Beaujolais 81

The original 1981 Beaujolais run

The car had been completed during the summer of 1980. It had been a labour of love, often misguided, approached in an amateurish naïve way, accomplished mainly throughout the hours outside the then usual opening hours of the licensed trade.

I was twenty nine enthusiastically running a large Georgian pub on the A6 at Wingates Westhoughton. A simple, proven chassis with equally primitive running gear was the backbone of the vehicle. Any standard Triumph Herald could be stripped of its body then the ‘Burlington’ panels could be fitted directly onto the donor chassis.

The donor vehicle, a 1971 Triumph 13/60 estate has been stripped in the stables of the ‘Dog and Pheasant’, Wingates Westhoughton. The chassis has been cleaned then painted with ‘Hammerite’, the engine, gearbox re-built then the Haydn Davies Burlington kit assembled. 

The extent to which the ‘backbone’ of the vehicle was modified was entirely the choice of the individual. Professional assistance was required to rebuild the engine along with several areas of the box section that required additional welding: the outriggers were replaced, the chassis cleaned then daubed with Hammerite. The hotchpotch of various shades of fiberglass were eventually painted ‘British Racing green’, she was ready for the open road.

Twelve months past by rapidly, we had moved to a new ‘pub’ challenge at the ‘White Crow’ with new ‘English’ speaking clients. My latest ‘toy’ had been running perfectly over the past year easily handling various jaunts to Yorkshire, Wales, Donnington Park plus several kitcar shows.  A visit to the ‘Crow’ from a lifelong friend, Geoff Duckworth tested my faith in the car, “Why don’t you have a go at this year’s Beaujolais run in November? A fast car isn’t really necessary anymore, ever since the RAF completed the race in three minutes using a Harrier Jump jet the actual time trial has become obsolete. All we would need is a support vehicle, a few sponsors, gather a few orders for some cases of wine and we could make a chunk of money for a local charity; what do you think?” 

Like most throw away lines the idea germinated into the Beaujolais run of 1981. The present restoration of the Burlington is primarily to replicate the 1981 race from Beaune to Wigan.