Remember the Bowler Challenge? Launched in 2013 ahead of a debut 2014 season, the aim for the championship was to give those enthusiasts keen to partake in off-road competition a bit of help along the way - a Caterham Academy in the forest, if you will. Bowler would build a race-spec Defender for customers, and then provide support at events across the country - including the Somerset Stages, Welsh Hill Rally and Scottish Hill Rally.
Unsurprisingly, the idea proved pretty popular. After all, who wouldn't want to rally a Bowler-built Defender? Especially as, in the grand scheme of racing cars, the Defender Challenge by Bowler wasn't all that expensive - but certainly was ready for the worst a UK stage could throw at it. For £50k competitors got a Defender 90 with a worthwhile performance gain - 175hp and 332lb ft against just 120hp and 266lb ft as standard - as well as a host of upgraded parts, including a cage, bespoke Bilstein dampers, new anti-roll bars, lightweight wheels, bucket seats, an intercom and more. It was a proper rally car - just a diesel Defender rally car.
The Defender was driven twice by PH in the early days, once on a test day and once in a Challenge event proper. And despite a roll, the verdicts were positive: "As a package, the Bowler Defender Challenge car is pitched pretty much perfectly", came back one verdict, "it'll nurture and flatter novice drivers but still entertain and satisfy more skilled pilots." The reality of a hill rally proved rather more daunting, but the car undoubtedly impressed.
And now there's the chance to buy one. This Defender Challenge by Bowler is a 2014 car, so presumably prepped for the first of the series' three seasons. According to the advert, the seller believes "it only took part in a couple of events and certainly shows no signs of heavy use." Which, given their apparent propensity to topple over, is nice to know. They reckon the Challenge "will make a great entrant to further WRC events or a seriously cool road Defender."
Taking something like this to the forests of Finland might be a bit ambitious, but the road angle is certainly interesting. Despite the modifications for competition, the Challenge remained road legal. With the numbers taken off this one so nobody from Motorsport UK gets cross, there would be nothing to stop the next owner of this Defender driving it home straight from the dealership. Whether they'd want to is a different matter. But how much worse can it be than any other Defender?
After little more than 2,000 miles, this Challenge is being offered at £49,500, which is exactly what the cars were sold at ex-VAT when new. It may or may not come as any great surprise, moreover, that £50k is far from the ceiling for original Defender values; this 110 Station Wagon is just £1,000 less but has more than 30,000 miles, this 90 'Cordings of Piccadilly Heritage Edition' is also £50k and this 20-year-old Spectre homage is also the same money. £50,000 seems a lot for a Defender, until you look at how much is asked for a Defender.
With Bowler provenance, the motorsport upgrades and the potential to compete as well, there are certainly a few strings to the Defender Challenge's bow. Perhaps just as importantly, it offers something different in a Defender market saturated with Heritage-style cars, blacked-out and blinged-up builds and adventure specs that never go anywhere. That might count in the Challenge's favour, too.
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