Hopping the fence
You could argue Ross McConnell’s path in life was de ned when as a 10-year old he moved in next door to the Bolwells in Frankston.
He was forever hopping the fence to ogle the sportscars in various stages of undress. Soon, he was sweeping the oors and when he left school at 16 he became an employee of Bolwell Cars at its rst ‘tin shed’ factory.
Ross was intrinsic to the development of the rst Nagari along with Campbell’s brother Graeme, and the two men also worked on the 300 and then the most recent 500.
“I really enjoy working with Graeme,” Ross told AMC. “He’s a very talented man.
“After 50 years here we are doing the next Nagari. It’s been very enjoyable.”
Ross says there are two reasons why the Nagari stands out so much in the Australian automotive psyche.
“One is its styling and the other is it’s a V8. It’s the Australia Corvette.”
Ross is not only a Nagari fan, he’s an owner of two now and has owned a couple more over the years.
He actually built his rst Nagari when he was employed by Bolwell. Coded B8-24 (Bolwell Mark 8 number 24), it was painted in a silver-grey metallic and was used as a display and promotional vehicle. In 1996 he bought the Cleveland 351-engined B8-95, but didn’t hang on to it for that long.
Then came B8-92, which was a low mileage well-maintained example of the breed. That’s the car featured in Graeme Neander’s shots for this feature.
Then Ross tracked down the original prototype, B8-1, which had been off the road for 30 years. He’s still restoring it.
“I want it to be when I nish it exactly like the day it was released to the public,” Ross says. “I know exactly how it should be!
“My ideal with number one would be for it to be in Campbell’s collection at the car company.”
Ross’ most recent Bolwell acquisition has been a Mk 4A, the slinky open-top two-seater that was the rst model sold by Bolwell Cars.
“It’s come to me at the perfect time because it’s beautifully done mechanically and the body is new. I just have to nish the body and make a perspex screen and it’s ready.
“I’ll put it on club reg and do some track work with it. It’s a great little car.”