Almost seven years ago a former Mark 5 owner/builder emailed the club seeking information about his old car. The emails were circulated in SA and Victoria about this very distinctive Bolwell but there were no positive reactions. This week we had a short conversation about it and decided that with this blog now up and running and the odd Mark 5 coming out of the woodwork it might be worth another try. His name is Bernie Evans. Does anyone remember him? Here is most of what he said in his emails of November 2001 and July 2002:-
I am trying to track down a Mark 5 Bolwell that I owned in Melbourne in the late 60s, early 70s. I didn't build it but did do a lot of work on it. I sprayed it GTR Torana Orange with a black tail and black interior. (At some stage it must have been Holden Monaro yellow as well because that colour was also mentioned later - Ed.) The rear bubble window was tinted green and the door windows were sliding ones off a 1963 Morris Mini. The dash guages were Smiths and it had a custom made 3 spoke steering wheel with rack and pinion steering.
It was fitted with a very hot 186 Holden motor with triple 2" SUs with a custom made extractor exhaust along the side of the car exiting at the rear wheel. The motor was dynoed at 200bhp and the car weighed 15 hundredweight.
The gearbox was from a 1957 Dodge Cranbrook with 3 gears and 3 overdrive gears giving 6 speeds altogether with a free wheel clutch. The front end was FB Holden and the rear EH Holden with coil springs, a panhard rod and four shock absorbers. It had drums all round and a set of mag wheels.
I think the rego number was JSZ-580 as it was first registered in 1967. I sold it in about 1972 and it was owned after that by a chap called Kevin Ross who lived in Hawthorn. I checked out most of the Mark 5s that made it on to the road and naturally thought mine was the best. The gearing gave it 29 mph per 1000 revs and I had up to 5,200 in top one day which was about 150mph.
I have always wondered what became of it so if anyone knows I'd like to hear.
1 comment:
The trouble with Mk 5's is that if they were monocoque they rust badly. I have sent a couple of pics to demonstrate this to John. Does anyone know how many MK 5 had a true sheet metal monocoque and how many had the space frame?
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