The Jeep Historians Said Was Never Built
This is a story of the original sport and utility vehicle, as the marketing material called it. In 1970, Jeep was known for rugged utility vehicles, not low-slung sports cars. That is what makes the Bolide XJ-002 so strange. Built on Jeepster Commando mechanicals, the fiberglass-bodied prototype Jeep sports car looked more like a dune buggy crossed with a European concept car (Opel GT, anyone?) than anything wearing a Jeep badge. It had a V6, four-wheel drive, a bubble-style T-top and styling meant to attract younger buyers who might never have considered a conventional Jeep. Kaiser-Jeep authorized the project, and the finished car appeared at the 1970 New York International Auto Show. Then it disappeared.
For years, even people deeply familiar with Jeep history doubted that the XJ-002 had ever been completed. Former Kaiser-Jeep, AMC and Chrysler historian Ron Szymanski called its existence a myth. AMC historian John Conde wrote that the project had been discussed but never built. Jeep historian Patrick Foster likewise stated that the car had never been made before later revising that conclusion as more evidence surfaced. The confusion was understandable. AMC acquired Kaiser-Jeep in 1970, records disappeared over subsequent corporate transitions, and the unusual prototype was never incorporated into Jeep’s official history in the way more familiar concepts were. There was just one problem with the accepted version of events: the car was still out there.
One Man Remembered Seeing It
Dan Kunz knew the XJ-002 had existed because he had seen it himself. As a young man, Kunz attended the 1970 New York International Auto Show and photographed the strange Jeep in its display booth. More than two decades later, he came across a book about concept cars that mentioned Jeep’s XJ-001 but not the car he remembered. Curious about what had happened to it, Kunz began sending photographs and letters to historians, libraries and automotive publications. Nearly everyone drew a blank.
One magazine finally published his photograph. Two days later, Kunz received an unexpected phone call from a man who said he knew where the car was. His neighbor had seen the photo in the magazine. The supposedly nonexistent Jeep was real, and Kunz eventually purchased it in 1996. The vehicle still carried the Kaiser-Jeep identification associated with its 1969 Jeepster Commando foundation, and its ownership history could be traced through numerous previous owners. Kunz then located designer Dann Deaver, who had worked on the XJ-002 through Borg-Warner’s Centaur Engineering operation, and began assembling photographs, film footage, drawings and firsthand accounts documenting the project.
The story that emerged was even stranger than the rumors. Only one XJ-002 had been built. The tooling was reportedly destroyed afterward, and the prototype itself had spent years being registered, insured, driven on public roads and altered by successive owners while much of the automotive world insisted it had never existed.
Jeep’s Forgotten Sports Car Is Being Restored
The XJ-002 began as a Kaiser-Jeep experiment in changing the company’s image. It used a Jeepster Commando pickup chassis and drivetrain underneath its radical body, while designers envisioned future production versions molded from Cycolac thermoplastic. Jack Griffith, known for his involvement with Griffith sports cars, was connected with plans to market the vehicle through selected Jeep dealerships. The idea was to create something unusual enough to attract younger buyers while still retaining genuine Jeep mechanicals and four-wheel-drive capability.
The timing could hardly have been worse. AMC purchased Kaiser-Jeep just as the XJ-002 was making its public debut, and the new owner had little interest in continuing the project. According to surviving accounts, AMC regarded the car as little more than a whim. Production plans evaporated, the prototype changed hands, and its place in company history gradually faded until even Jeep insiders questioned whether it had been real.
That changed decisively in recent years. The Antique Automobile Club of America accepted the 1970 Jeep Bolide XJ-002 into its Class 35A for designated limited-production, prototype and experimental vehicles, recognizing it as the only example known to the organization. The car is now undergoing restoration toward its 1970 New York Auto Show appearance. More than half a century after Jeep’s strangest concept vanished into obscurity, the sports car that supposedly never existed is finally becoming part of the historical record. Photos via https://www.jeepbolidexj002.com.
