After eight years absence from the sports car market, Campbell Bolwell introduced what would be his last car, the Ikara.
The Ikara is a light-weight mid-engine kit car that seats two. The basic concept was individual design, sparkling performance, economy of operation, reliability and low cost, and outstanding primary safety.
With Bolwell being a fiberglass manufacturer as well as a car manufacturer, the Ikara had to have a fiberglass body. This surrounded a multi-tubular spaceframe type chassis and the whole car weighed 625kg with engine.
Just as Fiat have done with the X1/9 and Toyota with the MR2, Bolwell took a front wheel drive engine and driveline package and positioned it over the rear wheels creating a mid-engined sports car. The engine chosen was a 1.6-litre four cylinder from the Volkswagen Golf.
Although the engine produces just 55kW of power the Ikara still offers excellent performance thanks mainly to the low weight.
Along with the engine, the Ikara also borrows the Golf’s four-speed manual gearbox, Macpherson strut suspension and brakes. At the front the suspension and brakes are from a Holden Gemini. The use of these parts ensures ease of servicing and low costs parts.
Steering is by unassisted rack and pinion. It is very direct with no slack but the turning circle is quite large for this sized vehicle at 10.4 metres.
Braking is by four wheel discs with a separate master cylinder for each end and an adjustable balance bar for fine tuning. Unfortunately no power assistance is fitted for the brakes so the pedal is very heavy.
To get inside the door-less Ikara you need to stand on the seat cushion, which is thoughtfully protected by a flap, and ease into the one-piece bucket seat (incidently, the seats are made by Bolwell too). There is plenty of leg room but most drivers will be literally rubbing shoulders with their passenger.
Like most mid-engine cars there is not an abundance of storage space. The Ikara is perhaps worse with only the recessed panel above the footwell and large bins in the sills which have too small openings.
The dashboard comprises a small instrument panel with tachometer and speedo, additional centrally-mounted oil, water and fuel gauges, and a vertical row of warning lamps to the right of the instrument panel. The controls for the parking and headlights and windscreen washer are mounted in the center of the dashboard and there are two stalks for wipers and indicators.
The gearshift is very good considering the necessary long path, but care needs to be taken when selecting first as it is very close to reverse and second. The lever is adjustable and all connections are quality spherical ball joints and subsequently there is no slack in the system at all.
Care must be taken when entering driveways as the front spoiler is quite low.
Once under way the engine feels very responsive. Acceleration feels much stronger than the recorded 10 seconds for 0 to 100km/h and 17.5 seconds for the standing 400 metres. Being an open top car there is plenty of noise, but most of it is very pleasant to the ear. Wind noise is quite intrusive from about 110 to 120km/h and top speed of at least 160km/h is hindered mostly by the excessive wind noise.
For weather protection a clever zip-on soft top was originally devised but proved unpractical. “Gullwing” doors were also under development never eventuated. A single wiper does a good job of cleaning the windscreen and moves straight across from side to side.
The handling is kart-like with minimal body roll. The springing is reasonably soft so the ride is quite acceptable and the traction good. At the limit the Ikara is fairly neutral tending to mild understeer.
The brake pedal is dead and unfeeling and requires a lot of effort to slow the car from high speeds. The handbrake, sourced from a Fiat 124, works well but the lever is not well placed.
The Ikara was available only in kit form and cost between $7,500 to $12,000 depending on options. If you chose not to follow the 128-page construction manual and assemble your own Ikara you could opt to have one of Bolwell’s authorized constructors do it for you.
Sadly, after around 20 Ikara’s were sold, the whole concept was sold off to a Greek company.
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