IT WAS A FANTASTICAL yarn and the judge wasn't buying it. Ian Burgess's trial in August 1981 wasn't going as well as he might have hoped, but then you could argue that he was his own worst enemy. The London-born businessman had been collared attempting to smuggle heroin into the UK and claimed insisted that the smack was merely a cash substitute. MIS preferred to pay for services rendered by means of 'nasal party favours'; smack was the currency of espionage, apparently. The 51-year-old had been helping Queen and country in the Middle East and he had been rewarded with Class A pharmaceuticals worth an estimated £1m.
The intelligence service didn't corroborate his story. Nor, it must be said, did it deny it. Burgess was sent down for ten years. This would probably have been another court case consigned to obscurity had he not once been a Formula 1 driver. Born in July 1930 as David William Allan, he was adopted as a baby by a Scottish couple and raised in Surrey. Burgess aspired to become an engineer, only then to be enraptured by motor racing. He first ventured trackside as the 1950s dawned, and was immediately a frontrunner in the half-litre Formula 3 category in a Cooper MkV.
Denne historien er fra September 2024-utgaven av Octane.
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Denne historien er fra September 2024-utgaven av Octane.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Jem Marsh
The hard-bitten Marcos boss was driven like few others and never knew when he was beaten. Thankfully
Vandamm House
A Mid-Century Modernist masterpiece that was immortalised on celluloid - despite never actually existing
Making light
Alfa Romeo's post-war renaissance began with the 1900 saloon - and matured with Zagato's featherweight coupé version, as Jay Harvey discovers
FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE
Is burgeoning classic car interest in the Middle East good for the global classic market? Nathan Chadwick investigates
Before the beginning
This rare Amazon Green pre-production Range Rover is Velar chassis number 4. James Elliott charts its historically revealing factory restoration
Ben Cussons
As the outgoing chairman of the Royal Automobile Club hands on to his successor, Robert Coucher quizzes him about the evolution of this great British institution
BULLDOG & THE PUPPIES
We gather five motoring masterpieces by avant-garde designer William Towns - and drive all of them
Below the tip of the Audrain iceberg
As the Audrain organisation grows, we take a look behind the scenes at the huge car collection that feeds it
Flying the Scottish flag
Young Ecurie Ecosse driver Chloe Grant gets to grips with the Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-type at Goodwood. Matthew Hayward is Octane's witness
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO
Audi Tradition has unveiled the Auto Union Type 52 Schnellsportwagen - only 90 years since it was designed. Glen Waddington takes an exclusive ride with Hans-Joachim Stuck