No matter what you've said, it's remained a unique Purvis Eureka

Rare ONES Have you heard or known previouly about the Purvis Eureka? It doesn't matter if you haven't heard of it. Well, the Purvis Eureka is an Australian sports car designed by Allan Purvis and produced by Purvis Cars. Many consider the Purvis Eureka more suitable to be a kit car instead of a sports car because its design is inspired by the British famous kit car, Sterling Nova.

The Purvis Eureka (in pictured is the Purvis Eureka Sports model) is an Australian sports car designed by Allan Purvis and produced by Purvis Cars ranging from 1974 to 1991. (Picture from: Drives.today)

Indeed, these Australian rare cars produced ranging from 1974 to 1991, has never failed to amaze people because it has a unique, low and strong appearance, so that it can evoke the image of a reliable sports car. Even from the models, it can be competed with sports cars made by world-renowned manufacturers in the 2000s era.

The Purvis Eureka (in pictured is the Purvis Eureka Sports model) design is inspired by the British famous kit car, Sterling Nova. (Picture from: Drives.today)

The Purvis Eureka was first created by Allan Purvis in Dandenong, Melbourne Australia. Actually, he got the idea for the car while on vacation in England in 1971, where he was very impressed with the Sterling Nova, a British-made kit car. So then he collaborated by making an agreement with its automaker (Sterling Sports Cars) to sale and distribute the Sterling Nova in Australia. From then on he started from collecting engines, to studying the the Sterling Nova design, and finally driving him to start assembling his own car.

The Purvis Eureka (in pictured is the Purvis Eureka Sports model) cabin featured with a rounded panel instrument and narrow center console. (Picture from: Drives.today)

The learning process was carried out by Allan Purvis together with the team for three years to pursue the entire series of car development processes independently until it became perfect. Regarding to his car name, where the Purvis name is taken from his family name, while Eureka comes from his admiration for the miners in the Eureka Stockade which also means fighting spirit. He even adopted the Eureka flag as his corporate symbol.

The Purvis Eureka (in pictured is the Purvis Eureka Sports model) had no doors, with access being via a manually operated one-piece canopy. (Picture from: Drives.today)

The Purvis Eureka was first introduced to the public at the 1974 Melbourne International Motor Show in March 1974. At the time, its appearance was able to make many people who came to the exhibition amazed and called it a beautiful and cool car, even the car had become a prima donna so that many Australian press media covered it as an amazing car.

Most commonly the Purvis Eureka (in pictured is the Purvis Eureka Sports model) powered by an air-cooled Volkswagen flat-four or a Ford inline four-cylinder engines, and several units with Mazda's rotary engine. (Picture from: Drives.today)

In addition to its philosophical name, the Purvis Eureka is also marketed using the motto "For Individuals," because indeed the car is assembled to become a truly individual sports car by only providing two seats in the cabin for the driver and one passenger, even the car then often used for racing purposed only.

The first model, the Purvis Eureka Sports was produced between 1974 and 1975, with low roofline and angle of the windshield which is flatter than the other models. (Picture from: Kuno.id)

This Australian made car utilised a Volkswagen Beetle chassis, a fibreglass body and, most commonly powered by an air-cooled Volkswagen flat-four or a Ford inline four-cylinder engines, and several units with Mazda rotary powerplants were also produced. The Purvis Eureka initially produced only about 235 units, but until 1991 the total number of cars ever produced was 683 units which were divided into 3 different models, ie. the Purvis Eureka Sports, Purvis Eureka PL30, and Purvis Eureka F4.

The second model, the Purvis Eureka PL30 was produced between 1975 and 1976, and said to be an improvement over the previous model. (Picture from: Kuno.id)

As the first model, the Purvis Eureka Sports was produced between 1974 and 1975. This model can be identified by the low roofline and angle of the windshield which is flatter than the other models, and usually has taillights made of plastic molding, then inside its cabin, there is a rounded panel instrument and narrow center console. While the dashboard is made quite narrow, so the addition of the audio system installation makes the space distance even smaller, this can be overcome by making two large vents installed in the middle of the windshield for driver comfort.

The next model, the Purvis Eureka PL30 was made from 1975 to 1976, which is said to be an improvement over the previous model. This can be seen from the roof which is made higher so that it is not a problem for drivers with a tall body. The corner of the windsheild is made higher, so it can reduce the risk of reflection of sunlight. 

The rear of the car is made more compact than the Purvis Eureka Sports model with the squared taillights with complete fixtures but the bumper is narrower at the bottom. While inside the cabin, its instrument panel looks bigger and more spacious, allowing for additional gauges and audio system installation for the radio can be mounted in the middle.

The third model, the Purvis Eureka F4 was produced between 1976 and 19991, had rounded headlights with the rear deck above the engine was made flatter. (Picture from: Kuno.id)

The last model was the Purvis Eureka F4 which was produced between 1976 and 1991. This car model had rounded headlights which differed from the square Purvis Eureka PL30. While the rear deck above the engine was made flatter. Furthermore, there is a small indentation around the body where the hood is, and the area around the windshield wiper motor is changed slightly, and a small chamfer runs under the body of the front hood. In this Purvis Eureka F4 model also introduced "elephant ear" air ducts and a lowline rear spoiler as additional accessories. Visually this model came to be called the best Australian performance vehicle of its time.

The Purvis Eureka was offered both as a kit car and as a fully assembled vehicle. The coupe body had no doors, with access being via a manually operated one-piece canopy, although a power-operated canopy was later offered as an option and a Targa top version was also available from the early 1980s on. With the exception of a rather attractive targa top variant in the late 1970’s, the Purvis Eureka did not receive any further major upgrades, a fact that did not help sales throughout the 1980’s (which steadfastly refused to rise above a mild trickle). Here's a video below is a custom-built Purvis Eureka PL30 driven in Jakarta, Indonesia;

Inevitably, Purvis Cars became unprofitable in the hands of its creator, and so he was forced to sell the business in 1988. The brand changed hands a few more times, during which time a couple of short-lived open-top models and concept cars were produced, before it finally ground to a halt in 1991, having built a total of 683 units.😢 *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | PURVIS CARS | DRIVES.TODAY | FORNOOB | WIKIPEDIA | CARTHROTTLE ]

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