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Former Exclusive: Kelmark GT Kit Car

Here’s a sight for sore eyes: this Kelmark GT is not only a former Barn Finds Exclusive, but a car I personally had a hand in selling. Out of all the cars listed on the site from the collection in Georgia, the Kelmark is undoubtedly the one I get the most inquiries about still to this day. It was a great candidate for restoration with awesome period graphics, turbine wheels, and a surprisingly nice interior. The Kelmark left Georgia for Texas, where it apparently only enjoyed a short stay with a Barn Finds reader before being listed here on eBay with no reserve and active bidding.

These are actually all of the pictures I took that the seller added to the listing, which is surprising considering he’s had the car in his possession for a year. The Kelmark doesn’t have an engine and there is rust blossoming in more than one spot underneath (photos included below). That’s not the end of the world, as you’d more than likely swap in a new VW pan anyway, especially if it came with a title, which would make it far easier to register the Kelmark for road-going use. As you can see, the cabin was in very nice shape, with nicely preserved bucket seats and wood dash inserts.

This was one of the photos I provided to interested buyers of the car when it was still available, showing the rust down the center tube and in the floor pans. The front axle tube and brake backing plates were on the threshold of being able to be cleaned up with aggressive blasting, but I had more than one reader question whether that’d even be possible. Regardless, VW pans are cheap, and since you’d likely be refreshing the suspension, brakes, and driveshaft while a new engine is sourced, it’s hardly the end of the world to migrate it over to a pan in better condition, and hopefully with a title.

This is the last time I saw the Kelmark, when it was leaving Georgia for Texas. The buyer, at the time, had some phenomenal plans for the car along the lines of an Audi 4.2L engine, Mustang II front suspension, and rear suspension from a Nissan 300ZX. His plans even went so far as to include Talbot racing mirrors and genuine Ferrari Dino bumpers, front and rear. Although you can’t control what happens to a car once it leaves your possession, I was personally hoping to see this Kelmark in a better place by now. Perhaps another reader will grab it and bring it back to life. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Andria A. for the find.

Comments

  1. Avatar Jcs

    I think it’s really cool. That last shot of the car leaving on the trailer really shows how much potential she has. What fun!

    Like 4
  2. Avatar ACZ

    I hope it finally gets completed. It would be nice to see this one with an LS or a Toronado setup in the rear.

    Like 2
    • Avatar Michael Malcewicz

      Too pedestrian, done to death.

      Like 2
    • Avatar Russell

      Late to the dance … But, Kelmark actually made a custom tube ride called the “Kelmark Toronado GT” based on a Toronado transaxle and Olds 425 or 455 mounted midship. I had a hand in assembling one … turned out to be the scariest vehicle I have ever driven… a lot of engine on a ultralight body/frame. It would light up a pair of N50-15 (345/50-15) tires, 12 inch wide footprint, at each gear shift. But still…

      Like 0
  3. Avatar Michael Malcewicz

    Hello Jeff, sometimes projects are not completed, because better ones come along and are further along and titled or titleable. As was this case. A Ferrari F40 replica came along, that was more complete, with a V8, but it does need some work as it sat for about five years and does not run. I also had a very hard time sitting in the Kelmark, as I am 6’5″ and had to turn my body sideways to fit. So rather than just sit on it and do nothing with it, it’s better to sell it to someone else. Hopefully the Ebay buyer is real and does buy it, as he / she bought it with the winning bid so far. As far as your disappointment at its progress, well that is just the way the balls bounce.

    Like 5

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