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Competing at Craigantlet in an Austin Mulliner, 1970

William‘ Bill’ Beattie with his trophies, 1962

Motorsport UK is saddened to learn of the death of Officiel D’ Honneur Bill Beattie, aged 96.

Born in September 1928, William Beattie, better known as Bill, was enthused by cars from an early age. In 1953, shortly after graduating in Mechanical Engineering from Queens University, Belfast, he bought his first car, a VW Beetle. The car was immediately entered in local rallies and hillclimbs and within the year he was a class winner. On their first Circuit of Ireland Rally, during the last night of this five-day epic, he and navigator John McFarlane got lost in rural Galway. But when they asked for directions, it was found that the locals only spoke Gaelic! Bill would compete in eight more Circuits, both as driver and navigator.

Using his engineering knowledge, he became a noted Beetle tuner and was the Northern Ireland agent for tuning firm OKRASA, upgrading the Beetles of most of the local top VW runners at that time. In 1961 he developed his

40 own special OKRASA Beetle, in which the engine had been modified to take a Porsche 356 crank. This resulted in a car capable of exceeding 100mph, which proved successful in both hillclimbs and racing, where he won the prestigious Baird Memorial Trophy at Kirkistown in 1962. His skill on the maps meant that his navigational talents were at times called on by the likes of Paddy Hopkirk, Ronnie McCartney and Derek Boyd.

Bill stopped competing in‘ modern’ machinery in 1966 and turned his attention to the Vintage / PVT side of the sport. Between 1969 and 2003 he enjoyed success in both an Austin 7 Mulliner two-seater and later a Riley 12 / 4 Special in Ulster Vintage Car Club( UVCC) rallies, autotests, hillclimbs and races. During the 1960s, he also officiated in various roles such as timekeeper, handicapper and stage commander, while also serving on committees of both the Ulster Automobile Club and Five Hundred Motor Racing Club of Ireland. Around

Driving a Riley at Eagle’ s Rock, 1997

1971, he was invited to become a Royal Automobile Club Steward, where he enjoyed attending the whole gamut of motorsport events held in Ulster at that time. He took great interest in his son Michael’ s hillclimbing campaigns and was always there to help when things went awry.

In 1997, Bill was delighted to be awarded Officiel D’ Honneur by the Motorsports Association. His last event as an official was acting as Club Steward at Craigantlet hillclimb in 2017.

Motorsport UK sends it condolences to Bills family and friends.

The OKRASA Beetle at Cairncastle, 1962

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