A small taste of the future developments of the story

07.03.07. As the project has developed the complications of the build were becoming apparent

• “Stochastic behaviour in a deterministic system” is a scientific phrase of cause and effect. What it means is every particle in the earth’s atmosphere is linked in a chain of cause and effect so intricate that it is extremely hard to make accurate predictions about the behaviour of the system as a whole. The weather forecast for tomorrow may be reasonably accurate. But the weather forecast for the following week will be much less so. And every now and then an apparent random whirlwind will catch the weatherman out as happened in the “hurricane” of 1987. This hypothesis is principally related to the economies of the world, particularly the connection between the American economy to that of the Chinese. This was evident last week (01.03.07) where the butterfly in this case was the fledgling Shanghai stock market. A mere winged bug compared with those of the New York and London. But when the Chinese investors flapped on Tuesday, driving down the Shanghai composite index by nearly 9%, the result was a storm, if not a 1987 style hurricane, in nearly all of the world’s markets. In one day 500 points was wiped off the Dow Jones whilst London plummeted by 150 on the FTSE index. In other words a slight hiccup can create such a ripple effect causing major complications many thousands of miles from the source of the original problem.  

This theory has been mirrored in the many modifications to the Burlington. For months we have striven to improve the quality of the finished product, but unknowingly by bettering one aspect of the car we have directly or indirectly affected many other aspects of the vehicle. One example of this was the decision to move the engine back 8 inches. This alone has resulted in the chassis being cut, the standard manifold and exhaust system altered, the overdrive gearbox having to be re-sited and the prop shaft flange re-fashioned. The front suspension has become further exposed and with little weight above the dampers the coil springs need to be shorter, in free length, and softer in strength. The ride height, the cast and camber, the increased sensitivity of the steering and the location of the ancillaries; principally the radiator, have all become our “stochastic behaviour in a deterministic system”. But at least for the Burlington project we can control the weather and the supply and demand of money. It is Chris and I who will determine the eventual triumphant outcome and not Rimmers, the Sheep Dip brothers, Nutty, deceitful Steve, crap after market components and even the “Doubting Thomases” in the Roy Castle corner.