There’s big news out of England as we learn that Jaguar Land Rover has acquired Bowler, the famous all-terrain performance specialist. Bowler will be added into their Special Vehicle Operations portfolio that includes the following products: SV, Vehicle Personalization and Classic. Bowler will be the fourth product in SVO.
Bowler will be adding some seriously awesome vehicles to Land Rover’s lineup. Their ability to create top-tier, all-terrain racing cars is quite exceptional and this will hopefully bring their products to more customers across the world.
“For almost 35 years the Bowler name has stood for innovation and success, with a reputation forged by its participation in the world’s toughest off-road motorsport competitions,” said Michael Van Der Sande, Managing Director of Jaguar land Rover Special Vehicle Operations. “It’s exciting that we’re now in a position to participate in and lead the Bowler brand’s future as part of Jaguar Land Rover.”
A Timeline of Bowler
1985 Drew Bowler begins making and selling competitive safari and trials cars from his home in Derbyshire
1991 Drew Bowler wins ARC National Comp Safari
2000 Bowler first competes in world-famous Dakar Rally in Africa, and races in central Europe
2004 Bowler vehicle wins British Hill Rally Championship
2005 Bowler’s largest ever Dakar entry means it’s the second largest factory team, and has highest finisher rate
2006 Bowler vehicles win both the British Baja National Championship and the French Baja
2012 Bowler agrees formal brand partnership with Land Rover across sponsorship, marketing and engineering
2014 Defender Challenge launched to prepare competitors for Dakar. Bowler moves into new production facility
2016 CSP development begins. Company founder Drew Bowler sadly passes away in November
2018 Bowler vehicles claim first, second and fourth overall on Tuareg Rallye. Military CSP concept debuts
2019 Jaguar Land Rover acquires Bowler
Source: Jaguar Land Rover