Bradford Designs for Automobiles (BDA)

[yurimacs]

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Established in Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK by Jerome Lee Stanner in his mid 20's, Bradford Designs aims to help design cars that would look unique from other cars. The company was funded by Lee's rich father who had recently retired and gave a portion of his wealth to his son.

Lee had always fell in love with Italian sports cars as a kid, the likes of Lancia, Ferrari, and many more like it. He always wanted to make cars not as business executives, but as an art form and cultural exemplaries.

And now he has the chance to make that a reality, but he will have to challenge the likes of Jaguar, Porsche, Lamborghini, all the big league players…

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1973: An awkward start.....(BDA MK.1)

Lee got off to a great decision to go for the classic front engine rear drive layout (FR), nothing beats the classic FR coupe. But Lee may had seen a bit too much of the Mercedes “Gullwing” because this is basically just a smaller, cheaper British version of it. Although the “gullwing” was a revolutionary step in automotive design, not much have actually featured such doors, only limiting to the DMC-12 8 years from now and the Autozam AZ-1 19 years from now. The Mk.1 (as it was named) was one of the very very few production cars that featured the gullwing doors.

Aside from the quirky but hassleful gull-wing doors, it is just a normal 2+2 family sports coupe that has been built to target the market with a competitive price. For $13173, you are getting the full package. A robust AM Radio, comfy velour seats, hydraulic steering, it was meant to be a comfortable cruiser. Underneath the body is a 2.7L “Butchzer” Inline 6 producing 155hp at 5900 RPM.

All seems well, well… after probably 3-4 years of wear and tear, rust starts to appear under the chassis. Sadly due to limiting budgets, everything of the chassis was made of sheet steel. In 1976, BDA had offered to do rust-proofing for 5% the price of the car ($655.35).

Of course, the car had gotten steady sales in the British Isles and Europe, although it gets outmaneuvered by the Lancia Beta and Alfa Romeo Montreal, it undercuts them by having a competitive price range and being generally more comfortable than the competition.

[yurimacs]

1978-1979: The "Turbolite" namesake and Turbo-O technology

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The "Butchzer Turbo-O" engine

The "Butchzer" 2.7L Inline 6 was the testbed for the "Turbo-O" technology that ran testing from 1974 until the unveiling of the MK.2 in 1978. The "Turbo-O" variant of the "Butchzer" engine is a smaller variant which has a displacement of 2557cc. It was first seen in the MK.2 "Turbolite" and 1 year later in the R-Turbolite.

MK.2 "Turbolite"

The Mk.2 "Turbolite was a big far cry from the Mk.1, from the design and engine to the interior and exterior trims. It is built on the Mk.1 platform, so there are problems still of rusting, however the rust-proofing will be made standard on all cars.

For $17845, it is priced way higher than the Mk.1. But get inside and you will see the reason why, leather 2+2 seats, hydraulic steering, and a premium quality 8-track player from RadioShack. The engine under the bonnet is the newly revealed “Butchzer Turbo-O” 2.5L Inline 6, producing 237hp @ 6100 RPM. Brakes are all-disc, meaning it stops better than the Mk.1.

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R-Turbolite

Then in 1979, the “R-Turbolite” was unveiled in the US market, in hopes to gain more customers in the other side of the Atlantic. Due to strict US regulations on emission, a three-way catalytic converter has been fitted as well as a mechanical fuel injection system, producing 205 HP @ 5200 RPM. Top speed is 231.2 km/h, the fastest car in Bradford’s range and 0-100 km/h in 6.5 s. In the European version, there is an option to have the carburettor version found on the Mk.2 for only $599.99 . With the Mk.2 engine, top speed has been increased to 240.3 km/h and a 0-100km/h in 6.4 s.

For 19149 @ 20% (19748.99 with the optional Mk.2 engine), it is at the expensive side of the spectrum. With fibre glass panels and galvanized chassis, it is also the lightest of the lot, with 1005.6 kg (1016 kg w/ Mk.2 engine)It also have Bridgestone sports tire to help grip in the corners. Inside the R-Turbolite, are two sport bucket seats and a standard quality 8-track player, and your usual hydraulic steering.

[yurimacs]

1980s: A busy decade . . . .

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- All-new "Berzeker" 3.2 L Boxer engine and plans for an 8 - 12 cylinder engine

In '78 when the "Turbo-O" was released, Bradford have been researching and developing a much more lighter and bigger "boxer" engine. Jerome Lee Stanner, CEO of Bradford Designs, said that by building such an engine will help reach out to more markets by making it suitable for all designs, from sedans to sports cars. The engine can be sold with or without the Turbo-O technology. By 1984, the engine was finally put into production in the '84 R-MK.1 sedan. There have been rumors saying that Bradford are researching on a V-type engine for the upcoming 90's , many speculate that it will be a V8 with Turbo-O tech and some even bet that it will a big N/A V12

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R-Mk.1 : The integration of performance and comfort

As the R-Turbolite and Mk.2 have stopped production in 1983, The R-Mk.1 pave it’s way to showrooms in 1984. The R-Mk.1 aims to be the spritual successor of both the R-Turbolite and Mk.2 by integrating the performance side of the R-Turbolite and the luxurious side of the Mk.2.

Priced at 18104 @ 20% , it was in the middle of the late R-Turbolite and Mk.2 price range. Just right considering what it had as standard. Inside you get 5 suede seats to comfortably sit your family and a Pioneer 8-track player (standard quality). This is the first model from Bradford that has variable hydraulic steering. Safety is also standard of the 80s.

It’s top speed reaches 230 km/h, just 1 km/h close to matching the R-Turbolite’s top speed. Acceleration isn’t bad either, from 0- 100 km/h in under 7 seconds. Brakes are disc, front and rear, so it stops 100-0 km/h in 35,6m.

The “Berzeker” 3.2L 3v SOHC Boxer 6 engine first debuted in this car, the variant in particular is the “N/A” version. It uses a single-point EFI System with forged crankshaft, conrods, and pistons. The engine produces 217hp @ 6300 RPM and 270Nm @ 4000 RPM.

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Turbo300 and "Project 500"

-1979 : Bradford released the “Turbo300”

As one of Bradford’s flagship cars, the Turbo300 is the culmination of what we learned in fine-tuning sports car to our very best. Inspired by Italian supercars, this car aims to be a game-changer in the very market.

Using the 2.9L “Turbolite” variant of the Berzeker 3.2L Boxer 6, it produces 299.9 HP @ 6700 RPM at 7000 RPM. With Galvanized chassis and full aluminum panels, it is a lightweight sport car weighing in at 1133 kg.
All these tech help it reach a top speed of 253.3 km/h and a 0-100 time of 4.3 secs. Vented disc brakes help it stay cool in hard driving and also more lighter than normal solid disc brakes. Inside the car are two sport bucket seats suitable to the theme of the car and a Pioneer 8-track player (standard quality) with hydraulic steering.

The best part of it is that the car is priced at 20525 @ 20%, only ~1000-1450 more than the R-Turbolite, meaning that it is the best bang for the buck if you want a good ol’ sport car to throw around with!

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(Project 500)

A year after the release of the Turbo300, Bradford decided that it was the right time to test out the engine that will be ready within the 90’s. Bradford may not disclose the information, but they say that the engine will not have a turbo during the testing phase, but during further development then they will consider adding Turbo-O technology.

Just by judging the sound it emits when idle, it can be clearly heard as an V8. The testing base of the V8 engine will be a stripped out Turbo300. As of the moment, Bradford had been testing in the islands of Italy, on an abandoned airport with a short strip of runway, where they can test for top speed. The aim is to reach 300 km/h in a short amount of time. However, on the very first run, the engine lid had flown off at 250+km/h. The next run ended the same way. The people working on the Project 500 say that they will work out on fixing the issue at hand

(image taken moments before its ill-fated, lid-lifting speed run)

[yurimacs]

Just a message from the CEO.....

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We are releasing the .car files of all of our current Bradford line up for anyone to fiddle with it or export to BeamNG and drive around:

Mk.1 - Bradford - Mk.1.car (22.8 KB)

Mk.2 “Turbolite” - Bradford - MK2 Turbolite.car (21.1 KB)

R-Mk.1 - Bradford - R-Mk.1.car (19.9 KB)

Turbo300 - Bradford - Turbo300.car (23.2 KB)

[SKT666]

Any chance I could make a car for your marque? I am the owner of Sadowtski Automobiliai, and I request that if you want, once I’m done with my car, It will be Bradford [Model Name] by SA/Sadowtski Automobiliai.

[yurimacs]

Request approved!

[SKT666]

I will produce you a surprise car.