By Dean Larson

Photos: Seller, Craigslist

The Bradley GT kit car is one of the most iconic VW-based kit cars to come out of the 1970s. It’s sleek, exotic with the addition of gullwing doors, and like so many of the lost kit marques to come out of the era, its history is filled with controversy. There are good Bradleys and some not so good ones, but with a little TLC, I believe this GTII model could be one of the best ones out there.

The original Bradley GT debuted in 1970, and things were off to a shaky start right off the bat. The car was developed quick and cheaply on a full-length VW pan, and it’s said that Bradley was selling brochures and taking orders for the cars before the first one even existed. The body was fiberglass with a pair of crude plastic panels serving as gullwing doors, and a C2 Corvette windshield was used up front.

The GT was available from 1970 to 1981, with a remarkable 6,000 cars sold, but Bradley stepped things up for 1975 with the GT II model. John Chun, formerly of Shelby American, penned a new Bradley design with proper, framed-in gullwing doors with sliding safety glass, reinforced body panels, a roomier interior, improved ingress into the cockpit and retractable headlights. The GT II was a huge step in the right direction, but Bradley was only able to sell around 500, and wasn’t enough to save Bradley from itself.

By the late ’70s, Bradley Automotive had a decent amount of debt, and customers were fed up after receiving their cars damaged, incomplete or late, to the point where they actually formed picket lines at Bradley Automotive’s facility. After switching its focus to electric vehicles and doing some restructuring, Bradley went down in the early ’80s with consumer fraud charges and roughly $2,500,000 of debt.

But at the end of the day, we need to look at the Bradley as a car, and not just the creation of a troubled business entity, and I think this GT II model offered on New Hampshire Craigslist may be one of the best ones available today — provided you’re handy with wrenches of course.

It’s a GT II, meaning it’s a bit easier to live with every day than the earlier GT, and all the GT II specific parts appear present here. It’s based on a 1970 Beetle, and the seller states that some servicing is required on the brakes and electrical system. It will also need new tires, some interior work and some bodywork was definitely performed on the driver’s side door and door jam.

Flaws aside, the car actually looks great, especially in silver over the blue upholstery. The GT II still has its VDO aircraft-type gauges and the gas struts for the doors appear to be in good working order. Even the basic steel wheels with blacked-out centers present well on this car.

It’s evident that this thing isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty damn good all things considered. The seller also states that the car is essentially new, with only 23 miles on it, so take that for what it’s worth on an old build like this. I think there’s a little room on this one at the $4,800 asking price, and room for profit as well. Get this one right and you might have a $7,000 plus car on your hands.

Check it out here on New Hampshire Craigslist.