Dudley Cunningham's "Bocar Stiletto"

One of my favorite cars of all time.  This car is so outrageous that it floors me now as much as did when it first appeared.  If anybody can contribute more info on it I'll be glad to post it here.
 

Dudley Cunningham at the wheel of his restored "Bocar Stiletto". 

"Can anyone help me find any info on my truely unique old race car?  It's the sole surviving Bocar Stiletto that out-dragged the Scarabs thanks to its front mounted GM-471 blower on a Chevy drive train. its got to be the ultimate front-engined American special."

Another photo of the car.

 
 
The incredible car at speed "back in the day".  Dudley identifies the driver as Bob Spooner and says the venue shown is in the midwest.  Can anyone identify it?  I wonder about the Stiletto's aerodynamics on a long straightaway or the high banking at Daytona.  It seems to me its long nose would generate a lot of lift.
 
 
The Stiletto on the front row at the Daytona SCCA Nationals in 1959.  An earlier model Bocar can be seen in the second row. 

I would have loved to have seen the drag race between the two Scarabs and the Stiletto!

 
 
Website visitor Jim Basel remembers the Bocar Stiletto in action:

"During the early 60's I may have gone to one of the race tracks you're trying to identify.  On the page for Dudley Cunningham's Bocar Stiletto,  I believe this picture might have been taken at Lake Garnett, Kansas.

The track is located just south of Kansas City, and is comprised of park roads around a city lake. The SCCA ran races there starting in 1959,and continued intermitently until about 1970. 

I was a spectator at an SCCA National race there on July 7, 1963, and remember a Bocar running in the Modified race.  I doubt there were many Bocars racing in SCCA back then, and I remember being quite excited at the time to learn that one was in that event. 

From where I watched the race, at the indentation known as the "chute" before the start/finish line, I could see across the lake to the back straight, which was the fastest part of the course.   At the beginning of the race, I remember seeing a flash of red as one of the trailing cars flew by several others on the straight.  When they came around in front of me, I recognized that it was the Bocar.  Evidently, it didn't qualify all that well, but it sure could go in a straight line!

This race was somewhat famous for another reason, as reported in the October, 1963 issue or Road & Track, pp.62-63.  It was the first time that a Cobra beat all the Modifieds.   The factory Cobra team came for what was billed as a showdown between the Cobras and a Grand Sport Corvette, along with several top production Corvettes, including the then new Stingray. 

Ken Miles had added an oil cooler to his car, but wasn't allowed to use it in the A, B and C Production car race, in which he finished third behind Bob Johnson and Dave McDonald, also in factory Cobras.  The Shelby team then put the oil cooler back on and Miles took the #98 car out and won the C-G Modified race, beating Dick Thompson in the Corvette GS, Harry Heuer in his Chaparral, and Jack Hinkle in a Cooper Monaco.  That's the race that the Bocar
was in, and as I recall, it was as fast going down the back straight as any of the others, but didn't finish very well, if at all. 

I don't remember now if it was the Kansas City region or the Kansas region of the SCCA that organized the race, but perhaps the national office would have some record of it.  Most of the cars that raced at Lake Garnett in that period, would also have raced at Mid-America Raceway in Wentzville, MO and Warbonnet Raceway near Tulsa, OK, if that's at all helpful."

 
 KTR European Motorsports" of Ayer, Massachusetts, did the restoration work for Dudley. 
Check out their website for more photos & info on the "Bocar Stiletto". 

They have video of the "Stiletto" on a chassis dyno!  Fun!

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