“I’d heard about Archie Butterworth’s engines. The Tojeiro appealed because it connected two special engineers”
Twilight hour in the paddock at the Goodwood Revival on a Friday is a favourite time. The crowds have gone, leaving mostly mechanics and fellow enthusiasts to chat about the fascinating machines.
This year, the Madgwick Cup for under-2-litre sports cars built between 1948 and ʼ55 was a major draw, particularly the curiosities among the more familiar Maserati-, Bristol- and Climax-powered machines.
Rarest of the entry was the one-off 1954 Tojeiro-Butterworth AJB, which Günter Lainer and his small team trailered 1600 miles from Bad Griesbach, Bavaria. Any European entrant who is not deterred by the hassle and expense of visiting England is a hero, but the unique experience of the Revival is worth it. From the moment they tow through the tunnel into the paddock, those post-Brexit challenges are forgotten. “I love English sports cars and have rebuilt some rarities over the years, including the ex-George Phillips Le Mans MG TC, the Ecurie Ecosse Cooper Monaco and several WSM and Speedwell Sprites,” enthused Günter. “Thereʼs nothing like Goodwood. Itʼs the perfect escape from the worries of the modern world.”
When Günter learnt of the Madgwick Cup, he started looking for a suitable car: “Iʼd heard about the air-cooled flat-four engines designed and built by Archie Butterworth. Then when I found the Tojeiro-Butterworth in Belgium, it immediately appealed because it connected two special racing engineers.”
Butterworth is best known for his Steyr V8-powered four-wheel-drive Special, which set the pace at hillclimbs until 1951 when he crashed heavily at Shelsley Walsh and gave up racing to focus on building engines.
Günter learned that the Tojeiro-Butterworth was commissioned by Major Palmer, a former Brooklands racer. After ordering a chassis from Tojeiro, he set about installing a 1.5-litre AJB flat-four. “Palmer felt Butterworthʼs swing-valve design wasnʼt properly developed, so he converted it to poppets,” explained Günter. “He then fitted an MG T-series gearbox and commissioned Micron to build the bodywork with a glassfibre bonnet and aluminium rear .”
The development of the Tojeiro-Butterworth proved a challenge for Palmer, and in 1957 he pushed it to the back of his workshop where it sat for the following 30 years. With his
