Rare 1976 Blakely Bearcat fiberglass kit car. Ford 2.0L single overhead cam inline 4 with a 3-speed automatic transmission. New- paint, grill, timing belt, head gasket, valve stem seals, points, plugs, condenser, rotor, battery, windshield, seat belts, weather stripping, fender welting, carpeting and more. Oil and filter changed for both engine and transmission. New old stock complete exhaust system. It has a removable hardtop, clear title and comes with a tow bar and side curtain windows for it. Included are a lot of spare parts - engine, transmission, radiator, alternators, starters, brake calipers and more. Actual mileage unknown as instrument cluster was removed from a salvaged car. The interior is Black and Tan. No trades. Runs and drives well, no smoke, good oil pressure, shifts fine.
Blakely Auto Works (also called Bernardi Auto Works in later years) was a manufacturer of automobiles and of kit cars, working from premises located in a series of US midwest communities in the 1970s and 1980s. Blakely produced several kit car models, the Bantam, Bearcat, and Bernardi.
The Bearcat is a street version of the Lotus 7, with working doors and a usable trunk. Dick Blakely started to offer Lotus 7-style kit cars, called the Bantam, in 1972 in Love Park, Illinois, and in 1975 began offering a more civilized version called the Bearcat.
A significant feature was that the fiberglass body and fenders used a PVC foam core sandwich type of construction that added considerably to overall strength and ruggedness of the Blakley car. It has Fiberglass body on a specially built frame of box steel tubing. Mustang II front suspension with rack and pinion steering. Ford differential, front disc brakes, rear drum.
The Blakely Bearcat is a distinctly styled roadster for an affordable price. The history of Blakely includes well-engineered cars using readily available mechanical components. So that means a fun car to drive that you can get parts for.
