Industry profile – Clearview Accessories

Rather than resting on their laurels after 16 years of producing reliable, top-quality touring accessories, Mike Cowan and his team at Clearview Accessories are showing no signs of slowing down.

Time flies. Whether you’re thinking of easing off the throttle a bit and taking life easy or wondering if you’ve reached the pinnacle of your profession, it probably only seems like yesterday you were ‘starting off’. It’s something Clearview Accessories’ Mike Cowan can relate to when he thinks back to how his incredibly successful off-road aftermarket accessories business started. And it was all because he couldn’t see what he needed to see …

Inspiration from frustration

It was the early 2000s when Mike Cowan first thought of what would become the success that is Clearview Accessories and, unsurprisingly, it was while he was towing a caravan behind his then-tourer, a LandCruiser 80 Series, which had the misfortune of following on from his previous tow-rig, a monster Ford F-350. You see (excuse the pun), the big Effy’s bulk meant it had, fitted to it, rear-view mirrors that were fit for purpose, when it comes to rearward vision. Something the otherwise impressive 80 Series lacked.

“It was frustration, really,” Mike recounts. “I have a background in towing, and I had been towing for a long time. I had an F-350 before the Toyota; it was a big American truck, and it had really good mirrors on it. Then when I bought my 80 Series, I’d hook my caravan up and drive out the front gate and all I could see was caravan.”

This situation led to some thinking for Mike, who resolved to try and replicate what he’d experienced with the Ford’s more effective mirrors. To this end, he imported a set of Silverado mirrors from the USA and fitted them to his 80 Series. The results were excellent – as was the attention from fellow towing enthusiasts.