An interesting little Californian company started in 1970 by Curtis Brubaker. Here is his sporty mini-van based on a VW chassis, the Brubaker Box.

Edited July 22, 200619 yr by HarleyEarl

Weird & Tacky. Love the Wal*Mart hubcaps on the pink one.

I think this is kind of corny and very silly looking but it's still less

dorky than a Bradley GT. Those things look/feel to be made by

a defunct hot tub manufacturer with a WWI era welder & some

basic skills in fabrication. By basic I mean he saw a video on how

to carve a pumpkin with a steak knife.

is that a mercury comet front clip on there?

Eh. I'd drive that over an Element or xB.

I dunno- there's a 1st gen Bradley GT in the boneyard near me- first one I ever saw up close. Sure, no one wouldn't think it wasn't a kit car, but that aside I thought it was pretty interesting. Wonder where it came from; it was beat & tired but it wasn't there a year ago.

Never saw this Brubaker Box before: interesting! Oh, it needs better bumper integration and some cohesive styling in the nose, but the basic proportions aren't unattractive.

EDIT: Now the bottom 2 pics are loaded.... My comments are mostly for the orange one. The other 2 are looking pretty Super Box....

Edited July 22, 200619 yr by balthazar

I find these little auto companies so interesting. Especially North American. I'm always facinated by the ingenuity of these risk takers. There are more than most would think. I think I've seen it all and heard all there is to hear and then I stumble upon the Brubaker Box.

Oh absolutely! Wikipedia, Eternal Wellspring of Truth that it is claims there were 1800 U.S. manufacturers before (IIRC) WWII. That's close enough in my estimation. There have to be a year's worth of stories there- hell the early stories of the well-known/existing auto manufacturers are fascinating in themselves.

Balthazar:

The Bradley GT I saw was litteraly worse of in terms of

quality, durrability & safety than a bumper car from the

1970s. I honestly mean that. The body seemed to be

constructed of 0.15" thick lunch tray plastic, the "frame"

was rusted but it looked as if even before the rust it had

been useless... you know $h!ty welds & nonexistant

bracing where there should be some. The plexiglass or

what ever it is gullwing glass was like the blister pack

material on a hot wheels package... I could go on but

let's just say it was a POWER-WHEELS for an adult.

You're probably thinking of the much better built & IMO

better looking

Bradley GT (pretty horrible)

Bradley GTII (not so bad)

I think an accurate description of the comparison between the

GT & GTII would be that the GT looks likeit was designed &

manufactured in someone's basement using left over parts

from a defunct plastics manufacturer whereas the GTII looks

like a cheesy kit car with some cool styling.

Now don't go get all 'Consumer Reports' on us lol......I'm still facinated by these guys who try to make their own cars. Even the 'cheesy' ones. I hope there will always be these crazy car nuts around.

I remember seeing all those weird cars in Hot Rod years ago in the ads in the back. i didnt like them then and I still dont . I have a friend that had a Kelmark (I think thats what its called) with a VW motor in it. He said girls loved it in High school.

An interesting little Californian company started in 1970 by Curtis Brubaker.  Here is his sporty mini-van based on a VW chassis, the Brubaker Box.

*chuckles*

The rear-end view of the black-colored one ... makes it look like a "mini Hummer" ... he he he.

Very cool, tho .

Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker

MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/

Models.HO = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/trainroom.html

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot where I was" ... Patty Loveless ... 'I Try To Think About Elvis'

that made my day 68 your post.