Bowler Manufacturing is the manufacturer of off road racing vehicles based on the Land Rover Defender and Range Rover chassis.

The company is located in the town of Belper, Derbyshire, in the United Kingdom.

The company was founded by Drew Bowler who originally designed and produced the Bowler Tomcat which was sold and then the development of the Bowler Wildcat 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. In late 2009 the concept of the road version of the Bowler Nemesis was revealed.

Head Office:

Bowler Manufacturing Ltd
Leonard House
Queen Street
Belper
Derbyshire
DE56 1NR.

Tel : 01773 824 111

Timeline

• 2016 The Defender Challenge grows with more teams and more rounds, the Defender Challenge rally kit is launched, and development of the next generation Defender Challenge car begins
• 2015 Bowler races it’s 400hp supercharged 3.0 V6 Defender 110, and the car is featured in Evo and Top Gear magazines, alongside Bowler Fast Road conversions
• 2014 Bowler launches the Defender Challenge as a programme which will prepare competitors for the Dakar, and moves into a new production facility
• 2013 The Bowler team grows and develops the range of performance parts available for Defenders, adding new European distributors
• 2012 Bowler agrees a formal brand partnership with Land Rover across sponsorship, marketing and engineering, and begins development of the Defender Challenge
• 2011 Bowler races the EXR in Africa and Europe and launches a range of road and rally performance upgrade parts for the Defender
• 2010 The Bowler EXR-S is revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and is driven up the hill in the Supercar class - beating many supercar rivals
• 2009 Bowler attends the Goodwood Festival of Speed and runs 8 x rally cars on a specially designed course over the weekend
• 2008 Richard Hammond declares himself a ‘driving god’ in a Bowler Wildcat, and Bowler build the Nemesis, while developing the EXR
• 2007 Bowler produced cars to race in Spain, Portugal, Poland, Holland, the UAE and Africa in the hands of teams and privateers
• 2006 A Bowler Wildcat wins both the British Baja National Championship and the French Baja in the hands of Hugh Haines
• 2005 Bowler's largest ever Dakar entry means it’s the second largest factory team after Mitsubishi, and has the highest rate of finishers
• 2004 Wildcats are entered into, and win, the British Hill Rally Championship and sales in Europe increase, especially in France and Spain
• 2003 Competition entry into the French Baja with a Bowler Wildcat sees the Bowler brand grow in Europe and production increases
• 2002 A range of engines are tested and used in the Wildcat, with the Rover V8 being the most popular for all race applications
• 2001 The Wildcat evolves and becomes popular with privateers and small teams as a reliable, fast and robust car
• 2000 Bowler competes in the world famous Dakar Rally in Africa for the first time, and races in central Europe with the Wildcat
• 1999 Bowler sells the production rights of the Tomcat to focus on the newly developed Wildcat, which is an immediate success
• 1995 Due to customer demand, the Tomcat evolves into a 100” chassis for national trial and comp safari events
• 1991 Drew Bowler wins the ARC National Comp Safari in Tomcat and begins to develop the Tomcat
• 1989 The 88” Tomcat is a popular car for UK national trial and hill rally events, and Bowler begins to sell into Europe
• 1986 The first customer Bowler competition cars are built and sold as Cobra trial cars, primarily for use in comp safaris and trials
• 1985 Drew Bowler begins making and selling competition cars from his home in Derbyshire and Bowler Motorsport begins