BangShift reader and Iowa native Chris Johnson gets the gold star of the day for whipping his cell phone out and blasting photos of this amazingly rare and totally freakish 1980 Bradley Electric GT II which was sitting in front of a convenience store that he was heading into. This is one of 50 such cars ever made in Minnesota by the Bradley Automotive company. Unlike most Bradley GTs, this was not a kit that was sent to a customer that they then completed, these cars were sent out the factory door as 100% ready to cruise machines. Outside of the electric propulsion, these were very similar to regular Bradley GTs in the sense that there were based on a VW and used lots of the VW parts in their final construction. Here’s what Chris sent to us in his email:

“Doing a quick run into Walgreens in the snowy cold hell hole of Des moines, IA. Right in front of the Radio shack was this funky old electric car. Dude was driving it in the snow and it looks like it’s seen better days. After some research I found out they are based on a 70’s VW bug chassis and sold mainly in 1980 for a few years.”

Before we continue on with the story about the car, let’s address the most mind-blowing facet of this whole thing. SOMEONE IS DAILY DRIVING A FREAKING 1980 BRADLEY ELECTRIC GT II. We’re not freaking out because the thing is some priceless automotive artifact, quite the opposite. This is a nearly 3,000lb, pretty crude fiberglass bodied “sports car” full of more 6-volt batteries than the gold cart shack the local country club rolling around on VW suspension and using a stock VW transmission behind the electric motor. Everything about this car says that it shouldn’t exist in today’s world and if it does, it should exist in the corner of an eccentric car collection or at Ed Begley Jr’s house. As Chris mentioned, the thing looks pretty well used up with an ill-fitting gull wing door, a suspension that looks to be settled down onto the bump stops, but there it sits. As tough as it looks, it still runs and works well enough to carry the owner to Walgreens for his or her medication. What that medication may be treading is really anyone’s guess.

So back to the car. 50 made in 1980, that’s it. One deviation from stock in the looks department seem to be the rear view mirrors. Every photo we have seen of these things has them mounted on top of the fender standing vertically. Here the mirror is kind of glued on sideways. The plug for the charger is right in the rear bumper. You can see it in the photo below. These cars charge with a regular 110v setup so that means you can steal all the power you want from your neighbors house if the extension cord is long enough. What exactly are you charging? A crapload of batteries, that’s what.  There are eight, six volt, deep-cycle batteries jammed into the rear of the car with four on each side of the electric motor that spins the transmission. That’s some girth, but you have to also remember that there are an additional eight batteries in the front of the car that provide all the juice for accessories. We have to believe that also may be part of the propulsion program as well. If you thought crashing in a standard issue Bradley GT would be bad, how about wrecking one with hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of batteries on either end of it.

We’d love nothing better than to talk to the owner/driver of this car. C’amon Iowa BangShifters somebody has to know SOMETHING about this person or persons! Drop me a line [email protected] if you have any info!