The Bradley Automotive story

Posted by John Mellberg September 27, 2020

The Bradley Automotive story

A pristine example of a 1971 Bradley GT with period correct mags and a bronze, metal-flake paintjob.

In 1979, the leading producer of kit cars in the USA was Bradley Automotive in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was in large part due to a combination of an aggressive ad campaign, which was seen in every automotive and do-it-yourself magazine in the country, and the high quality of their products. Over 6,000 kit's were sold throughout the 70's, a huge number by specialty car standards.

They had a very personal sales method, with a staff that grew to over 30 people who called respondents to their ads and answered any questions potential customers had. It worked and the company was successful until the early 80's.

The Bradley Automotive was started by two people, Gary Cornyea and engineer David Bradley Fuller (the Bradley in Bradley GT). They joined their names together to form the name of their fictitious CEO, "Gary Bradley". It is unknown what prompted them to do that, but the name was even included in the company's legal documents!

A 1971 Bradley GT with period correct mags and a bronze, metal-flake paintjob.

Introduced in 1970, the GT was designed to fit on a standard VW Bug chassis. It was available in a variety of Gelcoat colors. The body was a one-piece, reinforced unit with a Targa style roof that bolted to the main unit. It featured Plexiglass frameless gullwing doors which were removable. It is estimated that nearly 6000 GT's were produced.

Also based on a standard VW pan, the GT2 was a refined version of the GT that made its debut in 1976. Bradley hired industrial designer and former Shelby American employee John Chun, to do the styling of the new car. It had a much more production car like quality, attention to details and trim level improved dramatically over the early GT's. The car featured gas strut actuated gullwing doors with sliding side glass and removable glass panels on the top part of the doors. The engine cover, hood, and hatchback had remote releases operated from the cockpit, a novel feature for a kit car, more likely found on a Toyota, at the time.

A 1980 Bradley GT with period alloy wheels and flashy striping.

It had a steel reinforced roof and 5mph bumpers front and rear. It's probably one of the few kit's that met the safety standards of the day, a testament to the quality of it's engineering. In addition to the VW mill, the Bradley would also accommodate Porsche 914, 911 and even Mazda rotary engines. With around 500 GT2's produced complete examples and spare parts are both becoming rare these days.

To this day, Bradley GT's and GT 2's are some of the most visible kit cars on the road. They can be seen at swap-meets and custom car shows all over the country, due to the volume of cars made. The Bradley GT, along with peers like the Sterling and Kelmark, really put Kit Cars on the automotive map in the USA.