but I’m not sure if even I could work up the courage to drive it in public, and I’m a pretty flamboyant fellow… It’s a Hustler conversion (check out this history page for more info), based on a Mini chassis — most of course did not include the crown!
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