Paddy Hopkirk has died, he made an entire nation dream
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Paddy Hopkirk has died
Paddy Hopkirk’s triumph at the 1964 Monte Carlo rally was such a momentous event that he, his navigator, Henry Liddon, and their car, a Mini Cooper, were invited to appear Sunday night at the London Palladium, a television show with an audience sometimes approaching 20 million.
The victory of a small British car that symbolized the rebirth of British cultural energy was seen as a cause for national celebration. The Beatles sent Hopkirk a congratulatory telegram; so did the prime minister, Alec Douglas-Home.
Hopkirk, a Northern Irishman from Belfast, passed away in recent days at the age of 89. But his name will remain well etched in the history of four-wheeling.
