1912 Belsize 10hp

I took this photograph on a visit to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry in April 1986.

It's a 1912 Belsize 10hp and was built by Belsize Motors Ltd of Clayton, Manchester. The Belsize Company started life in France under the name Marshall’s and took the name Belsize when they took over the Belsize works formerly used by the Manchester Bicycle Company.

1962 Lotus 24

This is a photograph that I took at Aintree on the Friday practice day for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.

It's Trevor Taylor's Lotus 24 which was powered by the same 1,496cc Coventry Climax FWMV engine as the Lotus 25, but had a conventional spaceframe chassis instead of the Lotus 25's monocoque chassis. The Lotus 25 was to be run by the Lotus team and the Lotus 24 was intended to be a customer car although Trevor Taylor drove the Lotus 24 in five of the nine World Drivers' Championship races that season. He qualified in tenth place on the grid at Aintree and finished in eighth place in the race, and his only points scoring finish that season was in the Dutch Grand Prix when he finished in second place.

1936 ERA R12B

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993.

It's a 1936 ERA which the programme of the events says was R12C and was to be driven by Tony Stephens, but it appears to be R12B - both cars at that time being owned by Bill Morris. The two cars have a strange history, R12B being a works car that was originally built in 1936 with a 2 litre engine as a B-type car, but in 1937 it was rebuilt to C-type specifications, thus becoming R12C, and given a 1½ litre engine. In 1938 it was sold to Prince Chula to become one of his White Mouse stable's trio of ERAs driven by Prince Bira, where it was given the name 'Hanuman'. In 1939 the car was badly damaged in a crash during practice at Reims and was rebuilt with a B-type frame, reverting to being R12B and the name changing to 'Hanuman II'. After passing through various hands after the Second World War it came to Bill Morris. Bill Morris had managed to acquire the rest of the wreckage left over from the 1939 crash and using the damaged chassis frame rebuilt the car to its 1939 C-type specifications by 1982. That car was now R12C, as if the 1939 accident had never happened, and was given the original car's name of 'Hanuman'. The obvious visual difference between the two cars is that R12B has a yellow chassis and R12C's is blue. (NB: I've now been told that in 1993 R12C did have a yellow chassis, so it is indeed R12C)

This is the car at what was then Foulstons chicane during the race.

1959 Porsche RSK

This car competed in the 'Classic Car' Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

This is Wessel von Loringhoven's 1959 Porsche 718 RSK, better known as just a Porsche RSK, which was a development of the Porsche 550A and because of the short wheelbase was named the RennSportKurz, or RSK. Some of the RSKs were converted to single-seat Formula 2 Porsche 718s, which in 1961 became Formula 1 cars - later superseded by the Porsche 804.

2008 Williams FW30

I took this photograph in the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.

It's a Williams FW30, introduced at the start of the 2008 F1 season and was a development of the previous year's FW29. Designed by Sam Michael, Ed Wood and Jon Tomlinson it was powered by a 2,400cc Toyota RVX-08 V8 engine. The team's drivers for 2008 were Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima and Rosberg had two podium finishes, third in the Australian Grand Prix and second in Singapore to finish in thirteenth place in the World Drivers' Championship. Nakajima had five minor points-scoring finishes, his best being sixth in the Australian Grand Prix and was fifteenth in the Championship. Williams finished in eighth place in the World Constructors' Championship.

1962 Triumph TR4

This car is at Lodge Corner during the Cox & Buckles TR Championship race at The Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1962 Triumph TR4 of Peter Cox which the programme of the event says has a 2.4 litre engine - the production TR4 had a 2,138cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997 featured a Ferrari display in the paddock which included the car pictured below.

It's a 1962 Ferrari 196 SP produced in 1962 to take part in sports car racing in the 2 litre class. According to the board in front of the car it is the one in which Lorenzo Bandini and Giancarlo Baghetti finished second in the 1962 Targa Florio  race and was second in its class in the Govenor's Trophy race the same year driven by American John "Buck" Fulp. It is also the car in which Ludovico Scarfiotti won the Sports Car category of the European Hill Climb Championship in 1962. Three further Ferrari 196 SPs were created from larger-engined 246 SP, 268 SP and 248 SP models. The car originally built as a 196 SP is chassis #0804.

1927 Austin Clifton Tourer

This was one of the entrants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car run in June 1990.

It's a 1927 Austin Clifton Tourer entered by William West of Blackpool and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,861cc engine. The programme of the event has this note about the car, which is pictured in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the Run:

1927 Austin Clifton Tourer

Reg:  RU 6395  4 Cylinder  12 hp

(William West, Blackpool)

The Heavy Twelve was a popular car of the 1920s, and the open Clifton 4-seater tourer is extremely reliable, with a 50 mph top speed. Its seemingly unbreakable engine is attached to an infamous slow gate-change gearbox.

1956 Jaguar D-Type

This car competed in the HGPCA's Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1956 Jaguar D-Type of Andrew Baber with a 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc engine and is being driven by Timo Makinen. The chassis number is XKD530 which is a car that was originally supplied to Kurt Lincoln of Helsinki and was raced at that time by Timo Makinen amongst others. After being campaigned in Finland for several years, including participation in ice racing, the car came into the hands of Nigel Moores in the mid-1960s. It required a complete rebuild, and at that time different parts of the car were used to create two D-Types, both bearing the XKD530 identification. This car has the registration number XSV 979, and the other car is PAS 645. By 2002 both cars had been acquired by Gary Bartlett who had them completely dismantled and all the original parts that could be proved to have been part of the original XKD530 were incorporated into one car with the registration number XSV 979. The remaining parts were built into the replica car PAS 645.

1913 Theophile Schneider

This was one of the competitors in the 4 lap handicap race for Edwardian Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

It's the 1913 Theophile Schneider of Roger Firth, and has a 4-cylinder inline 5,504cc engine. A note about the car in the programme of the event says:

'The 5.5 litre Theophile Schneider of Roger Firth was built up by John Rowley and is of the type which ran in the 1913 French Grand Prix at Amiens with an L-head side-valve engine.'

1953 Cooper Bristol MkII

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine Grand Prix Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's Geoffrey O'Connell's 1953 Cooper Bristol MkII which has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971 Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol MkI (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the MkI, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

1944 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX MK356

This aircraft was part of the air display on the Sunday of the weekend long Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's a 1944 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, and I've found this history of the aircraft:

MK356  -              Mk.IX     Battle of Britain Memorial Flight,

RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, UK.

Built at Castle Bromwich and delivered to 9 MU Cosford on February 4th 1944. Allotted to 443 (Canadian) Sqn on March 11th 1943 it carried the code 21-V. Used extensively on operations leading up to D-Day it was assigned to 83 Group Support Unit on August 8th 1944. Then conversion to an instructional airframe at No 1 School of Technical Training at RAF Halton in October 1945 with serial 5690M. In 1951 it was transferred to RAF Hawkinge for gate display duties carrying the serial M5690. After some restoration work at 71 MU RAF Bicester in 1961 it was erected on a pole at RAF Locking for some years before allocation to the 'Battle of Britain' film unit at RAF Henlow in October 1967. Carrying the spurious serials and codes N3328/AI-R & N3317/BO it was filmed at North Weald and Duxford.Temporarily stored at RAF Henlow after the film on August 8th 1969 it joined the RAF Museum Reserve Collection based at RAF St Athan. Over an 8 year period it was restored to flight on November 7th 1997. Joined the BBMF on November 14th 1997. Shortly to be temporarily based at RAF Barkston Heath, Lincs. while the runways at RAF Coningsby are renovated. The aircraft is presented as a clipped wing LF Mk IX and carries the only markings it ever wore operationally as 21-V of 443 Squadron RCAF. MK356 was flown in to Duxford in October 2007 for 6 months maintenance to be carried out by the Aircraft Restoration Company and will include a repaint, replacement of the MK500 Merlin engine with a M266 Merlin engine to return the aircraft to build standard, and a respar of the wings will be necessary (Major maintenance of the BBMF fighters will be carried out by the Aircraft Restoration Company (ARCo) based at Duxford near Cambridge, for the next 5 years with an option to extend to 7 years). The new paint scheme will depict a 601 Squadron aircraft based in the Italian theatre in 1943. Presented as UF-Q, MJ250 of No 601 ( County of London ) Squadron the aircraft of Flight Lieutenant Desmond Ibbotson DFC. She is now in a silver paint scheme used during late 1944 when the Squadron carried out fighter bomber missions over the Balkans from bases in Southern Italy.

1969 Lotus 61

This car competed in the HSCC Historic Formula Ford race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1992.

It's the 1969 Lotus 61 of Richard Winter and has a 1,599cc 4-cylinder inline Ford Kent engine that was originally developed for the 1959 Ford Anglia, and styling reminiscent of the Lotus 56 which contested the 1968 Indianapolis 500 race.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Italy v Rest of the World Race for 1960s World Endurance Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's listed in the programme of the event as David Piper's green 1967 Ferrari 330P4, but it appears to be a 1964 Ferrari 330P, though I can't identify the exact car - it's possibly #0824 and should have the Gioacchino Colombo designed 3,967cc V12 engine. The green car behind is David Piper's 1964 Ferrari 275LM #8165 with a 3,286cc V12 engine.

1939 Austin K3 YB

This vehicle took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1939 Austin K3 YB and though it's not shown in the programme of the event it was there the following year when the only information shown in the programme of the event was that it was entered by A.N.Lawton of Birch Vale, Stockport. The K3 had a capacity of 3 tons and a 6-cylinder 3462cc petrol engine, and many of them were used by the British Forces in WWII. I remember that they were a common sight on the streets in the late 1940s and early 1950s..

1934 MG KN Special

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It's the 1934 MG KN Special of J.A.Summers and was driven in the race by A.P.M.Watney. The MG KN Magnette  was produced from 1933 to 1934 and has the MG K1 chassis with an MG N-Type 6-cylinder inline 1,271cc engine.

1995 Benetton B195

50 years of the World Drivers' Championship were celebrated at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 with a display of cars covering each of those five decades. This is one of the cars representing the 1990s.

It's a 1995 Benetton B195 designed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn and was powered by the 3,000cc V10 Renault RS7 engine. It was driven by Michael Schumacher and Johnny Herbert that season, Schumacher winning nine of the seventeen races and the World Drivers' Championship, Herbert winning two of the races and finishing in fourth place in the Championship. Benetton won the World Constructors' Championship.

1980 Brabham BT49

I took this photograph on a visit to the Donington Park Museum in May 1989.

It's a 1980 Brabham BT49 that was designed by Gordon Murray for the 1979 F1 season and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Nelson Piquet was the team leader in the 1980 season and finished second in the World Drivers' Championship, winning three of the races. Ricardo Zunino drove the second Brabham for the first half of the season, but scored no Championship points, and Héctor Rebaque took over for the second half of the season winning one point. Brabham finished in third place in the World Constructors' Championship.

1970 Chevron B17C

This car took part in the HSCC Pre '71 Single Seater Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.

It's the 1970 Chevron B17C of Stephen Davis and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,598cc Ford Cosworth FVA engine. This was a Formula 2 car that Reine Wisell drove for Chevron in the 1970 season and is chassis F2-70-1. After several subsequent owners it was acquired by Stephen Davis in 1985. A second Chevron B17C, F2-70-2, was built with a 1,790cc Ford Cosworth engine for Formula Libre racing and bought by Steve Thompson who competed with it in the 1970 season.

TVR

I usually buy my morning paper from a Shell filling station close to where I live in Hyde, and this summer on several occasions at weekends I've seen one or two TVRs filling up when I get my paper at about 7am. It seems that it's members of the local TVR Owners Club on their way to their weekend meeting. On the morning of the Monday Bank Holiday, 30th August, I found five TVRs there, on their way to the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park. Here are photographs of those cars, which I hope I have identified correctly.

1987 TVR 390SE with a 3,905cc Rover V8 engine

1997 TVR Chimaera with a 3,950cc Rover V8 engine

1973 TVR 3000M with a 2,994cc Ford Essex V8 engine

2000 TVR Chimaera with a 4,546cc Rover V8 engine

1997 TVR Chimaera with a 4,546cc Rover V8 engine

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars that was at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a Ferrari 458 Italia which has a 4,497cc V8 Ferrari F136 F engine. It was produced between 2010 and 2015 replacing the Ferrari F430, and was itself eventually replaced by the Ferrari 488.

1937 Riley Sprite

This is one of the cars on display at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1937 Riley Sprite, and the information sheet on the car reads as follows:

1937 RILEY SPRITE

Only 55 made between 1935 and 1938.

CRW910 was registered by Rileys April 1937 and used

as their publicity car, (still have the original tax disc). In

September 1937 the car was the subject of an

Autocar road test.

In 1939 the car and 2 other Sprites entered and won

the team prize in the International Paris/Nice trial,

CRW910 putting up the best times in the hill climb

and speed trials. Dad bought the car in 1946 and it's

been in the family since. Repainted over the years 6

times but is now in its original livery.

Engine 1.5 litre 4 cylinder, Overhead valves.

Preselector gearbox.

Car is 90% original.

MG Midgets

I took this photograph at Foulstons chicane during the MG Cockshoot Cup Championship Race at the Jaguar Drivers' Club's Cheshire Cats Trophy Meeting at Oulton Park in April 1987.

Chris Wright is leading Darrell Atherton and both are driving MG Midgets. The MG Midget was produced from 1961 to 1980 and according to the programme of the event both cars have the 1,250cc engine that was introduced in the MkIII in 1966. This doesn't necessarily mean that one or both of the cars are MkIII models as the 1,098cc engine of an earlier car could have been replaced by this larger engine, and the programme doesn't show the years of the competing cars.

1955 Cousy 500cc

This car took part in the Short Scratch Race for Formula 3 (500) Racing Cars at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

The leading car is the 1955 Cousy No.2 of John Jones, the second of two cars built by Frenchman Georges Cousy with a flat opposed twin two-stroke engine of his own design. Behind him is the yellow 1952 Kieft CK52 of Rodney Delves. There's a thriving 500 Owners Association with details of lots of the cars that have competed in 500cc racing since it started in 1946.

North American P-51 Mustang

When I went to the Coys International Historic Festival meetings in the 1990s Robs Lamplough was usually in attendance with one or more of his collection of historic cars, and he usually turned up in one of the historic aircraft that he also collected. Once or twice I remember that it was a WW2 Supermarine Spitfire, but in 1999 he came in aircraft pictured below.

It's a North American P-51 Mustang, registered as G-BIXL. This aircraft, 44-72216, was delivered in January 1945 to the 352nd Fighter Group then based in Bodney, Norfolk, and was assigned to Captain Ray Littge who named it 'Miss Helen' after his fiancé Helen Fischer. The 352nd were redeployed to Belgium and then back to Bodney, and after Ray Littge returned to the USA the Mustang was reassigned to Captain Russell Ross. At the end of the war 'Miss Helen' was flown to Germany with other surplus Mustangs, and it was bought by the Swedish Air Force in 1948. When the Swedish Air Force had no further use for the aircraft it was sold to the Israeli Air Force, and in 1978 it was discovered in a kibbutz at Ein Gedi by Robs Lamplough. He bought this and several other aircraft and shipped them to Duxford where this was the aircraft that was chosen to be restored for his own use. It was only when restoration was under way that its historical significance was realised. In 1989 it was one of the aircraft used in the film 'Memphis Belle' where it was painted in the livery show above which Robs Lamplough kept until 2000 when it was repainted in its 352nd Fighter Group colours.

1960 Aston Martin DB4

This was one of the competitors in the Post-War Aston Martin Allcomers Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1986.

It's the 1960 Aston Martin DB4 of Alistair Sinclair, one of 1,185 that were produced between 1958 and 1963, together with 19 of the DB4GT Zagato models. The body of the DB4 was designed by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan and it had the 6-cylinder inline 3,670cc engine created by Tadek Marek, although Alistair Sinclair's car has the enlarged 3,995cc version that was introduced with the Aston Martin DB5 in 1963.

Carlos Menditéguy

This slightly blurred photograph shows Argentinian racing driver Carlos Menditéguy in the paddock at Aintree on practice day for the British Grand Prix in July 1957.

Carlos Menditéguy drove a Maserati 250F for the Maserati team in this race and qualified in ninth place on the grid, but retired after 35 laps. He took part in 10 Formula 1 World Championship races between 1953 and 1960, but five of these were in the Argentinian Grand Prix and his best result in those 10 races was third place in the 1957 Argentinian Grand Prix.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998 celebrated the 50th anniversary of racing at the Silverstone circuit with a display of cars representing each of the years from 1948 to 1997. This car (although a 1957 car) represented the year 1958.

It's a 1957 Ferrari 500TRC, a revised version of the previous year's 500TR to comply with Annex C of the new regulations introduced for 1957. The 1,985cc 4-cylinder inline engine was designed by Aurelio Lampredi and the body was fashioned by Carrozzeria Scaglietti, and the 500TRC was never used by the Ferrari works team, being solely raced by private entrants. This particular car is #0686MDTR and was originally owned by Austrian Gotfrid Köchert who in 1957 competed with it in the Mille Miglia, the Nürburgring 1000km race and the Le Mans 24 Hour race. After spending a couple of years in Cuba it went to the USA until it came to the UK in the late 1980s and was acquired in 1996 by Mody Enav who was the owner when it appeared at this Silverstone meeting.

1960 Cooper T53

This car competed in the HSCC Pre '65 Historic Grand Prix Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1986.

It's shown in the programme of the event as John Harper's 1960 Cooper F1 car with a 2,496cc engine. The car was built by John Harper in the early 1980s from remains said to have been Arthur Owen's British Hillclimb Championship winning Cooper T53, and it may be chassis F2-5-60, the car that Bruce McLaren drove in the 1960 Formula 2 season.

Vintage Seaman Race 2008

I took this photograph at Redgate corner during the Vintage Seaman Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

The car leading here is the 1929 Frazer Nash Super Sports of Charles Gillett and on the right is the 1926 GN Parker of Justin Maeers. That car is obscuring the one behind, but following them is the 1930 AC/GN Special of Robert Carr and bringing up the rear on the left is the blue 1926/18 Franziss Special of Roger Sweet.