The Purvis Eureka Forum

Hi List,

I'm sure this is known to most, but what happened to the Purvis Eureka car company? When were they last trading?
Thanks in advance,
Tom

paul nelson in sydney.
not much has happened it years apart from a few bit on ebay thats about it.
,,darren

Wasn't he calling it Eureka Sports Cars or something like that? At any rate, he bought it with the idea to turn it into a low volume sports car manufacturer, basing the fiberglass shell on a custom space frame chassis motivated with a Subaru donk (or to customers orders). What he didn't realise was the huge cost in setting up a vehicle business in todays world of redtape.   :(

i guess at the end of the day we be thank full for the 60's 70's an 80's for the classic cars we have today..an hope a new buyer can be found to resurect the low slung sportscars idea again... if only i had a multimillion dollars at hand ...

 Brace yourselves then kids.
                                       I have big news!

     Simon

Ok

Out with it!!!!!
Keeping secrets will only lead to me having to come around and getting you drunk to get the information.

Andrew

no one is more than capable than you simon to take on the task ....  8)

I'll come along with you Andrew.   ;) :D ;D

Ok, ok!
          Long story leading up to this news but you need to know the background so I'll condense it as best I can.

About 2 years ago at the Sydney MotorEx I was introduced to a young asian Australian named David who wanted to know if I could build him a car. "Ooo good, big job" I thought. Then he said outright he was building his own car company. Of course, my initial inward response was "yeah right!" but I'm not the sort of person to be negative, so I listened....

It turned out David was extremely well educated with engineering qualifications etc by all the big names like Lotus and Bertini coming out his proverbial. He was also very well connected with more than 40 international designers from companies like BMW, Maserati and Pagini (to name a very few!) onboard who also shared his dream.

To back this up he had approvals in writing from everybody you could think of to start a car company, including the Australian Government, ADR's, the RTA and probably one from God if I'd gone that far deep in the pile.

At that time, David's primary concern was a suitable chassis to base his car on, not investors like you'd expect.  He had tentative financial backers ready to go. Over the following years we conducted several meetings, some at my workshop, where he'd suck my knowledge dry on actual car building processes and production techniques. He also fell in love with my reek, asked me endless questions about it and researched all he could in relation to it.

In our recent meeting last month he's asked to be put in contact with Paul Nelson, the current owner of the Eureka Car Company, with the intention of buying the company from him.   Ok kids, I know what you're thinking. What becomes of the company?

Believe me, David is the right buyer for us. Not only does he want to provide hard-to-get replacement panels for us (main body, roofs!) for the longevity of our existing reeks, but he's got the men and capability behind him to design and evolve a new reek for this century. He's happy to base it on a VW or similar platform if necessary so the average punter can still build one.

He's specific that the history/documentation in the 40ft container where the company is being stored by Paul will not be lost. He realises that a companies' beginnings are just as important as their current status and he know's the Eureka is a major Australian kit car icon. Hell, even Paul Nelson knows that David is the right guy for us.

Our cars, our history and our future is all looking poo hot kids. If you want to know more about David and his dream click here:

                                www.goy.com.au

Be aware: this offer has been in play for about a month. There should be an indication soon. The PECCA committee was informed as it happened. As a sideline to this news, I've been asked to oversee/supervise/help build the Goy prototype beginning next month at an undisclosed location. Poo just doesn't get any hotter than this kids...

     Simon  

Well done
I dont know what to say

Will this prototype be at metalsmith land?

Need a project manager ::) ::) ::)

Andrew

I think I remember you saying something about this once, a couple of years ago. But I didn't realize that it was still ongoing. I'd love to see a re imaged Eureka. I even had a few concept sketches I drew up not long after I got the 'reek. But I knew that unless I ended up with a squillion $$$ or serious backers/sponsors it would never happen.

Good luck with this, this could be huge!!

 ;D 

 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) to have business contacts like that...

Simon:
What ever happened with this?

Hi Dennis,
                To make a short story shorter, David didn't buy the company because Paul Nelson has the 40' container stored with others at a specific site. It's 2 containers up and there's a decent fee to get it down, meaning David had to pay to see the contents of the container, which he chose not to.

As far as David's own company goes, you can read this thread for an update:

http://eurekacarclub.com.au/forum/index.php/topic,890.0.html

     Simon

Any Idea what sort of $$$$ Paul was after?

Hi Dennis,
                The container, it's complete (historical) contents and the Eureka Car Company could be yours for around 10 gorillas.

     Simon

But as I understand it, last I heard the molds for the car have perished and would need to be remade, costing at least another $10,000.

Simon:
Thanks for the information... is there anything in the way of Body Parts etc still remaining or is it just Old Moulds & Historical information?

Hi Dennis,
              I'm under the impression the smaller moulds are intact and possibly useable: undersills, bonnets, dash etc because they were stored inside and under cover. If the roof mould was useable you'd get your money back very quickly. As for available body parts I think Paul sold everything he could. Darren (the Stig) has probably the last virgin kit out of the mould purchased indirectly from Paul.

The best person to speak to on this would be Stuart (StuFarny) who actually made a video of the inside of the factory before it was moved into the container. He has a far better idea of the container's contents.

     Simon

Well, that's better news than what I heard before. At least the molds sound like they're repairable.

As for the other range of parts they used to do, didn't they also do the fiberglass bits for the BaJa Bug conversion/kit? Man I used to want to do one of those up!!

A slight aside, I bet the various molds for the HDT Commadore and the Sigma Turbo probably met the same sad end.  :(

HI,

Ive tried to ring to owner several time for info but he never answers my calls.  Is he still in communication?

I'm chasing info on the seat molds, but now it looks like I have to find someone with a bare FGlass seat and copy it. Also would like to get some rear stickers off of him.

Brad

Hi,

I have a pair of seats which I'll strip to re-upholster this year.  I'm probably about 3 months off trimming them if you wanted to borrow one to make a mould in the time being?

I did talk to Allan Purvis at one of the meets about resurecting the main body mould, and his view was that it would be better to make a new one, as when I last saw them the wooden frames were rotted out and therefore become warped. As far as the smaller parts, the moulds could be re-used as long as the frames were still intact where fitted. But as its been discussed before, the cost of making a new set of moulds for the entire car would roughly be $10,000. The only requirement is someone to donate an un-assembled car with an excellent body to take the moulds from.
The video I have filmed at the factory before it closed, gives a view of what was available at the time prior to Paul Nelson moving it out.
When I visited the factory, the main body moulds had only recently been moved indoors, after being out in the Melbourne weather for many years.
I did speak to Paul Nelson's father shortly after them making the move to Sydney, and he told me they threw a heap of stuff (including some moulds) up the tip!

They kept only what "they thought" was "Eureka", anything else had to go, as otherwise they couldnt fit everything in the shipping containers.

Ive yet to make copies onto DVD of the video as 1 or 2 members have asked me for a copy.

Stu

Seems as if the contents of this shipping container itself would be of limited value, other than the Trading Name/Intellectual Property which would probably have expired in terms of ownership anyhow.
The concept of the Purvis Eureka Car Club of Australia being the custodian of all things Eureka, either in the Past or Future does have some romantic appeal to me itself, however I guess that would depend on Paul Nelson's value on this current asset.

Has anyone seen the contents of these Filing Cabinets... I assume most paperwork would be ftowards the end of Eureka History due to the Fires etc in the Original Factory.
Does anyone have any contact details for Paul Nelson?

Dennis.

We have the best part of the Purvis Eureka history in the form of Allan Purvis as a club patron
and he is more than happy to tell you anything that you and anyone else would like to know regarding the history of these cars.

Allan will be in Bathurst this year so for any who have never met this man do yourself a favour and come along to Bathurst and meet him in person.

He truly is a gentleman of the highest caliber and a joy to listen to.

regards

James