1959 Bourgeault Formula Junior

California builder Nade Bourgeault created a line of cars that bore his name during the late 1950s and continued for nearly a decade. His first vehicles were formula junior cars powered by Fiat engines and transmissions. His very early examples had a Porsche transaxle. The bodies were created by Bourgeault and benefited from his expertise and craftsmanship. He fabricated the body from aluminum and drew on his experience from working on BMC Formula Junior cars with Joe Huffaker. Other prior work included the Keck Spyder, Cozzi Jaguar, and the Lowe's Frazer-Nash.

His Formula Junior cars had a mid-engine design and were one of the first to capitalize on this layout. By the time the Bourgeault cars made it to market, the Lotus 18s - also with mid-engine design - were popular, well-funded, and proving to be fierce competitors. With the formula junior series evolving at a very quick pace, it soon exceeded its original intentions. With the demise of the series imminent, Bourgeault decided to compete in another arena. As the 1960s progressed, Bourgeault created cars (as few as one) for the Formula C and Formula B series. Between these two series, a total of four cars were created.

With experience building formula cars, his history of fabrication and mid-engine design, Bourgeault began producing customer cars for Sports Racer Series, such as F and G-Modified classes. A total of three were constructed with prices just under $6,000 minus the engines. The popular engine choice was the Ford/Cosworth and Coventry-Climax. Other units were fitted, such as BRM and Alfa Romeo powerplants.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2009