The Puma Clubman is a specialized Australia Car Brand known for its high-performance, lightweight sports cars in the “Clubman” style, inspired by the iconic Lotus Seven. Conceived by John Karnon and Neville Darwin in Adelaide, Australia, in the late 1990s, the Puma Clubman project began as a home-built initiative, drawing inspiration from books on building your own sports car. This ethos of accessible performance and hands-on construction remains central to the brand.
Each Puma Clubman is individually constructed, often by the buyer, from a chassis and components supplied by Puma Sportscars. The design has continuously evolved to utilize modern donor parts, commonly incorporating powerful Nissan SR20DET turbo engines, which provide exhilarating performance with rapid acceleration. These cars are known for their exceptional power-to-weight ratio, making them popular for both road registration and track days.
Puma Clubmans have gained a dedicated following and have won various design and construction awards at national rallies, showcasing the quality and performance achieved by these individually crafted vehicles. While not a large-scale manufacturer, Puma Sportscars represents a vibrant part of Australia’s niche automotive scene, offering enthusiasts a unique and engaging driving experience. To discover more about bespoke car manufacturers, explore World-Wide Q&A.