1965 Purvis Eureka 'Targa' Coupe

Description

One of Australia's most recognisable home-grown sports cars, the Purvis Eureka was designed and built by Allan Purvis in Dandenong, Victoria from 1974 until 1991, both as a kit car and in fully assembled form. Initially sold only as a coupe, the Eureka's futuristic one-piece canopy did away with the need for doors, although a targa model was later introduced to offer additional headroom. Customers supplied their own running gear; although the Eureka was designed around Volkswagen's ubiquitous flat-four engine, many were fitted with Ford 1.6-litre engines and even Mazda rotaries found their way into a small number of cars. The Eureka's fibreglass bodyshell was based on the Nova, a kit car already available in the UK and the extreme looks gave even the best Italian exotica a run for their money in the head turning stakes. The original Sports model of 1974-1975 was followed by an updated PL30 version, with a little more headroom and less sharply raked windscreen. The longest-lived Eureka was the F4, built from 1976 until 1991, with a rounded headlamps and flatter rear deck, with the optional targa roof version arriving in the early 1980s. Despite a major factory fire in early 1980, Purvis managed to build no less than 683 Eurekas and was arguably the most successful Australian kit-car manufacturer of its time. With a low centre of gravity, rear-engined layout and lightweight fibreglass bodywork the Eureka punched well above its weight in performance terms and the humble Beetle engine was normally tuned to extract maximum power. Interest in these underrated sports cars has been growing steadily over the years, with plenty of support available from the owner's club and spares cheap and plentiful.