1953 Bosley Mark I GT Coupe

A horticulturist by trade, Richard Bosley was a sports car enthusiast deeply involved in the burgeoning motorsports world during the 1950's and 1960's. In the mid-1950s, Richard Bosley of Mentor, Ohio, created the Bosley MK1. He had a passion for automobiles though - up to this point in history - had never built a car. In the early 1950s, he decided to build the car of his dreams. Powering the car was a Chrysler Hemi breathing through 6 carburetors. It had a quick change rear end courtesy of a 1948 Mercury, a 102-inch wheelbase, and an overall length of 168 inches. Braking power was provided by Lincoln 12-inch drums riding on magnesium center-lock wheels. The transmission was a five-speed unit built by the New Process Company. The bodywork was done by Mr. Bosley, with many of the interior and exterior parts sourced from various other vehicles.

The low-slung fiberglass body, potent engine, and 55-gallon fuel tank made it a suitable vehicle for long-distance racing. It had a top speed in the neighborhood of 160 mph.

This was not the only vehicle Mr. Bosley ever created. In the 1960s he built another vehicle of a different design, also having a fiberglass body.

Len Frank, then a writer for Road & Track in 1955, described the GT MKI as the most exciting, gorgeously proportioned shape he had ever seen. Strother MacMinn, director of the Transportation Department of the Pasadena Art Center of Design, stated that the Bosley GT changed the thinking of is students at the time.

Since Richard Bosley was a horticultural farmer by trade, he was unable to fund the production of his car, so this prototype was the only Bosley Mark I GT ever produced. Mr. Bosley kept the MK1 for many years, putting around 100,000 miles on it before trading it for an ex-Sebring (number 6) Corvette SR-2 which was used to form the basis for the Bosley Interstate.

By Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2011