Someone heard of Bolwell?

[T-Modell]

Hi down under,
my wife just stumbled over that article here ... sounds really interesting ... located in Melbourne. Is that wellknown in Australia?

Best regards
Thomas

[Lance]

Not well known, probably only to true car enthusiasts, occasionally seen at car shows. Great looking car and seriously fast. There were a couple at the Motorclassica at the exhibition buildings recently. That company still exists but as fibreglass manufacturing experts. I believe that they made scooters at one stage and I think they currently make truck cabins.

[Ivanerrol]

Melbourne - Local sports car maker. Hand built cars using a plethora of different bits from different manufacturer.
Ongoing since the sixties.
There were a few on the road during the late sixties and seventies. Quite price competitive compared to the exotic imports of the time.
There is a workshop in Braeside south of Melbourne looking after cars.
I'm surprised that with all the current regulations they can get a car on the road. They were always a small operation.

[Mercmad]

I haven't got a photo handy but we had a Bolwell for years . But not exactly a C Cab van on a suzuki carry Chassis . It looked like a model T ford and served us well as a runnabout and advertising right up to 2000 when it got sold because of lack of use. heres a pic of the interior , note the brass grab handle etc etc . It was sold a few years ago for $14,000....

and I just found a pic of ours, the bakery part of the sign was done at Lightning Ridge and the Hamilton Island part,long after we sold it .





http://wwwbollyblog.blogspot.com.au/2008/05/

[Tony From West Oz]

Not exactly a sports car, but the bakery van looks like it has all of the good bits. Love the pantograph wiper arm.

[Ludwig]

Love it Ron

[T-Modell]

Great car, Ron,

so you lived on Hamilton Island? Landed there twice already ...
Thomas

[Mercmad]

nope, We sold it it 1999 to a green grocer at Nanango , North of Brisbane and he in turn sold it to the Hamilton Island People. But with us it has been all over Queensland from Townsville to St George and Northern NSW. It was very low mileage when we got it and although registered was not exactly roadworthy because of the long time spent sitting . It drove really well though ,I think Bolwells had upped the Spring rates so it didn't feel top heavy. Bolwells came into the car market too late as the various governments were just starting to be pricks and bringing in laws designed to protect GM, Ford etc . If we had governments who thought as the UK's do, that any industry is great for the country ,especially small time car builders , Bolwell could have developed into a proper concern along the lines of TVR or Morgan.

[oz coz]

Here is a look at some Bolwells that were displayed at the annual Shannon's club day at Eastern Creek Circuit in Sydney.[attachment=0]IMG_5805.JPG[/attachment]

[AMG]

There's a Local guy down our way who has one I've bumped into him a few times over the years- he has a red Mark VII, gullwing with a period-correct BOSS 289 in it and some mk8 retrofits. Revs to 8000 Goes like a scalded cat. Hot as hell and a little "fumish" in the cabin on hot days/traffic. Stunning to look at overall, and a few little uniquely Australian quirks.

They sound quite nice with the small block ford engine. The owner told me that most of them ended up later with Holden 253's and 308's, because of production parts availability for the Mark 8 car which came with 302/351 and the Mk8 came with a host of upgrades which could be retrofitted to the mk7. The very early cars had many different engines available - but were restricted to 4 & 6 cyl from what I can remember being told, which is why he bought the mk7. They are not 'cheap' to own, but not expensive to maintain.

Seemed to be a quite fascinating car and to be honest, very similar in looks/styling to early Ferrari Dino 246's - which I am sure weren't merely 'admired' by the design team... if you get my drift.

A real gem of 1960's Australian motoring history.