FEATURE – 2001 Bonning Roadster
Words: Mike Ryan
Photos: Brad Bonning
Australians are a pretty inventive lot. We can claim the rotary clothes line, black box flight recorder, wine cask, the bionic ear and even the electronic heart pacemaker in our list of home-grown inventions.
In the automotive arena, Aussie inventions include the orbital engine, variable rack and pinion steering and, of course, the ute.
The vehicle featured here may not be as ground-breaking, but it’s just as inventive.
The ‘Bonning Roadster’ was the result of one Aussie’s vision to a bring a light, fun and affordable commuter to the masses.
Designed and constructed by Queensland-based Bradley Bonning between 2001 and 2005, the Bonning Roadster was really the culmination of two decades of Brad’s passion for automotive design and development.
A Case of Timing
Those that did the rounds of the motor shows in 2007 (back when Australia still had motor shows) may remember the Bonning Roadster, as it featured at that year’s Melbourne Motor Show, followed soon after by the Adelaide Motor Show and others. It made a hell of a splash at the time, with interest from potential owners, as well as local and international manufacturers.
However, just when it looked like Brad’s labours would bear fruit, the Global Financial Crisis hit, and while Australia wasn’t as badly affected as other economies, the fiscal caution of the post-GFC times was enough to stop the Bonning Roadster in its tracks.
Since then, the motoring public around the world have embraced the SUV, while economical small cars and fun, quirky roadsters like this have largely been left behind. As such, the vehicle you’re looking at here was the sole Bonning Roadster built.
Self Taught and Teaching
The remarkable thing about Brad is that he built this car without any formal training in engineering. He did study art and design at university, though, which explains the Bonning Roadster’s striking aesthetics, but the underlying form of the trike was largely the result of Brad’s own gut instincts.
Through the 1980s and ‘90s, Brad secured design and prototype fabrication contract work in the R & D departments of Ford, Nissan and Holden - through persistence as much as anything else! These roles gave Brad a good grounding in the process of turning ideas into reality, but as you can see from the roadster, there’s no ‘Commodore’ or ‘Falcon’ styling cues – Brad is very much his own man in this respect.
Later in the ’90s, Brad developed a three-wheeler, in both pedal and electric form, for high school students to use for driver-training in a facility that he also established himself.
The trike configuration of the learner vehicles was designed to get students familiar with the human impact on vehicle dynamics, not just driving technique. Getting students more connected to a vehicle with these three-wheelers was an approach Brad would apply to his next three-wheeler – but this one definitely wasn’t for students!
New Millennium Movement
While Brad had the idea of a compact, economical three-wheeler in his head for some time, work on the Bonning Roadster didn’t actually start until 2001.
“This vehicle was a monumental project and by far the most exciting concept I’d ever tackled,” Brad recounted in a book he’s produced on the roadster and its creation.
Before a tool was lifted or a welder ignited, abundant sketches and diagrams, including complex cutaways, were produced to determine how the various components would work on the ground-hugging two-seater. Aesthetics were a big part of this process, with Brad stating that the vehicle had to look unified from every angle, and not like it had bits and pieces tacked on.
“The process of designing and constructing the roadster began with plan, side and end elevation drawings, in addition to a multitude of three-dimensional sketches.”
Once the configuration of the independent front suspension and wheel package – a double wishbone set-up and 17-inch aftermarket wheels all round - was finalised, work on the main chassis began, using 40x80x1.6mmm rectangular section tubing to form a “base” to which the rest of the chassis would be added.
A sheet steel bulkhead was next, positioned behind the seats to separate the cabin from the rear-mounted engine. Further strengthening sections, including dual rollover hoops, were added before a spider’s web of smaller round-section tubing was tacked in, spaceframe-style, for attaching the aluminium body panels, as well as things like lights and indicators.
There was also a ‘two-stage’ approach to the front of the chassis, with the main section supporting the suspension, steering, pedals, etc., while a secondary section served as a kind of sub-frame for the nosecone, which tilted forward to allow access to the front suspension, steering box and fuel tank. Interestingly, Brad designed the instrument panel to lift up with this section.
Moto Power
Given the compact overall dimensions of the Bonning Roadster, a motorcycle engine was always going to be the best drivetrain option, but which engine to choose was the big question.
Aiming for something producing around 100 horsepower (75kW) meant capacities in the 750cc to 1200cc range and, most likely, a four-cylinder configuration.
Morgan has shown a big V-twin can work with their modern ‘3-Wheeler’, but an air-cooled Harley engine would have been hard to incorporate into Brad’s sleek body design. Similar packaging, cooling and style concerns ruled out a BMW boxer twin, too, but Brad did give this serious consideration.
“I was able to borrow a number of different engines and bring them home to evaluate their individual suitability,” Brad recalled. “As much as I would have preferred a shaft drive system, I knew that the only logical choice was chain and sprockets for the final drive.”
Ultimately, a 998cc Honda four-cylinder engine was settled on. A strong, proven unit in Honda’s CBR 1000 litre-class sportsbike, the liquid-cooled four produced around 120hp (90kW) in C2001 form. The Honda’s 6-speed transmission was also used, but this would carry a sequential shift more commonly found in race cars.
Another benefit of the Honda drivetrain, Brad recalled, was its popularity at the time, meaning parts would be plentiful.
The decision to run a wider, car-spec wheel and tyre at the rear meant the Honda swingarm was out of the question. Instead, a custom made, single-sided swingarm was fabricated from similar box section tubing used for the lower chassis. This also allowed a larger rear disc brake and caliper to be fitted.
Body Beautiful… Remotely
By 2003 and with more than 2,000 hours already sunk into the project, the Bonning Roadster was close to being structurally complete: the swingarm rear was still to be finalised, but most of the “bones” were in place.
The tack-welded chassis was taken to an engineering workshop close to Brad’s Noosa Heads home for access to professional welding equipment: “MIG welds in most parts, with TIG being used for more delicate parts, like the suspension and roll bars.”
Now fully welded together, the roadster was then reassembled, with the drivetrain, steering, suspension, etc., in place, so measurements could be taken for things like the fuel tank, exhaust system and seats.
The first aluminium panels were hammered out at this time, too. “Within a few weeks, I had a visit from the council,” Brad recalled. “They informed me that, if I continued, I would be in court very promptly for noise violations!”
That forced the project to relocate to a mate’s shed in a more remote part of the Sunshine Coast.
Months spent hand-forming the panels out there paid off, while keeping most of the body in bare aluminium gave the Bonning Roadster its futuristic, racy look.
With that sinuous body complete, the latter part of 2003 was spent sorting things like oil and fuel lines, wiring, lighting and brake lines, as well as the linkage for the gear shift, which due to the cosy nature of the cabin accommodation, resides to the driver’s right, level with the steering wheel that was made from scratch by Brad. The seats were all Brad’s handiwork, too.
While most of the roadster was hand-built, some of the bought-in parts included the steering column (Daihatsu Charade), tail light (C1999 Honda VFR 800), side indicator/tail lights (Ford Taurus) and front indicators (Toyota Camry), while the headlights are Hellas, the instruments are off the same Honda CBR 1000 that provided the running gear and those funky aero screens came from a pair of Aprilia motorcycles.
By the middle of 2004, the roadster was getting closer to completion.
On the Merry Go Round
Making the Bonning Roadster economical had always been a driving force behind the project, so Brad was open to using alternative fuels. When the head of a sustainable living company in Queensland contacted Brad with the idea of running the trike on methanol generated from household waste, he was intrigued.
That company, Eco Nova, invited Brad to display the roadster at their launch event, which became the first public appearance of the vehicle.
That presentation, in November of 2005, was also the first time Brad had driven the trike any distance, as it had only been completed to running spec the week before!
“I had the help of a lot of friends to make the vehicle both driveable and aesthetically complete – we all worked big hours, seven days a week, to complete the task.”
Receiving a permit to drive the vehicle on public roads shortly after, Brad spent plenty of time bringing the Bonning Roadster to a wider audience.
“When we parked the roadster, cars that were driving in either direction just stopped – in the middle of the road – and all occupants vacated their vehicles and came over to check it out!” Brad laughed.
This would be the first taste of a whirlwind of interest that continued for the next three years and put Brad on a merry go round of public appearances that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with.
The first show outside Queensland that Brad and the Bonning Roadster were invited to was ‘The Next Big Thing’ awards in Melbourne in 2006.
The aforementioned 2007 Melbourne Motor Show followed, and Brad chuckles when he recalls the phone call inviting him down – all expenses paid – to Victoria. He thought it was a mate playing tricks on him, so was very, very dismissive of the caller until he confirmed his bona fides.
While the level of interest at both Melbourne and Adelaide motor shows was overwhelming at times, it did connect Brad to many industry contacts, including some who were interested in putting the trike into production. One of these was based in Dubai and another in Hong Kong. Brad says the trike was closely assessed by those Hong Kong interests, but ultimately no deal was done.
Full Stop
By the middle of 2008, Brad had a working trike, with only a couple of minor ADR certification hurdles to get it fully complied. What he didn’t have was a manufacturer looking to take it to the next stage. Brad estimates around $20M would have been required to take it to some sort of production level.
Brad did get approaches to build the trike as a small-volume, high-priced sports machine – a millionaire’s toy – but he wasn’t interested in that, believing its potential lay in the broader market as an everyday runaround. To that effect, he had developed a full-enclosed version during 2006 and got that to the scale model stage.
One plan to use the roadster as a mobile billboard for an energy company was posited, but ultimately didn’t come to fruition. The proposed methanol fuel project hit a roadblock, too, and, as mentioned, the GFC undoubtedly had an impact.
The car’s registration status was another issue: in Queensland, the Bonning Roadster could have been driven on a car licence and without a helmet, but given its configuration and open cockpit, other states may have insisted on a motorcycle licence and a helmet. Its ANCAP rating, had it gone to production, would likely have been another issue.
So, with no takers on the horizon, Brad parked the trike up and it’s remained in storage for more than a decade.
More recently, health issues have led Brad to make the reluctant decision to sell his creation (see breakout). Brad says it’s not a decision he’s taken lightly, but it’s one he feels is necessary while the vehicle can still be recommissioned easily.
With its impressive performance – 90kW, an estimated 200km/h top speed, almost perfect front-rear weight balance, approx. 4.44W/kg power-to-weight ratio, go kart-like handling and a 0-100km/h time in the 5.0 second range - the Bonning Roadster has enormous potential as a tarmac rally car in the view of this writer. It would have wowed the field if only Targa Great Barrier Reef been held a decade earlier. Given Targa Australia’s recent relaxation of entry rules, there may be a place for it yet, but that’s still very much a “maybe”.
Unfortunately, there are too many “maybes” and “if onlys” connected to the Bonning Roadster, but one thing that is an absolute is that this one-off piece of Aussie invention is a part of our automotive history. As such, it deserves to live on.
FOR SALE
On the market for the first time since its creation, the Bonning Roadster remains a unique piece of Australian automobile history.
The vehicle was close to completing ADR certification when the project halted and Brad says only minor elements remain to be ticked off, so the ADR process could be completed easily by the new owner.
For registration, the new owner would also have to confirm the licensing requirements for such a vehicle in their state. Of course, the alternative is to run it as a trackday car and not worry about rego at all.
As advertised, the trike is complete, but having been in storage for several years, it would need some reconditioning to return to running condition.
Asking price is $250,000 negotiable. Phone 0423 134 816 for more details.
View online with more photos
at justcars.com.au using the ad code: JCM5070437.
