Is This A Scorpion GT?

[unclebill]

I just picked this project up, and was told it's a Scorpion GT. It was supposedly an offering by the same company that made the Bradleys, and looks similar in the back to me. Got plenty of glasswork ahead of me to fix where they cut and hinged the back! There's almost zero info on the Scorpion on the "www", so I thought I'd consult the experts here. By the way....awesome site!

B

[Letterman7]

Yup, that's exactly what it is. There was one for sale in NY a couple months ago. And you're right - zero info on these. Someone probably had a Bradley and made their own molds, but we may never know!

[unclebill]

I read at one site, that they were made by a company called VW GT Conversions Inc, and another place that Bradley made them. Does'nt really matter I guess, I'll just use my imagination, and see what happens. Thanx for the response.

B

[JustBuggy]

I've never seen this one before. From the front it kinda looks like an older Jag type E.

I dig the tilt rear section, wish that my kit car had that. It'll make things sooo much easier to work on.

One question, is it registered as a VW or as a kit car?

[Wolfgangdieter]

Front very attractive - ready for water cooled Subaru transplant withn that huge grill opening. Be sure to add to the dune buggy archive - did you look for it there already?
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CMC '57 Porsche Speedster Replica and Dolphin boat tailed full pan VW MOD-T Street Buggy

[TC/TeamEvil]

There was one in the Special Interest class at Terryville yesterday. Had Massachusetts plates on it, gathered a TON of interest, VERY neat car ! ! ! ! !

[unclebill]

There's no title and I have'nt vacuumed out the leaves yet to see what year the chassis is. It's on an IRS chassis, so it's gotta be newer than a '67. Who knows on the body, but once I tear into it, I'll keep you guys updated. One part of me says to do it all up as it was made to be and keep it original, the other part says do something creative in the back and get rid of that Bradley thing. I did look in the archives, and did'nt find a thing on these cars.

B

[GTBRADLEY]

Isnt that a Lithia GT? Made in Georgia. What Bradley thing are you talking about getting rid of? The back tilt end was someones attempt at matching the SunRay Sport pack that was available in the late 70's.
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Thunderbug by Bugformance 1969

[TC/TeamEvil]

REALLY tough call on the whole restoration versus alteration thing . . . .

Do something wonderfully creative to improve upon the Bradley design flaws ! ! !

[pdp123]

Yes that's a Scorpion GT.
In fact I know the guy that made those. His company was called VW GT Conversions Inc. as someone else stated.
He made a bunch of them. We plan on putting together a website later this year for the car. We run a small media company and Hank (the builder of the Scorpion) is my girlfriends father. It's been one of those projects we've been kicking around for a bit. Also I'll try to send him here. I bet he'd LOVE to hear any questions and input from anyone interested in the car.

Cheers,

Paul

[TC/TeamEvil]

Does your girlfriend's father still have the molds? Is he making any replacement parts? I'd LOVE to get a nose clip from mid wheel well forward, or even just from the headlights forward. I live here in Massachusetts so pick-up would be no problem.

Please let me know, would you?

Thanks !

TC

[pdp123]

Hey TC,

I'll look into it. I don't have a lot of information right now. Frankly I was just talking with a friend who is building a small race car and mentioned the Scorpion to him offhand. So we looked it up online and ended up here. When I saw that the discussion was current and no one had any real information I thought I should chime in.

From what I gather, Hank sold the business to his partner and I don't know how things went from there. I know they had the fiberglass work done in Maine at "Old Town" (the canoe people). And Hank would drive to Conn. with them (3 at a time) on his Nova tricked out with a trailer and a huge homemade rack on the roof. I know he isn't making parts or has had anything to do with the car for a long time now. It came up in conversation a while ago and I remembered seeing the ads in car mags as a kid for them.

They're in the process of moving right now so I'll make sure to speak to him soon to make sure he doesn't throw out anything that may be of value to anyone trying to restore these.

I'll be sure to watch the thread and send a link to Hank.

Cheers,

Paul

[TC/TeamEvil]

Thank you ! ! !

If you or Hank get to talking about the fellow who took over the company and HE might have parts or molds and such, PLEASE be sure to post that info as well. Of course you could send me a PM if he has a nose clip to sell.

Thanks for all of this neat new info, these cars have been among the lost mysteries for a long time, it's a cool as can be that you actually know the original builder ! ! ! !

Later-

TC

[pdp123]

Hello again TC,

it appears I had some of my facts wrong (I was relying on childhood memories) so I'll clear that up first. It seems he didn't sell off the company. He just shut it down in the effort to maintain domestic harmony. Which being my daughters grandfather I respect, appreciate, and admire.

That said, Hank said he had the fiberglass done at a place in Massachusetts just a couple of towns away from where we currently live. And that he told them he didn't want the forms back. A quick check online proved that they're still in business so sometime over the next couple of weeks I'll stop by to see if by some miracle they still exist (maybe sitting in a garage or in the rafters or whatever). And also there are a number of replacement parts wrapped and stored in the basement at the old house. I'll pick them up and being a photographer I'll make some pictures of them and we''ll post them on the site that we talked about making. Hank also said he'd give us the box with all of the info that he has about the car (he's a very organized guy so I'll bet there's a lot there). Earlier today I saw that someone was selling the original brochure for the car. I'll bet there's a few in that box too.

All that said... this IS neat. Also that an offhand comment led me to a place where someone cares about this stuff. I brought up the idea of putting together a site just in case anyone cared. I thought somebody might have one kicking around and would like to know the history of the car. I didn't know that he still had parts and such stored. I'll bet nose clips would be just the kind of pieces he'd have around. I'll check tomorrow.

Cheers,

Paul

[unclebill]

This has turned into an interesting thread! Thanks to all of you for the input and information. The guy I got this from, said he got it from his father in law in CT who gave up on it. He dragged it up here to VT and never got around to doing anything with it either. I did poke around a little, and it looks like it originally had door openings that got glassed over at some point. I opened the back end up where they glassed over the engine cover area, and the edges are perfect! Looks like a Bradley engine cover might fit. I'm real interested to see what the sides of the car are supposed to look like, and find out if there are supposed to be doors of some sort.

B

[TC/TeamEvil]

You know . . . I don't think that they had proper doors as we think of them, but it sure looks as though a set of Bradley gull wing "windows" would secure in those openings pretty easily. I like the smallish sculpted indent that runs the length of where the doors would be, very stylish and no doubt adds strength to the fiberglass form as well.

Nice find for sure ! ! Everyone that I know has a soft spot for the Scorpion GT, we were ALL OVER the one that came to the Connecticut show a few weeks ago, it won the Judges Choice Trophy I think. That they were manufactured in Massachusetts, probably up by Rutland way or thereabouts, makes them SUPER special. A handful of very special dune buggy bodies were manufactured up/over there as well.

Luck ! !

TC

[Thanatos]

[pdp123]

They had a bent plexiglass window. Kind of like a gull wing door. Just like the Bradley.

The Fiberglass work was done in Massachusetts (Clinton, I'm told).
The rest of the kit was put together and the company was in Durham Connecticut.

TC, do you have any pictures of the one in the show?

Paul

[vwguy1978]

Hi guys my buddy owns the car from the show ill get pitcs soon for you we live in middleboro ma

[pdp123]

VWguy1978, Thank You.

Or even better since I am a photographer by trade. If your friend would like some nice pictures of his car someday I'd be glad to shoot some for him. I think it would be a great gift for Hank (the designer of the car) and I'd burn a DVD for your friend so he could have them as well. I live in Groton Mass so Middleboro isn't so far away. Also I have relatives in Rochester that I owe a visit to soon.

Let me know.

Paul