Unlike the turbine-powered cars of yesteryear from the likes of Rover and Chrysler, today’s Nice Price or No Dice Boeing-powered Bradley doesn’t connect its turbine to the wheels. Instead, it uses the jet’s thrust for propulsion. Let’s see if there’s any connection between its fun and its price.
While the ad for yesterday’s 1970 Jaguar XKE portended mysterious issues afoot, its pictures presented the car as solid enough and still quite handsome despite what gremlins might be lying in wait beneath the shapely sheet metal. That was good enough for a slim majority of you who handsomely rewarded the Jag’s $59,650 asking price with a 58 percent Nice Price win.
In the early 1960s, Chrysler commissioned Italian coachbuilder Ghia to construct a small series of special personal coupes, each to be painted in an iconic bronze and wearing a charcoal-colored vinyl roof atop its pillar-less greenhouse. Fifty of these cars were provided for public testing, not of the paint and roof cap, but of the Chrysler-designed and built gas turbine engine bolted under their hoods, something the company had been noodling with over the course of the previous decade. Chrysler thought the smoothness of a turbine, combined with its agnostic nature toward what sort of fuel it burned, would make it an excellent candidate for automotive use. Unfortunately, the engine’s excess emissions — a triple threat of exhaust, heat, and noise — along with the demand for construction and maintenance tolerances far more exact than typical of the automobile industry eventually killed the idea.
Or did it?
Like the ’60s Chrysler, this 1976 Bradley GT is turbine-powered. Unlike the Mopar machine, however, which used step-down gearing and a TorqueFlite to transmit the turbine’s power to the tires, this Bradley uses the turbine’s more traditional jet thrust to move the car. That’s just like Maverick in Top Gun!
Providing that thrust is a Boeing 502-11B, a versatile turbojet engine that was originally intended for use in things like helicopters, aircraft starting compressors, and other non-automotive applications. According to the ad, this one runs without issue and has recently had its fuel system serviced. The Boeing service manual will be included with the sale for future wrenching needs.
The seller touts that the engine produces around 350 SHP (shaft horsepower), which they claim has taken the car to 60 miles per hour in a parking lot test run. They also say that it is very loud.
Other issues with this jet-powered car include a total lack of the ability to back up, seeing as there are no thrust reversers on the engine, and the lack of street-ability, as apparently the brake lights are presently non-functioning. On the plus side, once made street legal, it would easily dissuade even the most aggressive of tailgaters.
Under the open-top Bradley body lies what is described as a restored VW Beetle platform. The GT rides on the stock VW wheelbase, so no cutting was required in the transformation from People’s Car to Jet Fighter. The brakes and steering are said to work as they should, respectively, stopping and turning the car. No word is given about how the electrical system is maintained, but it should be an important factor as the 502’s startup and monitoring are handled through a dash-mounted electronic touch screen.
Everything on the car appears to be in perfectly serviceable shape, with decent-looking BF Goodrich tires underpinning along with shiny paint on its fiberglass body. The latter announces the engine by way of some spoiler and fender graphics. Those are likely rendered redundant by the cacophony of when the engine is running.
There is no title as it’s not really a road car but more of a home-built toy. Could it be titled? Sure, I guess. It also could have some sort of electric motor and battery set up added so it could actually run on the road without having to use the jet and make the neighborhood smell like a runway. But who would be brave enough to tackle this crazy jet-powered car as it sits?
I guess, and perhaps more importantly, who would do so AND could come up with the $18,900 asking price required to do so?
What’s your take on this turbine-powered toy and that $18,900 price? Does that seem like a deal to live in the Jet Age? Or is that price tag just as crazy as the car?
You decide!
Facebook Marketplace out of Farmington, Minnesota, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Austinambassadoryreg for the hookup!
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