Comments on: 1969 Kaiser Jeep XJ001 Bolide Prototype

By: dan kunz

dan kunz — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 21:57:27 +0000

sooooo long in “restoration”! many personal and business issues have interfered with the time line of restoration that we had hoped for but it still ongoing to the original specifications and exact details. full provennce for this unique one-of-one jeep prototype/concept car exists and therein lies the problem. the car was rough when shown and I recently read an article saying how hard it is to judge (or even find) these cars. the bolide xj002 was being bottom, interior and frame painted in the trailer with black house paint and brush on the way to the nyc auto show. how does one evaluate the drip lines on a frame with house paint for a restoration review in this situation? just read an article on how rare concept cars are and that they are frequently not useable or complete nor even title-able. the XJ002 was and is a legal full functional street car/driver…and was used as such with plates and insurance in multiple places! the saga continues.

By: Alan R. Wehmer

Alan R. Wehmer — Wed, 17 Jan 2018 22:44:48 +0000

Wish this and the XJ001 would have gone i to production!!! My first Jeep was an M38A1 (military CJ-5) with the 225 pony Dauntless and oil bath air filter….still runnng good when I sold it with over 385k miles…..only time it failed me was when the timing chain broke….missed the chance on buying one completely restored a few years ago….that V6 gave me about 26 mpg around town……put it on the highway at 60mph and the mileage dropped to 14-15!!! 3-soeed stick was not geared for highway speed…..had a heck of a time finding an emergency brake show for it….it was a separate brake drum around the drive shaft or something like that(?) Weird…..

Would love to hear the status of your restoration and see more pics of this!!! See pics of a amphibious bi-plane I built on my website….

By: 4 Things You May Not Know About Jeep - Stan McNabb CDJR Blog

4 Things You May Not Know About Jeep - Stan McNabb CDJR Blog — Wed, 16 Aug 2017 21:51:44 +0000

[…] the Jeep XJ001 Bolide never made it into production, this prototype certainly turned some heads when unveiled at the 1970 […]

By: John D

John D — Wed, 21 Jan 2015 16:37:24 +0000

Dan,

Thanks for the update. It sounds like you are taking the very best approach toward restoring this one of a kind machine. I would love to hear more and perhaps even see a few pictures of your progress to date. I am extremely intrigued on the story behind the the xj002!

Thanks,

John D

By: bolide xj002 -- dan

bolide xj002 -- dan — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 20:02:21 +0000

hi all — sorry for the delayed response. yes, i still have the xj002 — very slow restoration as we are trying to everything exactly as was done in the original build. for example…we found the original dune buggy company that sold the original seat shells to dann deaver…they still had the original information! we bought a duplicate set and and are changing them in exactly the same way (not pretty underneath but nice when covered — all according to pictures and oral documentation!). we have full provenance on the car. it is a very unique and amazing piece of automotive history and foresight. possibly the most unique factory authorized concept car there is especially when the behind the scenes reasoning and corporate intrigue for this car is finally made known. in our ongoing research we have found that there was only one, not three as i incorrectly stated in one of my original documents (since documented by those who worked on this and other centaur engineering projects — the other two “lost” cars were actually meharari’s and have been found) and the car was never tested by the us military (documented by extensive research at aberdeen proving grounds research library and through related sites — that was purely a myth). the car is one wild ride! dan.

By: Dennis

Dennis — Mon, 24 Mar 2014 20:12:20 +0000

Also interested in more info on this mainly because it’s based on the Jeepster Commando mostly because it’s just about the coolest concept Jeep made.

By: Mollie

Mollie — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:56:16 +0000

Hi Dan! I don’t know if you still check this page, but figured it was worth a shot. I fell in love with the Bolide the first time I saw a photo, and would love to know how it’s doing today! I know on the Allpar page it says that the car is available to someone who would pledge to restore it — is that still the case? I live in VA and would love to restore this car, or just see it or possibly be of help in your restoration of it.
Please email me with more info. Thank you so much!
molliepowell93@gmail.com

By: dan

dan — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:00:55 +0000

eric — thanks for your interest. i’ll send some info to you today. dan

By: Eric Kim

Eric Kim — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:38:51 +0000

Dan,

Do you mind sending me some info as well? I am working on a project for school and would love to receive more information on this as well…

Many Thanks,
EricEdwardKim@Gmail.com

By: Pavel

Pavel — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 16:36:15 +0000

In reply to dan. Hi Dan! Many thanks for the info! Very interesting!!! I live in Russia and interested in the history of Jeep. JEEP BOLIDE XJ-002 a fantastic car!!! Thank you for your work on the restoration!!! I wish you luck in this difficult work! Thank you! P.S. Sorry for my bad English