Bolwell Model History

Australia · founded 1962

Melbourne's fibreglass sports-car maker (1962–1979) — from backyard specials to the Ford V8-powered Nagari, Australia's fifth-largest vehicle manufacturer of its era.

Models

Mk IV

Bolwell's first commercially produced car — a lightweight fibreglass spaceframe sports car inspired by the Elfin Streamliner and Lotus 11.

Sports car · 1962–1965
Mk V

A more commercially oriented successor to the Mk IV, using a steel backbone chassis and six-cylinder Holden running gear, with approximately 75 built.

Sports car · 1964–1967
Mk VII

Bolwell's highest-volume model — roughly 400 registered examples made the company Australia's fifth-largest vehicle manufacturer of the era.

Sports car · 1967–1972
Mk VIII Nagari

Bolwell's Ford V8-powered flagship — 118 factory-built coupes and convertibles that represent the high-water mark of original Bolwell production.

Sports car · 1969–1974
Mk IX Ikara

A mid-engined VW Golf-powered kit car conceived to sidestep Australian Design Rules — only 12 examples were built, marking Bolwell's original automotive swan song.

Kit car · 1979–1980

Other makes