Here's a Bocar that came through Durango on the Colorado Grand this year. Also a photo of a Cad-Allard. Both of them are pure hot rods! Ralph Lauren has a ranch in Ridgeway and often times drives to Telluride in a '36 Ford pickup ranch truck. Started out designing and making ties and selling them on Wall street.
haha this post is drifting off topic, but obviously quite a few "hot-rodders" are also fascinated with italian cars. here's two more of my favorites. Alfa 33 Stradale and Ferrari P3
The comments about the luggage and the sun-roof were tongue-in-cheek. But did you see that dash? Nice, huh?
Hello, I was kindly directed to this site by a member. I have the Kellison Bob Mcnulty car you have been discussing- sitting in my garage!. I would like to offer it to you folks. It needs total rest, missing eng/trans, steering wheel, interior and grill. Otherwise complete as built with the custom inserts for the lights , bumpers, glass, xlnt. 55-7 T Bird chassis, body, brakes,suspension,steering, rear end , etc. Very straight forward to bring back - just in need of resto. Includes 5-Beautiful NOS Bias Tires we had boxed (just mounted this week on the car) If someone in this group would like to own the car. I am located in Central Ca. Coast. Is 3500$ or ?? good enough motivation to help one of you own it??!! As you can see, it is not about the money, just want a good guy to get it. Not ever advertised. Thanks Guys, Bill (805) 466-1015
One more pic from back in the day Also, the current owner, Bill Hair, claims it to be an award winner at the Oakland Roadster show in 1963. Which could be true considering this post: By HAMBer Green Voodoo "Jim Kellison designed his spectacular J4 in the mid 50s and his personal car No.905 was featured in many contemporary automotive publications including Griffith Borgeson on Hot Rods ( A Fawcett how to book 427 ) published in 1959. Kellisons were advertised in HOT ROD magazine throughout the late 50s and into the 60s. Many Hot Rod and Custom shows of the early 60s featured Kellisons , amongst the creations of Roth ,Barris and the like. . Bob McNulty’s Kellison was shown alongside Tex Smith’s XR6, AMBR winner at the 1963 Oakland Roadster Show. Bill Burke famous hot rodder and racer extraordinaire ran one at Bonneville in the late 50s. The Frank Collingwood custom built Kellison known as the ASTRA was the most successful on the show circuit competing against some 4000 entries including well known Hot Rods and Customs of the period to take the 1965 -66 ICAS International Championship and earn it’s place in the ICAS Hall of Fame. Frank’s “ASTRA” was also featured in Rod and Custom in 1966. One of the most interesting aspects of Jim Kellison’s original J4, is the design (except for the Kamm tail featured on the Ferrari.) and proportions are very similar to Ferrari’s sports racing car, the iconic 250GTO, - including the wind cheating drooped nose. Interestingly, the 250GTO was developed several years after Jim Kellison debuted his car. The Ferrari 250 GTO is regarded as one of the most beautiful Ferraris and perhaps the most coveted sports racer of all time and this is reflected in recent sale prices of around $20 Million. The Kellison an original American design, which was part of the Hot Rod & Custom scene , in the late 50s and into the 60s seems to have been forgotten or ignored. Whilst the chassis of the Kellsion cannot be compared to the Ferrari 250GTO , a well set up Kellison with a “Hot Rodded “American power train can be very competitive on the circuit against the thoroughbreds. Anyone out there remember Max Blachowsky and his famous “OL Yaller”. Max was a Hot Rodder through and through . He owned a real hot rod 32 Roadster with a Buick nailhead. The Kellison has the looks, not unlike the Ferrari 250GTO – revered as Ferrari’s most beautiful! . Frank Collingwood’s ASTRA earned its place in the ICAS Hall of Fame because it took the Peoples Choice awards at many of the shows it entered, reflecting the impact of the Kellison sports car on the audience at the time. An audience made up of Hot Rod and Custom car buffs. Some may refer to Kellisons as ‘kit cars” – but let me remind you that they are less of a kit car than the current crop of repro bodies fitted with the oh’ so beautiful aftermarket parts. Were the Hot Rodder’s and Custom car guys of the late 50s & 60s “Dickheads “ for devoting their attention to Kellisons and featuring them in shows and magazines? I think not! The cars look exactly they way did in the 60s and they still look similar to the Ferrari 250 GTO. Perhaps it’s time to step back and take notice of this AMERICAN Sports car icon – the Hot Rodder’s Sports car. " From this thread: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=314610&highlight=bob+mcnulty+kellison&showall=1
WOW, Have I got more research to do, thanks. Never heard of Kellison. I first thought of Richard Bosley, mentioned in TRJ #27. http://www.americansportscars.com/bosley.html
I've always liked Kellisons and dreamt of a big block powered J6. Here's a short but good Kellison read: http://www.cartype.com/pages/1386/kellison Couple things I learned were, the bodies were made using the "chopper gun" method and Jim Kellison later formed a company called the Red Stallion that built Cobra replicas known as a "Stallion" $700 would buy a lot back then. Another good link to original advertising and magazine articles from back in the day. http://kellisoncars.homestead.com/publications.html Then there is this, the sexiest Ferrari ever made: 250GTO
$#@! I can't believe THE exact car under discussion comes up for sale! So, this is a total porn post for me- Kellison is maybe my favorite of the Fiberglass sportscars, AND they started right here in my hometown of Sacto. Then someone goes and brings up Bandinis, making it even better. Had to throw up a couple of pics of one of my fave of the Italian 'etceterini'... the Giaur. these generally had Crosley motors and could be run with fenders in the Hmod class, or without in Formula racing. All of this while I'm on deadline and should be working, but instead I'm drooling over a car that there is no way I could buy. This is exactly why I love the HAMB.
Ryan, I've owned this Kellison Astra for one year and dig it for many of the same reasons everyone else does - American power under a mean looking Italian looking design. My late uncle originally built this one in '68-'74 after seeing the Hot Rod magazine ads while serving in Vietnam as a Green Beret. Many people think "kit car" when they see it but in truth it takes a real hot rodder effort to build one. What you bought was a body and no parts. It came with about 7 pages of written instructions. He had to scrounge the rear glass from a '49 Buick, the windshield from a '51 Studebaker. The chassis is a '65 C2 IRS Corvette and the Olds 455 is moved back 16' from stock. Firewall, interior, electrical - all custom fabricated. Which is probably why very few ever got finished. Once finished it was his daily driver. He trophied in the 1970s Rod and Custom shows at the L.A. Sports Arena and drag raced it into the 0:12s and in 1983 crashed it off the side of a mountain. It was rebuilt in 2000 with a new C2 frame, new Olds power and now it's mine. The first thing I did was sand off the black paint and shave off the monster fender flares. I put the front 8.5" American mags on the back and bought 7" aluminum 5-spokes for the front and painted all four to match. I'm in the fiberglass mode right now repairing stress cracks and chasing down funky corners and edges. Every time I read HAMB posts, I get crazy for this car and stay up in the garage working on it til way late.
Not sure who all has seen it but there was a great documentary about the company on cnbc, one of the best i've ever seen. They play it from time to time.
it looks killer but i would put in some classic looking gauges instead of the digitals, my opinion is all.
but remember Ferrari street cars were produced for the sole purpose of keeping the race cars going, they are very much a hot rod, the newer ones though would be more like a street rod. Early Ferraris were loud,hot,obnoxious to drive and insanely fast. a lot of them barely had an interior. sounds like a hot rod to me.
Completely agree on the gauges. The other thing I'm trying to figure out are some rocker panels under the doors. Stainless with long cuts? louvres like shark gills? The four pipes out the back look awesome. There were side pipes before but the cockpit always smelled like exhaust and you could feel the heat through the doors. For some hard core rodders that may be fine but not for the Mrs. (That's why it's plumbed for Vintage Air AC). It's a true highboy sitting on the frame rails and the trick thing would be to cut the floor and lower the body but I'm okay with the vintage 60's sports GT look plus I want to get it it into paint next year.
I was told there a guy locally that has 4-5 of these, NOT restored, just projects. I should track down that lead, right?
Its worth the effort if they are any of the Chrysler powered 2 door coupes or convertables. They are expensive and a little more difficult to restore.
The Kellison is a pretty awesome car, he built two as I recall. The Bosley is a similar car and the original is out in Peterson's Museum, unfortunately in the basement right now though. Denise has taken a couple shots of it I think (doesn't she and ChevyGirl have pictures of EVERYTHING?). This is Steve McQueen's Ferrari 250 Lusso, here are a few more of this car taken at Christie's.
That IS my favorite Bentley ever, the Gurney Nutting Coupé "Blue Train" built for Woolf Barnato. Beat the London-Paris train in the 30's as I recall.
The Jalopy Journal
