User:Don Barrow (Navigator & Co-Driver)

Don Barrow – No1 Rally Navigator & Co-Driver
Donald Ernest Barrow (born 6th November 1936) – The former British No 1 Rally Navigator & Co-Driver – ‘The King of the Navigators’ – Quote by Eric Bailey – the Motoring Correspondent of the Daily Telegraph 16-12-1995.

Autobiography
Don Barrow, he started Navigating in car rallies in 1958 where he quickly learned the art of Navigating using Ordnance Survey maps. He competed at the highest level winning the prestigious Motoring News Rally Championships in the years, 1963 & 1964 with Reg McBride and 1967 & 1970 with Jim Bullough. He also won the BTRDA (British Trials and Rally Drivers Association) Silver Star Championships in 1962, 1963 & 1967 and the BTRDA Gold Star Championship in 1970, together with the RAC Rally Championship (Which was the forerunner to the British Rally Championship) in 1967.

Motoring News Rally Championship Wins
He scored the all-time record number of 26 outright wins in the Motoring News Rally Championship and the maximum winning points score of 1,175 in the whole MN series of events, never to be beaten. The Motoring News Championship started in 1961 and although he retired from active competition in 1973, the MN Championship ran until 1987 - See his Rally Results.

Teams
He Co-drove for several Works Factory Teams, namely Triumph, BMC (British Motor Corporation), Ford, Rootes Group and DTV (Dealer Team Vauxhall). He Co-Drove for the Finnish ace, Timo Makinen on the 1964 Spa Sofia Liege Rally and the 1964 RAC Rally finishing 2nd overall both in a BMC Works Austin Healey 3000 and in 1968 he Navigated Jim Bullough on the RAC Rally into 3rd overall in Jim’s privately entered MK1 Ford Escort Twin Cam, the result clinched winning the 1968 European Rally Championship for Ford.

Drivers
He had the pleasure of Navigating - Co-Driving for George Hulme, Reg McBride, Jim Bullough, Roy Fidler, Timo Makinen, Andrew Cowan, John Sprinzel, Eric Jackson, Ron Wilson, Frank Grange, Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams, Pam Haggie, Derek Astle, Phil Simister, John Bloxham, Ian Harwood, Cec Offley, Arthur Hobson, Peter Barrow, Ron Gammons & Bobbie Parkes and many more.

Thankyou
He was eternally thankful to his wife Gill Barrow and his twin children Vivienne Patterson-Barrow and Richard Don Barrow for their help and support in all his Rallying endeavours. Not forgetting Don's parents, George Barrow and Alice Barrow for their following and encouragement in pursuing his Rally Navigating adventures.

Business
In between rallying in the late 1960s, he set up his successful Rally Navigation Equipment business where he designed and built his famous Map Magnifiers and many other products. It was a family affair where everyone helped out. In 1993 he was probably the first Rally Navigation business that sold online; thanks to his son Richard who was then at the forefront of web design. Don also developed other rally navigating products which were added to the product range which were all sold worldwide.

Business Future
In 2020 he successfully sold the business to the new owners who still trade under the same brand.

Later life and today
Now that he has retired from co-driving and his business, he now lives happily back in Wilmslow.

Comprehensive Rally Results 1959 - 1973
Motoring News Championship Results.