Stock Reims
James Kellison was born the 5 November 1932, a combat helicopter flying in the army, always passionate about cars around 1950, a crazy idea crossed his mind “to build his own racing car”He wants to compete with the Porsche, Ferrari and Alfa
of the time. He took a pencil and paper and started designing a racing car. He spent several years perfecting the design, finding materials and imagining ways to implement it. He built some models, to learn how to build them. So in 1957, seven years later, Kellison Engineering was born and officially presented the Kellison J4, A Fiberglass Kit Car Offered in Coupe and Convertible Body This is the story of one of the designer’s first and most important cars to come.
Our Kellison J4-R is one of the first, and one of the best examples of the breed. This car, the twelfth prototype, was designed over 65 years ago. So avant-garde and still incredibly beautiful today, straight out of a comic book, these forms are unique. This prototype exceeded 200MPH (320 KM/H) on the salt lakes of Bonneville. During these exploits technically the car did not need handling, neither steering and brakes, the main thing being the power weight ratio in a straight line! A little later this J4-R prototype was converted into a sports car approved on the road. Criss-crossing the West Coast racetracks, the Kellison was a familiar sight on popular local tracks like Laguna Seca, Riverside and Willow Springs.
In 2009 she left California for the south of France, a first restoration will allow her happy owner to participate in the Sixties endurance in 2011, 2012 and 2015 and the Vernasca in 2016. In 2019 a new owner decides to make more usable this car and entrusts me with the project, major works are undertaken for more than 50,000 euros, reinforced chassis with new ties, new triangulated front half-trains, new disc brakes and ventilated, new rims and steering box, spaghetti exhaust, The Saginaw 3-speed gearbox is supported by a reinforced and optimised steering system, its 90° 5.4-litre Chevy V8 develops more than 350 horsepower for a weight of less than 1000 kilos.
Our car is featured in several magazines such as Auto-hedbo, Autorétro, Petrolicious, etc.
it will be delivered with a French road legal registration card, an important dossier of press articles, pictures and advertisements. eligible for all quality historical events such as the Rolex Monterey or Sixties Endurance, FFSA papers.
Price on request.
