Auto ID #202 Finished

[otherunicorn]

Bolwell Mk IX Ikara 1979

The Mk IX Ikara, which was conceived in 1979, was a mid-engined sports car powered by a 1600cc Volkswagen Golf 4-cylinder engine. It utilized a space frame chassis and fiberglass body panels without doors. There were only 12 examples ever produced.^[8]

http://www.theikaraproject.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolwell

 

 

Edited April 15, 2016 by otherunicorn

[Jantrix]

I would drive the wheels off that. That's awesome.

[GTJUNIOR]

Tough one. Took lots of Google and Wikipedia searching, but I finally got it. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Kinda looks like a Lotus 7 mated with a riding lawn mower.

[dw1603]

It reminds me of a couple of things, but obviously I can't say what.

[Badluck 13]

.........NOOOOOOoooooooooooooo clue on this one , searched and searched and nothing close.....I am throwing in the towel on this one  , curious to see how many got this one and what search methods were used......

[otherunicorn]

The two that got it right.

GTJUNIOR
dw1603

Well done!

 

[GTJUNIOR]

I'm not surprised. This was extremely difficult. I saw that it was a right hand drive car and guessed that it was probably some sort of kit car, so I did searches for rare British kit cars which was fruitless. I then searched Australian kit car manufacturers that led me to a Wikipedia entry listing Australian motor manufacturers. Googled images of every (unknown to me) listed car maker until I got a hit. Took most of Monday to find it though. If I had not found it under Australian carmakers, I would have tried South African kit car makers. After that I would have given up. 

According to my research this is a pretty rare car as only 12 were ever manufactured.

 

[dw1603]

I had no idea what it was, but the background in the pic looked sorta Australian ( a gum tree and a wire mesh fence!) add to that right hand drive and I had a reasonable basis for a search. I got it eventually, but I was surprised it was a Bolwell. Previous models had been very handsome, this one definitely looks like a kit car.

[dw1603]

It reminds me of a couple of things, but obviously I can't say what.

The two cars that sprang to mind when I saw this were the Status Minipower, (the green one) and the Clan Crusader (red one). Both were the work of ex Lotus engineers in the early 70's, the Minipower featured a spaceframe, the Clan was a monocoque, but both were extremely light and stiff and both were designed by Brian Luff, who had a major role in the Lotus 72, (the John Player Special). The Minipower used a BMC Mini engine and transmission mounted transversaly, whilst the Crusader used a longitudinally mounted Hillman Imp power unit. The Imp engine could trace its ancestry back to Coventry Climax, whose engines won a Grand Prix or two in the 50's and 60's. Only eight examples of the complete Minipower were sold, but at least twelve more chassis were built to form the basis of race and hill climb cars. I don't know how many Crusaders were completed, but it carried on under several different manufacturers and in various forms for many years, indeed, it was recently rumoured that there were plans to put it back into production. Both cars were renowned for their crisp handling and brilliant performance on very moderate power outputs, and each could comfortably deal with a lot more horsepower. I believe that Brian Luff may have designed the Minipower whilst still at Lotus, with the intention that it would replace the Lotus 7. Obviously Colin Chapman did not agree.

Edited April 15, 2016 by dw1603
factual error

[Ace-Garageguy]

The Minipower was a great concept...hyperlight car with a transverse mid-mounted engine.

Unfortunately for the little car, vehicles sell in large part for their looks, and the "interesting" styling didn't do much to engender mechanical lust.

[dw1603]

the "interesting" styling didn't do much to engender mechanical lust.

It did for me! Unfortunately I had a lack of funds and a surfeit of young children to contend with, so it never got beyond the lust stage. Kids are all grown up, but now we have dogs so I'm still confined to an SUV!

[Harry P.]

I had no idea what it was, but the background in the pic looked sorta Australian ( a gum tree and a wire mesh fence!) add to that right hand drive and I had a reasonable basis for a search.

Now that's how the game is played! Well done.