Yes, yes, I am the worst blogger ever, disappearing for months on end. I know.
Anyway… Peter sent me this picture from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, of a couple of mystery cars. They seem to be dune buggies built on a New Beetle? Anyone know anything about these?
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.
Steve owns this ’71 VW Beetle that’s had the rear removed and converted into a pick-up truck, which he bought as a project a few months ago. He doesn’t know anything about it, and was hoping someone here might know what kit it is, or if it’s more likely a one-off project.
Although I’ve seen a couple of these for sale over the years, this heavily “buggified” second-gen Camaro-style body mounted on a shortened VW Beetle chassis (with a secondary tube frame on the rear) is still very rare so I’ve been able to find out very little about it — if anyone knows anything about the history of the manufacturer, please do mention it in the comments. The body is a single piece with no doors (although this example does have removable t-tops) and is finished in a metalflake green. I’m not sure if this one has been modified to fit a new windshield and top, because most of the ones I’ve seen (one, two) are running a flat windshield with no top.
Anyway, Wayne, the current owner, is asking $5,000 — amusing because of course an actual Camaro is dime-a-dozen — or is willing to trade for a beach buggy or motorcycle. He’s located in Manchester, KY, and can be reached at felicia@newwavecomm.net.
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.
This rare kit is for sale (#200229865205) in Oxfordshire, UK. It’s built on a standard 1600cc VW Beetle chassis that retains the original doors and windshield, with the rest being a fiberglass 911-style Porsche rebody with whale tail. It reminds me of some of the “Mulholland Look” conversions sold by companies like Creative Car Craft, although this is a little more involved than those bolt-on kits.
Robert, who’s Amante GT you can see in the entry above this one, also sends in this photo of his daily driver, a 1969 Vandetta VW Beetle conversion.
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