Bowler Motors Limited is a manufacturer of off-road racing vehicles based on the Land Rover Defender and Range Rover

chassis A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...

. The company is located in the town of

Belper Belper is a town and civil parish in the local government district of Amber Valley in Derbyshire, England, located about north of Derby on the River Derwent. As well as Belper itself, the parish also includes the village of Milford and the ha ...

, Derbyshire, in the United Kingdom.

Company

The company was founded by Drew Bowler, who founded the company in 1985, after modifying a Land Rover Series I to drive competitively. After seeing considerable success, he started taking orders from others for similar vehicles. Bowler began his company with 8 people designing and building

aftermarket parts The automotive aftermarket is the secondary market of the automotive industry, concerned with the manufacturing, remanufacturing, distribution, retailing, and installation of all vehicle parts, chemicals, equipment, and accessories, ''after'' the ...

and rally raid vehicles in the Bowler family farm in Derbyshire, United Kingdom. Bowler originally designed and produced the Bowler Tomcat which was sold and then the development of the Bowler Wildcat began. In December 2007 the manufacturing rights to the Wildcat were sold by Bowler to Qt Services, to provide support to existing Wildcat owners while Bowler concentrated on production of their newer vehicle, the Bowler Nemesis. In late 2009 the concept of the road version of the Bowler Nemesis was revealed. Bowler has a long history of involvement with motorsports, with both company and private teams participating in the Dakar Rally, British Hill Climb Championship, French Baja, and many other extreme off-road events. On 15 November 2016, all pages on Bowler's website were changed to a single page holding an official statement by the company, stating their founder, Drew Bowler, had suddenly died Monday, 14 November 2016. They said that his death "came as a huge shock to the company", but that they would "continue his vision". Jaguar Land Rover acquired Bowler Off Road in December 2019. Bowler became part of Jaguar's

Special Vehicle Operations Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) is a term used throughout Ford Motor Company's global operations as a performance group, first used in America as Ford's own "speed shop", with a separate budget from Ford's regular operations. In 1993, the group w ...

division, and remains in operation in Belper, United Kingdom. Bowler continues to produce

and rally raid vehicles, primarily based on Land Rover Defender 90 and Defender 110 platforms. In November 2020, Bowler announced a new addition to their line-up known by its project name, Project CSP 575, a new SUV based upon the design of the Land Rover Defender 110 station wagon, powered by the 5.0 litre

Jaguar AJ-V8 The Jaguar AJ-8 is a compact DOHC V8 piston engine used in many Jaguar vehicles. It was the fourth new engine type in the history of the company. It was an in house design with work beginning before Ford's purchase of the company. In 1997 i ...

from the Range Rover Sport SVR.

Concept Cars

* Bowler Raptor (2009) * Bowler CSP RIV (2017) - this Rapid Intervention Vehicle was shown at the Defence and Security Equipment International ( DSEI) arms fair.

References

External links

* {{Jaguar Land Rover British companies established in 1985 Off-road vehicles Car manufacturers of the United Kingdom Jaguar Land Rover Companies based in Derbyshire 2019 mergers and acquisitions