Bowler Motors Limited is a manufacturer of off-road racing vehicles based on the

Land Rover Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...

Defender and

Range Rover Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

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 Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Company

The company was founded by Drew Bowler, who founded the company in 1985, after modifying a

Land Rover Series I The Land Rover series I, II, and III (commonly referred to as ''series'' Land Rovers, to distinguish them from later models) are compact British off-road vehicles, produced by the Rover Company since 1948, and later by British Leyland. Though ...

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 and

rally raid Rally raid, also known as cross-country rallying, is a form of long distance off-road racing that takes place over several days. The length of the event can be as short as 2–3 days for a cross-country baja to as long as 15 days with marathon ra ...

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 The Bowler Wildcat is an off-road vehicle originally made by Bowler Offroad, it is an evolution of the Bowler Tomcat using some components from the Land Rover Defender. The initial version, Wildcat 100, had a tubular chassis with 100" wheelbase ...

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 The Bowler Nemesis is an off-road racing vehicle designed, manufactured and sold by Bowler Off-Road. The Nemesis is intended to be used in endurance rally raid events such as the Dakar Rally and Rallye des Pharaons. Design and construction The N ...

. 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 The Dakar Rally (or simply "The Dakar"; formerly known as the "Paris–Dakar Rally") is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation. Most events since the inception in 1978 were staged from Paris, France, to Dakar, Senegal, ...

British Hill Climb Championship The British Hill Climb Championship (BHCC) is the most prestigious Hillclimbing championship in Great Britain. Hillclimbing in the British Isles has a rich history, for example, the hillclimb held at Shelsley Walsh, in Worcestershire, England is t ...

, 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 Jaguar Land Rover Automotive PLC is the holding company of Jaguar Land Rover Limited (also known as JLR), and is a British multinational automobile manufacturer which produces luxury vehicles and sport utility vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover is a ...

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 aftermarket parts and

vehicles, primarily based on

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