[Editor's Note: When we saw this Bloody Mary Recreation go up for sale, we knew we had to post this piece from our November 2019 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.]
In the moments preceding World War II, brothers John and Richard Bolster set about building a special powered by four single-liter engines. It would be the follow-up to Bloody Mary, the machine they built as schoolboys in 1929. As the legend goes, John’s purpose for the original car was simple: “driving around a field as dangerously as possible.”
By 1934, Bloody Mary, already a top contender in England’s hillclimb scene, relied upon a pair of 996cc JAP motorcycle engines pulled from wrecked Brough Superior motorcycles. Total budget for the build was said to be 25 pounds–not quite $2000 in today’s dollars. While Richard was killed while flying with the RAF during the war, John continued to race his specials well into the ’60s.
John Visconsi’s Bloody Mary replica, shown here, is a bit saner and makes do with just a single powerplant. It sounds no less thrilling. “You sit very low, 6 inches from seat bottom to road surface, and shift gears with left hand,” he says of his own version. “To start, you turn the electric master switch to the ‘on’ position, pull out the choke, switch on the fuel pump, and push the start button. The Harley-Davidson twin-cam, 88-cubic-inch motor comes to life with the sound of a nitro two-cylinder dragster.
“Bloody Mary has a foot clutch, five-speed transmission, direct chain drive–no reverse–and a right-side hand brake lever. Although I have never driven her on a formal race track, only on the neighborhood streets, weighing less than 1000 pounds and with 4-inch-wide rear MG TC tires, the BM is a scary thrill to drive, side-drifting on curves and rapid, tire-burning acceleration on straight areas.”
Like what you're reading? We rely on your financial support. For as little as $3, you can support Grassroots Motorsports by becoming a Patron today.
View all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
