Jeep XJ-002 by Bolide Motor Car Corporation
Car of the Day #205: 1970 Jeep XJ-002 by Bolide Motor Car Corporation – Orphan buggy
If you were getting into the fiberglass recreational off-roader game in the late '60s, your choices in North America were limited to mostly Volkswagen Beetle-based kits.
You could buy a “real” Jeep and take the doors off, but where's the fun in that?
Someone convinced Kaiser-Jeep that the company should explore this niche, and the full story is so convoluted that it’s important that you read the exclusive over at Legend mag. Complete with original sketches, build photos and interviews with those involved, it’s definitely worth your time.
Hindsight: I think the Bolide Jeep would have worked out quite well for the companies involved, had future Jeep owners AMC cared to pursue the concept further.
Built on a stock Jeep Commando pickup chassis complete with Buick-derived V6 engine, automatic transmission, and 3.31 rear end, it would have had the power to spank most Meyers-Manx.
Jeep XJ-002 by Bolide Motor Car Corporation • via Legend mag
The only problem, of course, was timing. Approved before the AMC takeover of Jeep and finished during it, the Bolide Jeep received some publicity in period. It was shown at the 1970 New York Auto Show in the form you see above, sadly obscuring my favourite feature: its Zagato-like double-bubble roof.
After the show, Jeep didn’t want it around and its builders returned it to their partner Borg-Warner; again, see the story at Legend for the wild tale of how it was then snapped up by an employee for $1.
Passed through a number of stewards since, it's been repainted, modified, used, and probably abused. I mean, what else would you do with a tough Jeep chassis and robust Cycolac plastic body…commute to work?
Actually…after its New York Auto Show appearance, one of its Michigan-based builders did just that.
Who designed and built it? Ever hear of Dann Deaver and the Bolide Motor Car Corporation of Huntington, New York? As it turns out, Geoffrey Hacker of forgottenfiberglass.com, has a great story on the firm, players, and another Bolide Motor Car Corporation prototype, the swoopy, Porsche 904-like Can-Am 1.
Anyway, the XJ-002 is currently undergoing restoration back to its original bright yellow form — look for it…eventually.
READ NEXT: The full Bolide Jeep story, 'Forgotten Concepts — Jeep Bolide XJ-002' at legendmag.co.uk; then, the explainer for Bolide Motor Car Corporation at forgottenfiberglass.com.
