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Saturday 31 January 2015

AEC Regent

I photographed this former Bury Corporation AEC Regent in September 1995 in Heaton Park, Manchester, at the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally organised by the Greater Manchester Transport Society.
The programme of the event had this to say about this vehicle:


AEC Regent III 9613A Weymann H56R, 1952                                                      BEN 177
Bury 177
Entered by     D.R. Stubbings, Rossendale
The majority of Bury's Buses were Lancashire built Leylands, Two AEC chassis were bought in 1950 and placed in store until Weymann bodies were fitted. These two AEC buses were unpopular with Bury's bus drivers, being 'odd-men out in the fleet.



Friday 30 January 2015

Friday's Ferrari

I've recently been able to scan into my laptop some of the photographs that my brother and I took at Oulton Park and Aintree, and one meeting at Silverstone, between 1955 and 1962. They were mostly taken on Kodak Brownie 127 cameras but even so the quality of some of them is surprisingly good - others not so much. Here's one of the photographs we took at practice for the 1957 British Grand Prix at Aintree.
It shows three of the four Ferrari 801 cars that took part in the race. The middle car, number 14 (chassis no. 0010), was the car driven by Luigi Musso and the car on the left looks to have number 16 (chassis no. 0006), which was Maurice Trintignant's car, taken over by Peter Collins when his car failed half-way through the race. The other two cars were number 10 (chassis no. 0009), driven by Mike Hawthorn, and number 12 (chassis no. 0008) which was Peter Collins' original car.

During the race Stirling Moss in a Vanwall had a comfortable lead part way through the race, but stopped to change cars with Tony Brooks, then in ninth place, because of a persistent misfire. This allowed Jean Behra in a Maserati 250F to take the lead with Mike Hawthorn in the Ferrari in second place. Stirling Moss got up to third place, but still some way behind, when Jean Behra's clutch and flywheel exploded. Mike Hawthorn had the misfortune to run over the debris sustaining a puncture leaving Stirling Moss in the lead which he maintained to the finish - the first win by a British car in a World Championship race. Luigi Musso finished in second place with Mike Hawthorn recovering after his pit stop to finish third and the Maurice Trintignant/Peter Collins Ferrari was fourth. 

The Ferrari 801 was the final development of the Lancia D50 cars handed over to Ferrari at the end of the 1955 season on the demise of Scuderia Lancia. The cars competed in the 1956 season with minor modifications as Lancia-Ferrari D50s but were modified to such an extent for the 1957 season that they were given a new identity as Ferrari 801s.

Thursday 29 January 2015

1935 Austin Taxi

One of the club stands at the 8th Northern Classic Car Show at G-Mex, Manchester, in August 1989 was that of the London Vintage Taxi Association. This is one of the two cars on display at this stand.
It's a 1935 Austin Taxi cab and this is what a note in the show guide says about the car:

"BXU 249 was discovered in 1981, where it had been stored since coming out of service in 1954. It was in remarkable original condition, still carrying the original taximeter, fare card and test stencil. Over the years it has received a sympathetic restoration, still retaining its original character. The body was built to London specifications by 'Jones Bros' of Westbourne Grove. It was very popular with London drivers."

I've found the website of a car auction company that says this about the 1930s Austin Taxi:

"The 12/4 Austin Taxi was the mainstay of the taxi fleet in London during the 1930s. Initially nicknamed the High Lot due to its height, it became a great success outselling its rivals the Beardmore and Morris Commercial by some margin. The revised LL (Low Loader) model was introduced in 1934 and became the most widely produced taxi of the decade."

Wednesday 28 January 2015

Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS

This is one of the cars that took part in the Vintage Seaman Trophy race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.
It's a 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS, entered and driven in the race by Nicolas Rossi.

Tuesday 27 January 2015

Diamond T Truck

I spotted this vehicle amongst the trade stands in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010 and because I didn't know what it was I took a photograph.
It appears to be a 1940 Diamond T Truck - I don't know much about them, but found this website which gives a history of the Diamond T.

Monday 26 January 2015

Allard J2X Le Mans

The entry list for the Hawthorn International Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008 included the car shown below.
It's a 1952 Allard J2X Le Mans. The Allard J2 had motor cycle style mudguards and the J2X was introduced to comply with 1952 FIA regulations which said that cars must have all-enveloping bodywork.
Here's the owner of the car, Tom Walker, leading the Cooper Monaco T49 of Paul Woolley and the Lister Knobbly of Barry Wood at Britten's chicane during the race.

Sunday 25 January 2015

Haynes-Apperson

This is a photograph taken in May 1992 at the Exchange Station car park at the start of the annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run organised by the Lancashire Automobile Club.
It's a 1902 Haynes-Apperson Surrey being driven here by the owner, Clive Williams of Hyde, Cheshire. The Wikipedia entry for Haynes-Apperson mentions a 'Haynes-Apperson Festival' being held each year in Kokomo, Indiana to commemorate the company and apparently it's still going strong.

Saturday 24 January 2015

MG J2

This is a photograph I took in June 1987 at a 'Vintage & Historic Vehicle Display & Run' organised by Saddleworth Museum. It was taken at the King George V Playing Fields in Uppermill.
The car is a 1931 MG J2 and the programme of the event says this about the car:

1931 MG, 1275cc, 6 cyl, JW 3166. Rare model MG. Restored by owner and wife from box of bits.

The names of the owner and his wife aren't given, but I have found a reference to the car in the MG bulletin of 20 September 2009 bulletin of the Triple-M Register (which is part of the MG Car Club) and in 2009 the car was owned by Steve Clarke.

Wikipedia says this about the J2:

'The J2, a road-going two-seater, was the commonest car in the range. Early models had cycle wings, which were replaced in 1933 by the full-length type typical of all sports MGs until the 1950s TF. The top speed of a standard car was 65 mph (105 km/h), but a specially prepared one tested by The Autocar magazine reached 82 mph (132 km/h). The car cost £199.
The most serious of the J2's technical failings is that has only a two-bearing crankshaft, which can break if over-revved. The overhead camshaft is driven by a vertical shaft through bevel gears, which also forms the armature of the dynamo. Thus any oil leak from the cambox seal goes into the dynamo brushgear, presenting a fire hazard.
Rather than hydraulic brakes the car has Bowden cables to each drum. Although requiring no more pedal force than any other non-power-assisted drum brake if they are well maintained, the drums themselves are small, and even in period it was a common modification to replace them with larger drums from later models.'

Friday 23 January 2015

Friday's Ferrari

Another car from the 'Coys of Kensington GT Race' at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.
This time it's another car I've featured before, the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO of Nick Mason - in this race he shared the driving with Mike Wilds. The serial number of this car is 3757GT.

Thursday 22 January 2015

Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM

This car took part in the 'Coys of Kensington GT Race' at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.
It's a 1953 Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM and was driven in the race at this meeting by its owner, Christopher Mann.
One of these cars was driven to second place in the 1953 Mille Miglia by Juan Manuel Fangio, despite driving most of the return leg from Rome to Brescia with effective steering on only one of the front wheels.

Wednesday 21 January 2015

Elva Mk IV

The Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004 organised by the British Racing & Sports Car Club included a 2¼ hour 'Gentleman Drivers GT and Sports Endurance Race'. One of the cars entered in this race was the one pictured below.
It's an Elva Mk IV and driving in the race was shared by Simon Peach and Shaun Bromley.

Tuesday 20 January 2015

Swallow Doretti

The Swallow Doretti was a sports car built by the Swallow Coachbuilding Co (then owned by the Tube Investments Group) between 1954 and 1955 using mechanicals from the Triumph TR2. Production of the car stopped after only 10 months, apparently because Jaguar, a major customer of the TI Group, were so worried about the effect on sales of their XK120 that they threatened to look elsewhere for a supplier of their components if manufacture of the Swallow Doretti continued.
This is a Swallow Doretti that I photographed at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984. It may be difficult to make out, but the badge on the bonnet of the car isn't that of a Swallow Doretti - it actually depicts a scorpion. The car was built and owned by a Mr Jim Williams of North Wales and has a very interesting history, which you can read about here.

Monday 19 January 2015

Scammell Scarab

This is one of the vehicles entered in the 1996 Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally organised by the Greater Manchester Transport Society and which took place in September of that year. The photograph was taken at Heaton Park, Manchester.
It's a 1961 Scammell Scarab, a tractor unit which was designed to facilitate the delivery of goods in busy built-up areas. Because of their manoeuvrability they were used extensively by British Railways and I remember seeing the one used at the local railway station when I was a youngster. The programme of the event shows the entrant as J.L. & B.Nuttall of Dyserth, Denbighshire

Sunday 18 January 2015

Triumph TR3


This photograph was taken at the Northern Classic Car Show in G-Mex, Manchester in August 1994.
It's a 1955 Triunph TR3, the front grille being the main external feature which distinguished it from the earlier TR2 although it was also fitted with a more powerful engine. You can read about the full range of Triumph TR models here
.

Saturday 17 January 2015

Boeing 737

Photographs taken at 10:22am on 9 January 2015 of Norwegian (Anders Celsius Livery) Flight DY1326 passing over Hyde and preparing to land at Manchester Airport.
It's a Boeing 737-86N flying from Stavanger to Manchester
The aircraft registration number is LN-NON
The Wikipedia article on the Norwegian airline says this about the livery:

'Norwegian's aircraft livery is white with a blue ribbon and signal red nose. The vertical tail plane feature portraits of historically distinctive Norwegians, Swedes, Danes and Finns which together with the red nose signals the airline's change-maker spirit.'

Friday 16 January 2015

Friday's Ferrari

This is a car I've featured twice before, on 18 October 2013 and 19 December 2014
This photograph was taken at the Tourist Trophy race at Oulton Park in May 1965, and it's a 1963 Ferrari 250GTO entered that day by John Danway Racing and driven by Mike Salmon. It finished the race in 12th position on aggregate over two heats and was owned at that time by Gordon Durham, the serial number being 4399GT

Thursday 15 January 2015

Three Jaguars

This was a display by the Historic Sports Car Club at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.
Only one prototype Jaguar XJ13 was ever built and the first car here is a replica constructed by Proteus Cars. The second car is a 1952 Jaguar C-type, chassis number XKC004, and the third car is a 1955 Jaguar D-type long nose. Only 6 of these cars were built and the one in this photograph bears the registration number and race number of the 1955 Le Mans winning car. It isn't necessarily that car though, and could even be another Proteus replica.

Wednesday 14 January 2015

Oldsmobile Curved Dash

This is one of the cars taking part in the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run organised by the Lancashire Automobile Club in June 1991. It was photographed at the start of the run in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.
It's a 1903 Oldsmobile Curved Dash, and the programme of the event says this about it:

4     1903 Oldsmobile Curved Dash
       Reg: T 260  1 cylinder  5hp
       (Martin Dawson, Oldham)
Originally delivered at a cost of $650 to Mrs Reigel of the Reigel Paper Company, Reigelsville, New Jersey on the banks of the Delaware, she subsequently gave it to her chauffeur (shades of Miss Daisy!). Eventually it passed to a local farmer. Restoration was carried out in the States before the car came to this country in 1989, the T 260 registration was originally allocated in 1903 to an identical Curved Dash Olds by the Devon licensing authority. Light, easy to drive,mechanically quite simple, the high ground clearance of the Curved Dash and its unique suspension made it ideal for poor rutted country roads. With tiller steering and a single cylinder engine developing 4.5bhp at 600 rpm it was said to give "one chug per telegraph pole."


NB: Because I have a son who lives in New Jersey I was curious to know just where Reigelsville was situated, so I looked it up on Google Earth. It turns out that the correct spelling is Riegelsville  (and it's Mrs Riegel and the Riegel Paper Company) and it's actually in Pennsylvania, though it is on the banks of the Delaware River and New Jersey is on the opposite bank.

Tuesday 13 January 2015

Starchaser

I photographed this on Friday last week in the playground of St George's Primary School in Hyde.
It's one of the rockets built by Starchaser Industries Ltd of Hyde who with their British space programme are at the forefront of efforts to build a successful space rocket, and in their Space4Schools programme they visit schools to give presentations of the work they are doing to get a British rocket into space.

Monday 12 January 2015

Crossley 15.7 Coupé

Crossley Motors was based in Manchester and produced a variety of vehicles from 1904 to 1958. Cars were made from 1904 to 1938, buses from 1926 to 1958, and military vehicles from 1914 to 1945.

This is a Crossley I photographed at the Exchange Station car park in June 1986 at the start of the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran & Vintage Car Run organised by the Lancashire Automobile Club.
This is what the programme of the event had to say about the car:

'107   1928 Crossley Sport Coupe,
          Reg: CW 9480 6 Cylinder 15hp
          2100cc
          (N.S.Hindle, Marple, Stockport)'

According to the Crossley Register, however, the car is a 1930 15.7 Coupe and you can see some photographs and a few more details about the car here.

Sunday 11 January 2015

Talbot Lago T120

This car was in the paddock at the VSCC SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008 and I've recorded it as a Talbot Lago T120, but I don't have any further information about the car.

Saturday 10 January 2015

Aston Martin DB2

Taking part in one of the races at the Aston Martin Owners Club meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002 was the car shown below.
It's an Aston Martin DB2, one of the Aston Martin team cars for the 1951 racing season and was driven at Oulton Park by Chris Woodgate. You can read about the car in this astonmartins.com article.

Friday 9 January 2015

Friday's Ferrari

This is a car I photographed at Silverstone in July 1998 at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting which took part in the Pre-72 Le Mans Car Race.
It's a 1971 Ferrari 512M, serial number 1024, owned at the time by Ed Davies of Florida, USA. The 512M was a modified version of the 512S and www.barchetta.cc says this about the 'M':

'For the 1971 season, Ferrari concentrated on their 312 P(B) sports prototype, and left the 512 entries to the privateers, although they did offer a revised more aerodynamic body package, which had first appeared on the Kyalami winning car in late 1970. This was called the “M” package, “Modificato” or modified, featuring a more wedge shape flatter profile, and all cars converted to this form were coupĂ©s. In the USA the Roger Penske team developed their own 512 M, chassis # 1040, which was the quickest 512 of all time, but like the regular cars didn’t meet with much overall success, with no 512 victories during the season. Late in 1971 chassis # 1010 was fitted with a 7 litre engine and converted to run in the American CanAm series. It managed a 4th place at Watkins Glen driven by Mario Andretti, before the car was sold to the NART organisation.'

Thursday 8 January 2015

McLaren M1B

The entry list for the Guards Trophy Race for Sports Cars at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2012 consisted mainly of cars with a capacity of 2 litres or less, but it also included the car shown below.
It's a 1966 5.7 litre McLaren M1B, here at Druids Corner being driven by Chris Goodwin.

Wednesday 7 January 2015

Bedford J5 Fire Engine

I took this photograph at the Heaton Park, Manchester, in September 1993 at the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally organised by the Greater Manchester Transport Society.
It's a 1962 Bedford J5 fire engine, and the programme of the event said this about it:

Bedford J5, 1962 997 LTA
Entered by S.Hodgson & C.D.Ellicott, Hyde
Built to a reduced width for operating along the narrow Devon country lanes.

Tuesday 6 January 2015

N.A.G. K2 Raceabout

This is a car I photographed in June 1993 at the start of the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run organised by the Lancashire Automobile Club. It's a 1912 N.A.G. K2 Raceabout, but the programme of the event doesn't have any more information about the car, only that it was entered for the run by Kevin Bann of Fence, Burnley. N.A.G. was a German company - Neue Automobil Gesellschaft - and you can read the Wikipedia article about it here.

Monday 5 January 2015

HWM Jaguar

There was a round of the 'Historic Car Championship' at the Historic Car Races organised by the Aston Martin Owners Club at Oulton Park in September 1986, and one of the cars taking part in the race was the car pictured below.
It's a 1955 HWM Jaguar, and the programme of the event shows the entrant of this car to have been Tiffen King Nicholson - apparently a Cumbrian estate agent practice. The car was driven in the race by Kirk Rylands. The Wikipedia article on HWM says this about the sports cars they produced:

'Meanwhile, the first Jaguar-engined HWM sports racing car had appeared in 1953, and this had some success with George Abecassis at the wheel. From then on until 1957, the team was involved in sports car racing both in Britain and on the continent, sometimes beating their Jaguar and Aston Martin Works competitors. After John Heath was killed on the 1956 Mille Miglia in Italy in an HWM Works car, Abecassis did not wish to continue and the works racing programme continued for just a year.'
This is Kirk Rylands at Lodge Corner during the race.

Sunday 4 January 2015

Frazer Nash Mille Miglia

This car was in the paddock at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting organised by the VSCC at Donington Park in June 2003.
It's a 1950 Frazer Nash Mille Miglia, and there's a very good website which gives extensive details of all postwar cars produced by AFN Ltd from which the following details are given about this car:

Car Number:                                 18
Chassis Number:                           421/100/118
Engine Number:                             FNS1/17
Model:                                           Mille Miglia
Delivery Date:                                November 1950
Original Colour:                              Maroon
Original Registration Number:         OPL 2
First Owner:                                  Strutton
Remarks:                                      Now metallic 'Jaguar grey'
Current Location:                           UK

Saturday 3 January 2015

Porsche 804

This is a photograph I took in the paddock at Aintree at the Friday practice for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.
It's Dan Gurney going out for a practice run in his Porsche 804. From 6th place on the grid he finished the race in 9th place the following day, a disappointing result after winning the previous race, the French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les-Essarts. That victory is the only one won in a Grand Prix race by a Porsche.

Friday 2 January 2015

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.
It's a Ferrari 250GT SWB, but I've not been able to identify the serial number of this car, which appears to have the registration number 250 SPG. There were three 250GTs entered in the 'Coys of Kensington GT Race', two of which were red according to the programme of the event, The records of www.barchetta.cc doesn't record this car as belonging to either Jose Albuquerque or Ian Donaldson who entered those two cars on that day. In fact I can't trace any 250GT that's ever had this registration number.


Thursday 1 January 2015

MG Montlhery & J2

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting in June 1982.
Both the MGs featured here took part in the first race of the day, a 5 lap handicap race. The car in the foreground is the 847cc 1932 MG J2 of Duncan Cotter, and behind it number 115 is the 747cc MG C-type Montlhery of Barry Foster. Oulton Park paddock looked a far more homely place then than it does now it's been covered with tarmac, though I suppose it's better for everyone now when it rains.