This is a Land Rover Defender by name, but a full-fledged rally raid rig at heart. The 2008 Land Rover Defender Bowler Tomcat shown here is purpose-built for off-road racing by Tomcat Motorsport, but thus far has never been used for competition. It recently went through the process of legal importation from Belgium and is now for sale from the team at Car Cave USA in Aiken, South Carolina for $33,980. Be a hero and buy this Bowler today.
The Model.
Usually in this section, we’d wax philosophically about the history and performance of the Defender, but this is really a Land Rover Defender by name only. You’ll see what we mean. We’ll start with the Bowler piece. Bowler is a manufacturer of off-road racing and rally raid vehicles based on Land Rovers located in Derbyshire in the United Kingdom. It was founded by Drew Bowler, a blacksmith who in 1984 decided to convert one of his barns into an engineering workshop to build his own long-distance off-road rally vehicles like the Defender Tomcat, Defender Challenge and Defender Bulldog.
The company was eventually bought by Land Rover in December of 2019 to become a subsidiary of Land Rover’s Special Vehicle Operations division. But before that, Paul Williamson and Steve Wells started Tomcat Motorsport to take over production of Bowler Tomcat vehicles from Bowler Manufacturing when the founder moved to concentrate on the renowned Bowler Wildcat 200. Fun fact: Williamson and Wells own the oldest and second oldest production Bowlers in existence.
The rest, as they say, is history. Tomcat Motorsport has been cranking these things out ever since, building over 700 examples since Drew Bowler designed the original. Need to know more about the Defender Bowler Tomcat? Hear all about it from Richard Hammond and watch him hoon the hell out of one in the video below:
The Specs.
Tomcat Motorsports Director and co-founder Paul Williamson verified this chassis number, 100183, was built in February 2008 by his workshop. It was hand built from the ground up starting with a Land Rover supplied new old stock Range Rover Classic frame, modified to spec. It’s really a brilliant machine, as you will see when you read the full spec and the cost of the parts that went into it are more than the asking price. That said, it still needs a few things tightened up before it’s race ready. For example, this Tomcat currently has no windshield, or as the Brits call it, “windscreen,” and the LED retrofit headlights aren’t currently functional. Outside of that, though, this thing will RIP.
MECHANICAL
- Turner Engineering Rover V8
- 14 CUX fuel injection
- LT77 5-speed manual transmission
- LT230 transfer box 1.410 ratio
- Transmission cooler
- Remote oil filter
- Electric water pump
- Kill switch
- Rear-mounted radiator
- Fuel cell
- Headers with custom exhaust
- Front slotted and drilled rotors
- Rear slotted and drilled rotors
- Braided stainless steel brake lines
- Power brakes
- Power steering
SUSPENSION & DRIVE
- Performance Suspension remote reservoir PS2 coilovers
- Raptor 4x4 double cardan rear propshaft
- Raptor 4x4 front driveshaft
- Raptor 4x4 heavy duty cranked greasable rear trailing arms
- Raptor 4x4 heavy duty correction front radius arms
- Poly bushes
- Land Rover-sourced axles
- Terrafirma steering damper
- Terrafirma HD hubs
- Raptor 4x4 heavy duty steering rod kit
- Raptor 4x4 heavy duty panhard rod
INTERIOR
- Custom roll cage
- Sparco Pro 2000 LF racing seats
- Turn One 5-point harness
- Davies Craig digital EWP & fan controller
- AutoMeter gauges (water temp, oil temp, amp, oil pressure)
- AutoMeter large tach
EXTERIOR
- Removable fiberglass body
- 16" black steel wheels
- 255/85R16 BF Goodrich Mud Terrains
- Front diff guard
- Rear diff guard & skid plate
