Ryan, before you go jumping on a car...if your real intent it to go Vintage Racing, look at the car requirements of the group you want to race with. Worst case is the car will HAVE to have a logbook or other evidence that THAT SPECIFIC ch***is participated in organized racing before a certain date. Best case are the groups that let you build semi-modern sports racers inside any old body. Just be aware before you buy. JRM
great just what i needed.. something else on my wish list.. canted quads look so friggin good on this!
This is the one thing that I want to accomplish before I die. I've lusted over them all my life. I had one when I was about 18. Way too much work for my talents then. It was the bare shell mounted on some kind of 50's Ford ch***is. It was 40 some years ago so I can't remember all the frame details.(one of my older "experts" thought it was a Ford. It wasn't a Corvette with the unboltable front suspension.) I bet more were bought and p***ed around than any that were completed. Oh to have it back as it was then. The early 2 head light design is much prettier than the quad light body in my eye. There was a tired old Kellison at Carlisle a few years back on a Corvette frame. They wanted in the high teens for it. It had to be completely torn apart and redone to make it the way I want it. Too much for a builder.IMHO My pipe dream is to build a space tube frame for one. I don't know if that would disqualify it for historic racing. The frame isn't a problem...it's that damn gl*** work!!! But I'd get through it. If anybody knows where there is a reasonable Kellison or Devon body for sale, I'd be interested. I spent many hours in Viet Nam reading the ***embly manual (25 1968 bucks) for the Jamaican, another pretty gl*** kit car but the Kellison was the ultimate to me.
Brian, Thanks for posting the photo and info on the late George Clark built Kellison. He desided to take the top of it and run it as a roadster. Lost interest and it ended its life in a dumpster. Ryan, Thanks for starting this thread, if you are ever in New England on Labor Day Weekend check out the Fall Festival at Lime Rock Park. Vintage sports car racing and traditional Hot Rods are more than welcome. Got to see the SoCal Coupe there for the first time.
My father-in-law used to race a Kellison in the 60's. He wrecked it badly (rolled it after someone got under him in a corner) and sold it. He also had a couple of Lotus 7's. I'll see if I can scrounge up a pic or two.
*******! what a *****in' machine. I really dig early '60s road race cars. They're somehow both elegant and brutal at the same time. There was a really nice, reasonably priced '62 Ferrarri GTO replica (built on a Z car ch***is) for sale around here a while back. A really good looking car. Man, I was really tempted by that one.
Yeah, I'm actually pretty educated on the subject. In fact, I'm licensed in three different cl***es through 2007 and will be doing my testing at Texas Motor Speedway in November to get reupped in a number of other cl***es.... just in case.... Back to the Kellison. I still like the "body swap" Kellison cars, but my interest is in the purpose built car with the long wheel base and super long hood. I want one of Chuck's early ch***is... My pops has a special motor waiting in the wings for such a project...
I have '59Vette []SHELL body] that Id love to modify someday....this is some great stylistic ideas here! Did they lossely base those on the 57 style body?
This old warrior is a bare-bones LSR car that's been garaged for years. Dave Seely brought it to Bonneville for the Burt Munro movie shoot. Dave's dad Jim was a gun road racer in the '50s and early '60s, usually partnering with his B-in-L Ted Cannon, driving the Cannon Specials. Because of the modifications to the nose of this car, Dave can no longer race it as a sportscar -- it's no longer stock! It will likely show up on the Salt before long, running just for the fun of it.
for the ch***is design that implemented x-frame construction and corvette suspension front and rear You mean the X frames from the full-sized Chevrolets from 58-64?? Travis
I've never seen one, so I don't know... That's just a description that I researched... Honestly, I'm only interested in the longer wheel base because of what it does to the car from a style view point. Mike, I just got pictures of that car via email. Really cool... It has the long hood too...
Neat cars, beautiful. One thing Ryan, not all of us have macral degeneration, how about using a smaller font? Its a pain when I have to tab over just to read the end of a sentence.
Ryan -- Dave Seely is a neat guy, full of great racing stories from the wayback. I'm sure he'd willingly answer questions about the specifics of his car. If you don't have contact info for him, e-mail me and I will provide it. Rather than intrude on your Kellison thread, I'll launch one on my favorite old-time budget racecar -- the Cheetah. Mike
Cool pic Mutt. Note the full belly pan. I don't recall that they all had that, so was it a custom bellypan? Perhaps the earlier models had them, and the "kit" cars did not? Anyone know?
Shoot me a PM when you come to TMS I want to come watch and hang out. I can offer a room 30min from the track too. TZ
I didn't know there was a long hood version or a short hood one... how much longer are they? Also, how many of the tube ch***is cars were built? I know of the one that Kellison built for himself... but others? My friend's looks like that black one... with quad headlights... I'll see if I can't get over there to take a picture of it if you want. Sam.
I've read two different things and have no inside knowledge what-so-ever... Here's what I've read the most times: Chuck built 200 ch***is from 1957 to 1959. The first 30 or so were tube ch***is cars with beam axles both front and rear. The rest were of "x-frame" design and featured corvette suspension front and rear and a 102" wheelbase. This is the J-4 and what I am calling the long hood car and they did make a few of these with quad headlights... Next Jim brought out the J-5 which fit on the vette ch***is (no idea what year) and had the same wheelbase (obviously) of 102", but was a little taller for headroom, longer doors, and quad headlights. The hood looked shorter on these due to taller deck and longer doors... From there, he brought out the J-3, J-2, and J-1... These were all based on small platform short wheelbase cars and don't really interest me... Again, I could be completely wrong with this account.
My friends is a J4, I believe... as it looks more like that silver one... but with quad headlights. Sam.
I agree with Mike on that one. The Bill Thomas Cheetahs are my favourite as well. ( those, and anything with Costin Designed body work...)
Ryan, I found this link a while ago with a whole lot more photo's and info on the Black Kellison that you saw on E-bay. An absolutely awesome car !! http://www.californiacl***ix.com/archive/62_Kellison.html Oh yeah - there is a ch***is drawing there as well for those that asked about the x-frame.
Simon, You are a weath of info....... Old sports cars are cool, we also run a pre65 cl*** down here, pretty lose rules, basically any body/ch***is/running gear from the same manufacturer as long as its pre 1965 so you end up with serious Galaxies, and Nova's and early Mustangs as well as all kinds of Aussie and pommy stuff, great to watch cars that you can actually tell who built em by the body shape rather then whats written on em.....
Ryan, I too was bitten by the Kellison "bug" and it was one of the major things that happened to me at the age of 13 that turned me solidly into a "car guy". It was 1963 and my big sister had this boy friend who had a "Kellison" every time he came over I made a point to be there, it was still an early builder and the doors were not functional and still had no interior BUT it was a driver with a 327 and a four speed! I was able to snare a few rides and to climb thru that window, sit in that bucket seat wrapped with with a full cage rollbar and then listen to that built small block come alive.... Geeez I still get goose bumps!!! Now jump ahead 40 years and I run into this guys brother and I tell him how his brother "changed" my life with those few rides, He tells me that his brother STILL has the car! I have not yet had the opportunity to see it but you can bet I soon will.
The Jalopy Journal
