This is such a cool find. Obviously, we know a fair amount about the Kelmark GT story at this point and recognize that most of them were based on Volkswagen Beetle chassis with a fairly humble Bug motor still bolted in. A seller on eBay who is the offspring of one of the original Kelmark founders has listed a tubular mid-engined chassis here on eBay with a 350 Oldsmobile V8 installed. The price seems very fair with a Buy-It-Now of $12,000 and bids to $7,600 as of this writing.
I don’t know about you but this just seems dead sexy to me. The Kelmark body was always one of the better looking VW-based kits and a V8 engine mounted mid-ship actually complements the race-ready body. The seller notes that after a while, his dad and his business partner began experimenting with V8 tubular chassis. When the original partner left, his father formed a new company with an ex-Oldsmobile engineer called Mid-Engineering. According to the listing, they build a car called the “King Kong Kelmark” that was good for 203 miles per hour.
The seller notes that this particular chassis was a factory demonstrator for the company, which ceased operations in 1985. Amazingly, there’s apparently still a large assortment of spare parts and chassis like this that have been in storage all these years, and the son of Randy Markham – one of the original founders of Kelmark – is selling off what’s left. I would never have thought a platform as cool as this has just been collecting dust all these years, especially since it seemingly begs to be driven.
The listing notes that the chassis has been extensively modified beyond accepting the Olds V8, with other upgrades including: “C3 Corvette rear disc brake suspension, a custom GM disc brake front suspension, an ATL bladder fuel tank and other options from enclosed excerpts from the Mid-Engineering catalog.” The Olds V8 is called “fresh” but it hasn’t been hooked up; the seller confirms that everything is well-marked so that getting the final punch list done by a DIYer in their garage should be feasible for the ambitious enthusiast in the room.
Pretty cool. They just did get that 180 degree gearbox in there. Certainly some first class work on this one. If I lived out west again I’d be hard pressed not to make a dune buggy out of it. Either way, looks like fun ahead.
Looks like a fun way to add points to my drivers license.
Can you legally drive without a body?
Carleton Henderson,
Depends on the state. Assuming you can get the car legally licensed for the road [your state will need to assign it a VIN], You can likely get away with driving this wearing helmets.
If proof can be provided from the Kelmark guys that this chassis was built around 1980, the vehicle may be eligible for antique car status. So before approaching any MVA/DMV officials about getting a VIN plate assigned, make sure you have all the Kelmark paperwork showing it’s provenance, or it might end up with a VIN indicating it’s a 2022 vehicle, as that’s the first time it’s been presented for titling as a kit or homebuilt vehicle.
Important note: Before taking an older chassis or kit car for it’s first VIN assignment, visit your state DMV/MVA to gather info on what process, photos, & paperwork they require, before bringing the actual vehicle to them for inspection, or you could be saddled with a new VIN plate they permanently attach to the vehicle.
I had a client who found and purchased a never completed 1953 Woodil Wildfire roadster with the rare tube chassis. It didn’t have a VIN stamped anywhere. He took it to the Virginia state DMV, and the next thing that happened is they assigned a current 1996 Virginia serial number and title.
I was asked to help with the situation. It took us 3 years to get Virginia to recognize the car as a 1953 and not a 1996 car. The biggest hurdles we faced was getting the DMV to admit they made a mistake, and then to change the title to a 1953 date of manufacture. The owner spent about $5k on attorney fees and my costs.
Imagine having a 1970 Old Tornado 455 setup in this buggy!! The front wheels would see sky every time you step deep into the gas pedal!!! 😂🐻🇺🇸
We shoehorned a Tornado unit into the bed of a Ford Courier. We had access to a ton of scrap steel, so making everything match up to the existing frame was relatively easy. Reversed the exhaust to make them run forward, then built our own side pipes. The air intakes from an old VW bus on the sides of the bed and a home made cover for the bed. Pure redneck backyard engineering, but it would go like the devil.
Check out Motor Trend TV- The ‘Roadkill” episodes about the ” Mazdarati. ” Which probably was not as well done as your truck, but I believe at that time the Courier was being built by Mazda, with a Ford engine.
Test drove a Mid Engineering kelmark about 10 years ago .fine running example needing repaint and was asking 20k. Reasonable figures here .
What a fun starting point to build something that will kill me or get my license suspended possibilities are endless
Shorten the wheelbase to 80″ and put a Manx SR body on it.
Back in the late 70’s, I had a Kelmark 2 seat Dune buggy ( the area behind the seats was a sort of pickup box. Mine had a hole in the box and the box was cut across and hinged to lift up for access to the 180hp Corvair Turbo engine, which drove through a late model Corvair transaxle , which used the same axle shafts and uprights as the C-3 Corvette. Fun, but could get downright scary with a right foot that was too heavy…. it was easy to make a hard shift into 2nd gear and lift the front wheels while spinning the rears……
Looks like a great deal, they have another one listed.
The feeBay ad mentions the car was equipped with a Kelmark GT body at one time [“has been fitted but never installed”], but doesn’t mention if the body is included or even available. Also would be good to know if that body is complete with glass, doors, etc.
was just gunna ask ‘which kellison?’ It makes a dfference.
Now I’ll go look to see if I’m interested…
I’d want to drive it as is, like a poor man’s Ariel Atom.
Does the body come with the frame?
Does he have a body that will fit this chassis and could it be made into a street legal car with a little ingenuity?
The only part that is still VW is the tiny air cleaner.
lots of fun to be had with this one, though I would prefer a longitudinal manual trans setup versus the toronada auto, not sure if they made that set up at Mid Engineering though
always liked the Kelmark, i guess its Dino based copy, a long time ago I found a 455 olds powered Kelmark, being sold off a used car paper rag, about an hour or so from me but I just couldn’t get into that auto trans thing,……