Bowler founder Drew Bowler dies

The founder of Bowler Motorsport, the motorsport company that made high-performance Land Rover-based cars including the Wildcat and EXR, has died.

Drew Bowler’s Derbyshire-based company will carry on despite its founder's passing. He founded it after Bowler first modified a Series I Defender to drive competitively, had considerable success and begun taking orders for similar cars from others.

Read about Bowler's Land Rover Defender Challenge here

The Bowler company has produced numerous modified Land Rovers for competition, including the Bowler Motorsport Land Rover Defender Challenge, Nemesis, Tomcat and Wildcat.

Bowler went on to produce more and more extreme Land Rover-based cars, including Dakar-spec racers which competed in the famously extreme off-road race.

Bowler Motorsport’s homepage pays tribute to Drew Bowler: “It is with much sadness that we share the news that Bowler founder and off-road motorsport pioneer, Drew Bowler, passed away suddenly on Monday November 14, 2016.

“Drew did more than anyone to bring Rally Raid to the UK, and through the succession of innovative and race-winning cars he developed, he took Bowler to the highest levels of international motorsport including the Dakar Rally, where the Bowler cars and team spirit shone brightly.”