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Bolwell Nagari to return at 2008 Melbourne Motor Show

This snippet of news has come right out of left field. Its probably only the 30+ age group who really remember the name Bolwell at all but back in the 70’s it was a household name with many a teenager lusting after the Ford V8 powered Nagari Coupe or R


This snippet of news has come right out of left field. Its probably only the 30+ age group who really remember the name Bolwell at all but back in the 70’s it was a household name with many a teenager lusting after the Ford V8 powered Nagari Coupe or Roadster of the time.

Buying one of the original Nagaris (pictured) in good condition will cost you a pretty penny today and they are still a very sexy looking performance two-seater. Today’s big news is that Bolwell looks like staging a comeback thanks to one of the two brothers behind the original 1970’s company.

Campbell Bolwell, who built the original Nagari in the 1970s in collaboration with his brother Graeme will be debuting his new millennium version of the Nagari at the 2008 Melbourne Motor Show. This time around the Nagari will be a mid-engined carbon fibre composite monocoque coupe powered by a quad-cam, supercharged, 3.5 litre V6, whereas the original Nagari carried its 5 litre V8 up front in a steel backbone chassis clad in fibreglass.

Performance targets for the new Nagari include a 0-100 km/h time of 4 seconds, achieved through a classic combination of light weight - under 900 kg - and the power of a supercharged Toyota V6, similar to the one currently doing time in the TRD Aurion.

Unlike the original, the new Nagari should ride as well as it handles, with its double-wishbone suspension setup drawing on the classic concepts of ultra-soft springing with lots of control for large suspension movement and fine handling.

The interior is said to be roomy with good access and comfortable performance seating for a driver and passenger up to at least 195 cm (6'5") tall.

I would expect that this time around, the Nagari will only be available as a complete car, where the original was available in kit form or as a complete turn-key car. The result being that the original was built to differing specifications and quality levels.

All we need now are some pictures to make sure it is indeed worthy of the Nagari badge.

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