240Z blinkers etc.

To answer Vic and Colin's queries I wandered out into the shed and took a photo of the front rh corner of the white one. Reckon these are the ones? Looks like there's a bit of panel work there when we get around to painting it, plus new rubber for the bumper.

And, Colin, here's the car you were talking about, Shepparton 1974. It belonged to Mike Exton at the time. Reg. No. DPI-036. It was advertised for sale, with photograph, some time after that in Auto Action, sporting a Nagari nose. I'm not sure where it got to after that.

The Mark 7 with the Nagari doors - part 3

A relatively recent owner of the red Mark 7 was Craig S. Craig lives in Melbourne but the car had been in storage for quite a while at his parents place in Canberra while he pursued his business interests in Japan in the field of electric guitars and discovering interesting RHD sports cars and motorbikes along the way. He also owned the black Mark 7 below.

That's two very different and very interesting Mark 7s in the same hands, lucky man. However, when Craig returned to Australia he found the Victorian police on a mission. They were waiting around every corner in the streets of Melbourne and there was no opportunity to stretch the legs of these high powered machines. Both cars have been sold now, the red one going to Vic M in Wyoming which is like a suburb of Gosford which is just north of Woy Woy, and the black one has gone to Terry W in Ararat. Craig is certain that Vic will finish off the red car to perfection being a fitter and turner (and a former Adelaide resident). Meanwhile he's off to search for a Jensen Interceptor to idle around the city in.

As it happens, Dino was off for his Christmas holidays motoring around NSW and visited Peter Marr in Newcastle. Peter was going down to Wyoming to have a look at Vic's new acquisition. Dino went too and took a few photos, see below.

I'll post a few more shortly.

The Mark 7 with the Nagari doors - part 2

After its heyday in NSW in the 80s the car languished for a while with the paint fading and the mechanical bits rusting and siezing as happens with idle vehicles.

I can assure you that it has not remained this way to this day and tomorrow morning I'll show you some very recent photos.

Boat accessories

A few weeks ago some grey nomads came through here in a school bus converted to a mobile home with kayaks on the roof and a clubman on a trailer behind and I thought "that's the life!"
But doesn't that pale into insignificance with this luxury yacht with Caterham attached. At the London Boat Show this week was this Sunseeker Predator 108 Special Edition with a brand new Caterham for on shore excursions.

The Mark 7 with the Nagari doors - part 1

Some time ago I posted the middle one of these 3 photos in a "where is it now?" segment.

Quite a while before that I had received email contact from an owner of the car who lived up the coast of NSW wondering about its origins. I'm sure I could put my hands on the emails from back then if I tried very hard. At that stage it was quite the worse for wear and had been stored out in the open for many years. This man had it stored under a tarp and was wondering whether it was worth spending heaps on bringing it back to the condition seen in these photos. Eventually the interest subsided and it was moved on to a new owner and disappeared off the radar again. In a nutshell, the car started out in Victoria, then lived for much of its life in New South Wales, then returning to Victorian ownership before ever so recently going back to NSW. Apart from the Nagari doors, there were other distinctive features of this Mark 7 like the well executed rear hatch and the unusual nose treatment that is not like a Mark 7 and not like a Nagari and described by Dino as "not like anything I have seen before". It has a protruding upper lip slightly coming to a point somewhat like a shark nose. Obviously the car started life as a pretty normal looking Mark 7 and its transformation took place in the Fibrecar days, not by Roycey, although his input was evident at the time. When Royce had Fibrecar, he was everybody's mate, and anyone who had a collection of Bolwell bits would end up there endeavouring to turn them into a motor car, with Royce's assistance and, no doubt, a bit of fabrication from there as well. This car was no exception. Rather strangely, I've been told not to mention whose project it was and I'm honouring that and as this story unfolds I'll do what was suggested to me yesterday and not use any last names. I've been told that the doors came from Barry Main's old race car. As we know, ProdSports as a championship came to a rather abrupt end and Barry was left with what was a valuable racing car one day being of no further use the next. Reluctantly, the car was eventually "parted out", the chassis going North to form the basis of Rob's project and mechanical bits and body bits going all over the place. This may explain why when John V.W. gathered up what was left of the body, his creation had no door tops and a modified roof (since altered). I can sense a few messages telling me where I am wrong..........to be continued.

Bibs and Bobs

Peter G has found another one in his collection of "Classic & Sportscar", this time January 1991 and I quote "found this one as well, can the poms get anything right? Another case of Chinese Whispers?"

Where do they get their information?

Maybe, for news to travel across the world things get lost in the the Chinese Whispers. Maybe things get lost in translation from Australian to English. Peter G sent me this clipping from the November 2004 "UK mag Classic & Sportscar which includes some errors, false facts and a somewhat amusing description of the Ikara."

The car in the picture is B8/110 from its red and black days. And while we are on the subject of that particular magazine, did John Marr get his copy of the edition with his red Nagari in it?

The AC Shelby Cobra 427 Flip-Top.

Yes, that's its name. I'll start by stating that the Bolwell Mark 4 had no mortgage on bottom hinged doors and front and rear bodywork opening like this. ("clam shells" as the Seppos call them). It was built in 1964 for Carroll Shelby by Ken Miles and these 2 photos are publicity shots of this famous car from RM Auctions in America as they prepare for its upcoming auction sale.

Carroll Shelby as a racing driver actually won at LeMans for Aston Martin in 1959 and very soon after, his heart problems forced him to give up his driving career. At roughly the same time the John Tojeiro designed AC Ace was being taken out of production because Bristol ceased making their 2-litre 6 cylinder engine, the power unit for the Ace. These 2 events really assisted Shelby to realise his long held dream of building the world's fastest sportscar. When he read of the demise of the Ace he immediately contacted AC and his contacts at Ford, convincing AC to remain in production and getting Ford to supply a modified version of the 260 cu.in. Fairlane engine and the Cobra was born. I'm sure it wasn't that simple but that's basically how it happened and they went on to racing successes in addition to making and selling an awesome production road car. As time went on and as Shelby worked hard to keep up with the competition in sportscar racing in the Americas and Europe he saw the need to ask Ken Miles to develop a more potent version of the Cobra and this car was it. Miles began with a 'standard' 289 Cobra chassis and fitted a NASCAR sourced 427. The chassis was strengthened to deal with the extra torque and was fitted with a one-off lightweight body where the nose and tail were made in a single piece. In its present form it produces a staggering 623 bhp on the dyno and it's being offered for sale this month in Arizona.

Now here's a couple of shots of a Mark 4 of slightly less bhp. Does anybody recognise it from the distant past? Tell me. To start with I'm not offering any clues.

Easter @ Bridgetown,2010

hi one and all, happy new year and may it be kind and peaceful to you all.just a friendly reminder with a sledge hammer for everyone interested in easter(and that that WILL be you all),to get your applications in. those from s.a, victoria, nsw and qld please encourage your members to get their forms in asap and to bring their cars. (more the merrier).any questions or enquiries please either email Errol or myself or phone me on 0417251630 or Errol 0418927901.thanking you all kindly.stacey- the manic pres of bccwa,

Just a little reminder from Stacey.

A few months ago a little sweetener of 22 photos were circulated of the delights of Bridgetown to whet our appetites. Out of that came a number of comments about the tail lights on Barry's red Nagari which are apparently upside down putting the amber bit on the wrong side which would render them illegal if applying for registration in Victoria I'm told. If nothing else, it has encouraged me to look at Nagari tail lights at every opportunity and I'm finding there's a good representation of both alternatives. I would never have thought to look until this. Blogs are funny things aren't they.

TVR M-series chassis.

I used to have a copy of the brochure that featured this chassis. I may well still have it somewhere. Then I noticed it on Bruno's blog today and memories came flooding back. Memories of Tim's and my visits to Morgan/TVR dealer, Victor Kaye in Gisborne when we happened to be over at Calder where we became rather familiar with the 3000M of the day.

But doesn't that chassis have a ring of familiarity to it. Bruno, by the way, seems to be quite a TVR fanatic for someone outside the UK, but then the forums and discussion groups pertaining to TVRs reveal enthusiasts and experts from all over the world and in huge numbers too.

Change of address.

This black Mark 7 now resides in South Australia.You may recall it being advertised for sale in Queensland recently. Bryan, the new owner, has been a Bolwell fan for donkeys years. It's 265 Charger powered with triples and boasts 11.6 sec quarters. It used to be silver and NSW people may well remember it as it spent most of its life there. I think that's where it was built as well.

....and here's a few more.

Some more Nagari sales that fall into the same category.

This last one being transacted as we speak.