Australian Muscle Car 2020-02

of the historic Royal Exhibition Building in Carlton
Gardens. Yep, the same venue where the original
Nagari first appeared.
“The reception was absolutely fantastic,”
Campbell tells Australian MUSCLE CAR. “It was
important to be at Motorclassica, we really had to
be there
“We got so much kudos. We were talking to
the true believers.”
Perhaps even more incredibly, along with
Campbell, the key people standing behind the
new Nagari are much the same as the original;
his brother Graeme and Ross McConnell, the
next door neighbour who joined the company as
a 16-year old and in semi-retirement returned
to Seaford to help finish off the 300 and then
Campbell Bolwell shows off the new Nagari 500.
develop the 500.
“A whole lot of innovation that went into the
(original) Nagari and Graeme and Ross were
the two principals that worked on it,” explained
Campbell. “And here’s Graeme and Ross still
working on the latest one.
“It’s amazing when you think about it.”
So what are the key elements of the Nagari
500? Well, the first essential is that it follows
the same high-power, low-weight philosophy as
the original. It does that by combining a 372kW
(or roughly 500hp, hence the name) 6.2-litre
Chevrolet LS3 V8 with a claimed kerb weight of
just 982kg.
That’s only 62kg more than the original