Is this a steal? Plus more questions.

Hey wolfglizzy,

Welcome, you're asking lots of questions which is a good thing.

First off is this a steal? No it's not. A steal would be around $1200.

The ad does not speak about the condition of the car though from the pix it looks fairly together.

I have the exact same color GT2 as in that pix

and the gel-coat is in about the same condition that is it needs some restoration.

Mine was one owner as well as factory-assembled, and as a result all the wiring and other parts that

tend to go bad were in perfect un-molested condition

since the one you're looking at is supposedly one owner, it might have been well maintained.

If you do go to look at it take your time and look over the whole car very carefully.

When I looked at mine, i got under the dash and checked the wiring for taped up splices etc.

In my case everything was pristine. the owner was asking $4000.00 and I simply told him

that it was not a $4000.00 car & of course he asked me what I thought it was worth I offered $2700.00

and we settled at $3000.00 which to me was worth it since the car was in really good condition.

Even so I've already put about $1500.00 in parts to update stuff that was just worn or needed replacement

These cars are VW Beetles under the Bradley skin,

so if you can take care of a VW with all the maintenance required (and it's a good bit) yes they are dependable

but not exactly to todays standards. The VW Beetle is a forty year old ride

and although it can be upgraded, your Corolla will have been a more substantial performer from the factory.

I'd advise you to read as much as you can on this board, you'll find answers to many of your questions.

Take your Dad with you when you go to look at it since he'll know a lot of what to look for,

besides two heads are better than one. PS, I'm 6' tall and i fit in the GT2 just fine,

the seat has tracks so you adjust it back to fit your size.

How fast will it go? That depends on the engine, stock 1600cc probably about 75, maybe 80 with a good tail wind.

One thing to consider is that this is not necessarily a car that you want to go high speed in. It's not really safely

constructed and in the words of one member on this board, "it's not the car you want to take to a crash"

Hope this sheds some light on some of your questions.

All the best,

Mike Horen

I wouldn't go that far. Between the ages of 15 and 19 I had several $500 cars in the form of air cooled VWs and notoriously unreliable Leyland era MGs. Safety issues aside, if this kid has ever swung a wrench at something he should be fine. It's naturally not going to be as reliable as a Honda, but you don't get cars like this for practical reasons. It's a passion and a learning experience. I wouldn't trade any night I spent fixing something in a parking lot for all the Corollas in the world. If his old man is a mechanic, that's just another opportunity to spend more time together working on something. That's priceless.

Old rustangs will kill a 16yr old on insurance and be just as unreliable, on top of being a hairdressers car (I grew up in a Mopar house, I had to ).

That being said, while I'm not as intimately familiar with Bradleys as most on here, that price is too high.

Safety definitely is a concern, but being so afraid of dying that you're too afraid to live is something that has come about in less than half of either of our lifetimes (I assume you're around my age (40) or a decade or so older). Modern foods and the proliferation of diabetes inducing high fructose corn syrup, along with pharmacological wonders with side effects that include "increased risk of death", are far more dangerous than any kit car ever will be, yet they're widely accepted. As a whole, humanity is at more risk now than we ever were before "unsafe" cars became less trendy, it's just a matter of who is making money on the deal.

I plan on a roll cage for any kit car I pick up for safety reasons, and I've been in accidents where a "safe" crumple zone car would have put an engine though my legs into my lap had I not been driving something older with a solid frame. Life is full of risks and not every safeguard or preparation will protect you from every eventuality.

As for reliability, that's a compromise for sure. You have to weigh how much you enjoy driving what you're driving vs. how willing you are to get dirty every so often. My son just hit 5 months old, and I've already decided that his first car will be old and unreliable. By taking that path, he will learn how things work, he will develop troubleshooting and mechanical skills he otherwise wouldn't, and he will know that sense of accomplishment you get when have to work for the adolescent freedom that a drivers license grants you. As such, he will be much better prepared to deal with adversity later in life.