CHARLES CAMPBELL
Age:66 Lives: Edinburgh Rallying a Davrian
He has a Davrian
“I’ve had the Davrian from new in 1980: I bought it from Tim Duffee at his factory in Lampeter. It’s a Mk8 built to rally specification, which means a heavy-duty shell. I used it in the Scottish forests and it was quite successful in its class. I used it for about three years initially, then I got interested in other more powerful cars. The Davrian was running an Imp engine, which was a challenge, but it was always pretty reliable as long as I kept it on the road.”
Then he did other things
“I then put it away and got things like Sunbeams, BDA Ford Escorts and Toyota Corollas. Then I turned towards racing because it was a bit easier on the pocket and easier from a time point of view. I did actually race the Davrian at Ingliston in Road Sports and I raced it in England in the Rally Car Challenge.”
He had some good races
“One of my more memorable races was at Mallory Park. I didn’t do a good practice and started 11th, but went from there to third at the first corner by overtaking on the grass on the outside. It was dry, but I think I took everyone by surprise.”
The Davrian was stored on Skye
“I come from the Isle of Skye and the car was stored there. The family has got hotels up there. We just stored the car away and it wasn’t a barn find; it was a barn recollection! It was stored for the better part of 30 years and, before last year, I’d not done any motorsport since way back. I did some Production Saloon Car racing in the late 1980s in a Vauxhall Astra. I did a long-distance race in Texas in 2002 and then nothing until last year. Last year I decided to return, and we found a Peugeot RCZ in Belgium and ran it in the 750 Motor Club Endurance Championship.”
The RAC was an ambition
“I always wanted to do the RAC Rally way back when. My mate Graham Legget said it would be a good idea to resurrect the car and get it going for the Roger Albert Clark Rally.
Pete Furber did a fantastic job on rebuilding the Davrian from a bare shell. Sadly, the gearbox broke on the first stage of the Roger Albert and we were out.”