One of just three built by Bob Carnes in 1959, this BODACIOUS BOCAR XP-7R owned by Carlos Melo is powered by a Rochester fuel-injected and GMC-blown Corvette small-block.
Road racing Specials, lightweight fiberglass-bodied, tube-framed competition cars often powered by popular American V-8 engines, were among the most interesting cars at major sports car racing venues in the 1950s-1960s. They gave legendary marques like Ferrari, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz fits, and in many situations received checkered flags. The most popular and successful were typically powered by small-block Chevy/Corvette and Cadillac OHV V-8s. Chrysler Hemis found their way into a few of the fan-favorites. Some Specials were fitted with Ford-Mercury Flathead V-8s, a holdover from pre-OHV engine development and availability. British Allards were available with all of the above engines!
Lakewood, Colorado-based Bocar, owned and operated by Bob Carnes, a talented engineer, fabricator, and competitive road racer, produced some of the most beautiful, envelope-bodied Specials between 1957 and 1961. His very limited-production X and XP racecars showcased Corvette small-block powerplants backed up by Borg-Warner and Muncie four-speed transmissions. Carnes started with a series of custom sports racers – X-1, X-2, and X-3 – in the late 1950s, leading to the more refined and more powerful XP Series. The XP-4 was the first, morphing to the XP-5, the first production Bocar. It was fitted with a chrome moly steel tube frame, a lightweight fiberglass body, and a Corvette V-8. In excess of a dozen XP-5s were built, with one racing on the beach at Daytona and setting a record.
During the early 1950s, Bob Carnes was an active road racer and hill-climber, driving a variety of cars, including a Glockler Porsche Spyder and a Jaguar XK120. He later replaced the Jag’s DOHC Six with a Cadillac V-8, christening it the Jagillac! A longer wheelbase XP-6 with a 400-horsepower supercharged Corvette engine was built prior to Carnes shifting production to the final and most sophisticated XP-7 and XP-7R. Only three supercharged XP-7Rs were built before Bocar production ended. The first of three XP-7Rs was raced by Carnes.
Sports car enthusiast and member of the Sarasota Café Racers, Sarasota, FL, Carlos Melo, owns the third (Serial # 0003) of three XP-7Rs built. Powered by a supercharged 327 Corvette engine bored .030-inch-over and fitted with a 350 SBC crank, the BODACIOUS BOCAR XP-7R displaces 355 cubic inches and delivers well in excess of 400 horsepower. Its induction system is pure 1950s, from its front-mounted, Potvin crank-driven GMC 4-71 supercharger to its early Corvette Rochester fuel injection. Potvin front-driven supercharger systems were primarily used on dragsters and Bonneville racecars during the 1950s and early 1960s to achieve a streamlining effect. They eventually gave way to the popular and more efficient top-mounted, belt-driven supercharger systems still being used today.
Its powertrain is completed by a Hurst-shifted Muncie M22 “rock crusher” four-speed that had been pirated from a mid-series, high-performance big-block Corvette, and a GM Posi rear. The 104-inch wheelbase steel tube chassis is equipped with Koni coil-over shocks, rack-and-pinion steering, and upgraded VW Baja Bug-based suspension components from The Wright Place in El Cajon, CA. Four-wheel vented disc brakes and a dual master cylinder deliver modern stopping power.
Restored by McCabe Automotive Restoration, Mundelein, IL, and often mistaken for a vintage Ferrari, Melo’s BODACIOUS BOCAR XP-7R rides on chromed knock-off 16-inch Borrani wire wheels shod with Dunlop CR-48 racing tires. In 1961, Carnes’ shop burned down, destroying molds and at least one chassis. His last product was the Stiletto, a cross between a Lotus 11 and a Bonneville streamliner powered by a supercharged Corvette small-block that he raced at Pike’s Peak. It’s believed that he built three Stilettos before the fire.
While Bocars were essentially road racing cars, Carlos Melo’s rare, restored, and concours-ready XP-7R has been repurposed as a head-turning, road-legal sports car.