First British run for rare sports-racers

Two sports-racing cars never before seen in Britain ran at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, with the unique DAF Variomatic-driven Huron 4A (below) and the 1969 Berta LR both taking to the hill.

The belt-driven Huron last ran with the rare twin belt drive system when it won the 1972 Belgian Hillclimb Championship with Jean-Louis Haxhe. It has now been rebuilt for Paul van Doorne, son of the former president of DAF and grandson of the inventor of the Variomatic system.

“I searched for this car for 30 years,” said van Doorne. “This is a tribute to my father, who always believed in the competitiveness of his father’s invention.”

The Berta LR, built by Oreste Berta in Argentina, raced in the 1969 Buenos Aires 1000Kms but only appeared once in Europe, at the Nürburgring that summer.

The radical and ultra-low 1970 AVS Shadow MK1 Can-Am car also ran at the Festival after a complete rebuild by new owner Harm Lagaaij.