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Sunday 31 December 2017

Auburn

I photographed this car at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.
It appears to be a mid-1930s Auburn 851 boat-tail Speedster, a car which was produced from 1935 to 1937 and had a 4.6 litre straight-6 Lycoming engine with a Schweitzer-Cummins supercharger.

Saturday 30 December 2017

Rainy Day at Oulton Park

I took this photograph of two Aston Martins in the paddock at Oulton Park on a very wet day at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting in September 1992.
On the right is Simon Draper's straight six 2,992cc 1954 Aston Martin DB3S, chassis #DB3S/7. Originally built with a coupe body but was rebuilt with an open body after an accident in the 1954 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The car on the left is a straight six 3,670cc 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, the first one built, and it's chassis #200R. On 23 January 2016 I showed a photograph of this car that I'd taken at Silverstone in 2010.

Friday 29 December 2017

Friday's Ferrari

The Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004 included a round of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge, and this is one of the cars that took part in that race.
It's David Franklin's 2,953cc V12 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB and is chassis #1917GT. It is pictured here in the pit lane during a practice session.

Thursday 28 December 2017

West Somerset Railway

We spent our summer holiday in 1998 at St Ives in Cornwall, travelling down by car on 31st July, staying overnight near Minehead, and completing the journey to St Ives on Saturday 1st August. Before leaving Minehead we visited the railway station which was (and still is) the terminus of the West Somerset Heritage Railway. Here are the photographs I took there that morning.
4160 is a 2-6-2 GWR 5101 Class (better known as Large Prairie) locomotive built in Swindon in September 1948. It is one of many locomotives that were eventually rescued from Dai Woodham's scrapyard in Barry, South Wales where lots of them ended up.

4920 is a 4-6-0 GWR Hall Class (also known as 4900 Class) locomotive named Dumbleton Hall built at Swindon in March 1929.
Dumbleton Hall is also one of the locomotives that was rescued from Dai Woodham's yard.

7820, named Dinmore Manor, is a 4-6-0 British Railways Manor Class locomotive, one of 10 that were built by British Railways at Swindon in 1950 to join the original 20 built by GWR in 1938 and 1939.

Wednesday 27 December 2017

Vanwall

This car took part in the Pre '61 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.
It's Vijay Mallya's 1958 Vanwall, chassis VW10, that was driven in the race by John Harper. A note in the programme of the event about some of the cars in that race said this about the Vanwall:

Vanwall
The London engineering company Vandervell Products tried longer and harder than others  to prove the contention of boss Tony Vandervell that British cars could take on the Italians - and beat them fair and square. It was a long, hard struggle, but by the end of 1957 Vanwall was the dominant force in grand prix racing, and the following year won the manufacturers' championship. The cars were all broken up when the team stopped racing - all except one car, which was kept for display purposes, and has returned to the winners' circle 37 years on.

I don't think the bit about the other cars being broken up is totally correct as I seem to remember from many years ago that the remaining cars were offered for sale, and certainly the Donington Callection has several examples of the Vanwall.

On 23 May 2017 I showed a photograph of Vijay Mallya's car at the 1993 Coys meeting at Silverstone.

Tuesday 26 December 2017

Jowett Jupiter R4

This is a photograph I took at an Oulton Park meeting in the late 1950s I think, as it's one I took with my old Kodak Brownie 127 camera. I don't know the year or the event, but it was a club meeting, probably the Mid-Cheshire Motor Racing Club or the Lancashire & Cheshire Car Club.
It's a 1953 Jowett Jupiter R4 sports car with the 1,486cc Jowett flat-four engine, one of apparently only 3 cars made.

Monday 25 December 2017

Mercedes Benz SSK

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.
It's a 1931 Mercedes Benz, and I've got it labelled as an SSK, but it didn't take part in the meeting and there's nothing in the programme about the car. I can find no other information about it, but if it is a Mercedes Benz SSK it should have a straight-6 supercharged 7.1 litre engine.

Correction (see comments below); It's a 1930 7.8 litre Mercedes Benz 38/250 SS Tourer

Sunday 24 December 2017

Audi R8

Another couple of photographs taken at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001 of the 2000 Audi R8 that I featured on 24 May 2016.
This is the car on display with the other Audi, Auto Union, NSU and DKW vehicles in the paddock at Donington Park.
Here the car's in one of the pit garages being prepared for a demonstration run.

Saturday 23 December 2017

Maserati 300S

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994 included a race for 1950s sports cars - the Classic Car Sports Car Race - and three examples of the Maserati 300S are listed for that race in the programme of the event. The 300S was produced by Maserati from 1955 to 1959 to contend the World Sportcar Championship and had a straight-6 engine based on the 250F Grand Prix car's 2½ litre unit, but with a longer stroke to bring the capacity up to 3 litres.
Car number 20 was entered by Richard Crump to be driven by Willie Green, and may be chassis #3054, a 1955 model.

Number 21 was Hartmut Ibing's car, probably chassis #3066, a 1956 car.

Number 22 was Burkhard von Schenk's entry, a 300SI model from 1959 and chassis #3082.

In addition to these three cars there was another 300S in the race, number 23, which according to the programme was supposed to be Thomas Bscher's Maserati Tipo 61 Birdcage.
He had evidently decided to drive his 300S instead, and this is a 1955 car, chassis #3053.


On 22 September 2016 and 31 October 2016 I featured other examples of the Maserati 300S.

Friday 22 December 2017

Friday's Ferrari

This car was parked near the start of the access path to Druids Corner at the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.
It's a 1998 Ferrari 550 Maranello, which has a 5,474cc V12 engine and was produced from 1996 to 2001.

Thursday 21 December 2017

Red Bull RB4

I photographed this car in the Donington Collection at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.
It's the Red Bull RB4 that was raced by the team in the hands of David Coulthard and Mark Webber in the 2008 season. The best finish achieved was the 3rd place by David Coulthard at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The RB4 was powered by the 2,400cc Renault RS27-2008 V8 engine and this car is chassis #RB4-4.

Wednesday 20 December 2017

Emirates A380

I was in Hyde Town centre on 28 November 2017 when the late morning Emirates flight from Dubai passed over just before landing at Manchester Airport.
It's due to land at 11:20am, but it passed overhead at 11:24 so would have landed at Manchester Airport about three minutes later.
It's an Airbus A380-861 and the registration mark is A6-EDL.

Tuesday 19 December 2017

Lotus 72

This car was present in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993, although there was no race at the meeting for which it was eligible.
It's a Lotus 72 in the Gold Leaf Team Lotus colours that were worn when the car made its debut at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1970. It was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine that won 12 out of 15 World Drivers' Championships between 1968 and 1982. Lotus relied on the 72 from 1970 till 1975 and it's probably more familiar in the black John Player livery that it wore from 1972 onwards.

On 3 January 2017 I showed photographs of John Foulston's Lotus 72 that I took at Oulton Park in 1987, and on 10 March 2013 I showed photographs of the car driven by Emerson Fittipaldi in the 1972 Gold Cup race at Oulton Park.

Monday 18 December 2017

Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C2

I photographed this car in the paddock at the HSCC Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1992.
It's a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C2, and the DVLA record says it has an engine capacity of 5,737cc. This equates to 350 cu in, but apparently all the 1963 Stingrays were originally made with 327 cu in engines. The plate on the front of the car says that this was competitor number 792 in the 1992 Norwich Union Classic Car Run which took place in May of that year.

Sunday 17 December 2017

MG C-type Montlhery

This car took part in two races, including the 2 hour long VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-war Sports Cars, at the VSCC's SeeRed and Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies race meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.
It's Oliver Richardson's 1931 MG C-type Montlhery, with a 4 cylinder in-line 746cc supercharged engine. The MG Owners' Club's model guide gives this information about the car.

Saturday 16 December 2017

Peter Collins

This is another of the photographs taken by my brother at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in July 1956.
It's the late Peter Collins, photographed in the paddock during the Friday practice day. Peter Collins drove one of the four Lancia Ferrari D50s in the race, the others being driven by Juan Fangio, Eugenio Castellotti and Alfonso de Portago. He qualified in fourth position on the grid, but had to retire his car on lap 64 of the 101 lap race, taking over Alfonso de Portago's car to finish in second place behind his team mate Juan Fangio.

Friday 15 December 2017

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the Ferraris on display at the Footman James Classic Car Show at EventCity Manchester in September 2017.
It's a 1987 Ferrari Testarossa, a car produced by Ferrari from 1984 to 1991 with revised versions, the 512TR and the F512M, produced in 1991 and 1994 respectively. The Testa Rossa has a flat-12 engine with a capacity of 4,943cc.

Thursday 14 December 2017

Talbot Lago T26C

The entry list for the 12 Lap Allcomers Scratch Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987 included three of the 1940s 4½ litre straight-6 Talbot Lago T26C cars, and I took photographs of all three.
The Talbot Lago T26C was produced from 1948 to 1950 and this is Richard Pilkington's 1950 model, chassis 100057, a car that could be used for Grand Prix racing but also due to its offset driving position, with motorcycle mudguards and rudimentary lighting equipment it could be used in Sports Car racing. One such car, driven by father and son Louis and Jean-Louis Rosier, won the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hour race. On 21 September 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at Donington Park in 2006.
This is Colin Crabbe's 1949 model, probably chassis 110008. The Grand Prix regulations for 1946 to 1949, and for 1950 and 1951 after the World Drivers' Championship was introduced, stipulated a maximum capacity of 4½ litres for unsupercharged engine and 1½ litres for those with superchargers.
This is Kerry Wilson's car, described in the programme of the event as a 1945 model - presumably a misprint as the T26C didn't make an appearance till 1948.
Kerry Wilson being pushed from the paddock to the pits prior to a practice session.
Kerry Wilson at Lodge Corner during the race.

Wednesday 13 December 2017

Buick 5 Tourer

This was one of the entries in the LAC's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1990, starting from the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.
It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it took part again the following year where it was described as a 1908 Buick 5 Tourer, and on 23 March 2017 I showed a photograph of it at the 1991 run. According to the DVLA record it has a 5,507cc engine.

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Lorraine Dietrich CR2

This car took part in The Edwardian Race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.
It's the 8,620cc 1905 Lorraine Dietrich CR2 of John Brydon, but there's no other information about the car in the programme of the event. There's a number 97 on the car bonnet, and a 199 attached to the front of the car which I presume is the number it was intended to have at this meeting, but it's actually numbered 114 in the programme.
On 1 July 2013 I showed a photograph that I took of this car at the 2006 Donington Park SeeRed meeting.

Monday 11 December 2017

Maserati 450S

This car was entered in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.
It's Thomas Bscher's 1957 Maserati 450S, and as with many Maseratis it's a bit of a conundrum. It's either chassis 4505 or 4506 and originally had a 4½ litre V8 engine. The barchetta.cc history of 4505 says that it was renumbered to 4506 in 1957 and sold to John Edgar in June of that year. In July 1958 John Edgar had a 6.3 litre Pontiac engine installed in the car, but about 12 months later this was replaced with a 5.7 litre Maserati V8 unit. In 1980 when in the ownership of Peter Kaus a 6.2 litre Maserati marine engine was fitted and the car was acquired by Thomas Bscher around 1990. The programme of this Silverstone meeting showed the engine capacity to be 5,600cc. On 28 July 2015 I showed 2 photographs of the car at the Coys meeting at Silverstone in 1993 where the engine capacity was again said to be 5,600cc.

Sunday 10 December 2017

Lister Costin

This car took part in the Pre '60 Historic Sports Cars Championship race at the HSCC Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.
It's shown in the programme of the event as Mike Freeman's 1959 Lister Jaguar Costin with a 3,870cc engine and is chassis BHL 133. The 1959 car was designed by Frank Costin to accommodate a Chevrolet Corvette engine, which most of them did, although a few of the cars used the same Jaguar engine as the earlier Lister 'Knobbly' cars. I've previously shown photographs of the Costin bodied Listers on 12 April 2016 and 21 February 2017.
Nice to see the old, largely grass-covered Oulton Park paddock.

Saturday 9 December 2017

Mercedes Benz W125

On 22 March 2015 and 2 May 2016 I showed photographs of the 1937 Mercedes Benz W125 that was taken from the Mercedes Benz museum to the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007. Here are some more photographs of the car I took that day, both in the paddock and during demonstration runs round the circuit driven by Tony Dron.


This photograph was taken at McLeans Corner

These two photographs were taken at Redgate

Friday 8 December 2017

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the cars at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.
It's a 2006 Ferrari 575 GTZ, one of only 6 cars that were built, none of them identical, as a result of a request by Japanese collector Yushiyuki Hayashi for a modern version of the Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta Zagato TdF of the 1950s. The cars were based on the Ferrari 575 Maranello and have the same 5,748cc V12 engine.

Thursday 7 December 2017

Jaguar E-type

This car was one of a group of Jaguars that paraded round the Oulton Park circuit during a break in the racing at the Jaguar Drivers' Club's Cheshire Cats Trophy Meeting in April 1987.
There's no information about the car in the programme of the event, but it appears to be a Jaguar E-type Lightweight replica.....
.....with Ecurie Ecosse badging.