1953 Bosley Mark I GT
Quick Specs
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180 hp.
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160 mph (est.)
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1
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$9,000 in 1953 (Approximately $100,000 in 2024.)
55 Gallon Racecar
This is a scratch-built sports car project started by an automotive amateur Richard Bosley, a 19-year-old horticulture grad from The Ohio State University. Bosley taught himself fiberglass construction and installed a 55-gallon gas tank for long-distance from his home in Ohio to the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race in Florida. Bosley built the car over three years, and he was guided through the process of building a sports car by way of “how-to” articles in the pages of Road & Track Magazine. Unfortunately, the car was heavier, slower, and more expensive than Bosley’s target competition (Ferrari). The Bosley GT’s Hemi engine delivered 180 h.p. (vs. 240 h.p. 1955 Ferrari 250 GT TdF for $13,875).
Powered by a Chrysler Hemi engine, the low slung, fiberglass vehicle had an advertised top speed of more than 160 miles per hour, but Bosley still found it difficult to secure funding. Built at a cost of over $9,000, this prototype remained the only Bosley GT Mark I ever produced. A second Bosley, the Interstate Mark II, was produced in 1961. Powered by a Pontiac V-8, the Interstate Mark II was based on a 1957 Chevrolet Corvette chassis and did not progress beyond the prototype stage.
Collection of the Petersen Automotive Museum, gift of the Margie and Robert E. Petersen Foundation.
This vehicle was featured in ‘The Vault’.
1953 Bosley Mark I GT Gallery
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