1976 March BMW 762

I took this photograph at Foulstons chicane during the European Formula 2 race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

Leading is Christian Fischer in his 2 litre 1976 March BMW 762 followed by Martin O'Connell's 1.6 litre 1969 Lotus 59/69.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a 1997 Ferrari F50 which has a 4,699cc V12 Ferrari Tipo F130B engine and a targa top. The F50 was introduced in 1995 to celebrate the company's 50th anniversary and 349 were produced between 1995 and 1997.

1958 Leyland PD2/30

This is one of the vehicles that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1990.

It's a 1958 Leyland Titan PD2/30 that was delivered new to Wigan Corporation in November 1958 with fleet number 115. It is chassis 581260 and has a 9.8 litre diesel engine with bodywork by Northern Counties. It remained in service with Wigan until 1971 and then became a driver training bus. It's not listed in the programme of the event, but when it took part in the Rally in 1996 there was this note in the programme:

Leyland PD2/30 Northern Counties Body, 1958                                              DJP 754

Entered by  S. Lord, Wardle, Rochdale, Lancs

Former Operator - Wigan. This 'Tin Front' Bus is housed in the Museum of Transport. The style of bus dates back to a BMMO design and later known as 'An Edinburgh Front'.

Bizzarrini 5300 GT

This was one of the competitors in the Masters 'Gentleman Drivers' GT and Sports Endurance Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's a 1965 Bizzarrini 5300 GT which has a 5,328cc V8 Chevrolet engine and was driven in the one hour long race by Roger Wills and Joe Twyman. Giotto Bizzarrini, who had previously worked with Alfa Romeo and Ferrari joined forces with Renzo Rivolta to develop the Iso Rivolta GT, the Iso Grifo, and the Iso Grifo A3L and A3C. Following a disagreement with Renzo Rivolta in 1964 Giotti Bizzarrini split with Iso forming his own company and continued producing the Iso Grifo A3C which was renamed the Bizzarrini 5300 GT.

1915 Swift

This is one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1978 and is pictured in Manchester before the start of the Run.

It's the 1915 Swift of Mr D J Casson - I can't find out much information about this car, but there is a Swift Club for the owners of Swift cars. A note in the programme of the event says this about the car:

'22 Mr. D.J. Casson, Slyne, Lancaster

1915 Swift 10  h.p.

This car was delivered to a wealthy landowner in Morayshire for his daughter's use. She used the car for only a year or so, financial troubles caught up with the family, and the car lay derelict until 1927 in an old stable adjoining the Mansion house. Purchased by the present owner in August 1977.'

1955 Maserati 300S

This was one of the competitors in the Bonhams  Drum Brake Sports Cars  Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1955 Maserati 300S of Rodney Smith, chassis #3060, and was driven in the race by Mark Gillies. The Maserati 300S has a 6-cylinder engine based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a lengthened stroke to bring the capacity up to 2,991cc. The car's first major race was the 1956 Sebring 12 Hour race where it was driven by Cesare Perdisa and Carlos Menditéguy, but Menditéguy crashed and overturned the car during the race. The car was then badly damaged when the trailer retrieving it was hit by a truck. The rebuild wasn't completed till 1957, but on its return to Sebring in 1959 the car was once again badly damaged in Edwin Lawrence's fatal accident during practice. It was rebuilt yet again with a fibreglass body, and later a 3.9 litre Chevrolet V8 engine was installed.  The car was fully restored to its current form in the early 1990s.

1956 HWM Jaguar

This car competed in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the 1956 HWM Jaguar of Stephen Curtis and is powered by a 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc Jaguar D-Type engine. Originally bought from HWM in 1956 by Phil Scragg who, as a Hillclimb specialist, preferred his cars to have cycle wing mudguards for use on the narrow British hills. He had many class victories in SPC 982 and won the sportscar Hillclimb championship with it in 1959.

1935 Alfa Romeo Bimotore

I took this photograph at the Donington Park Museum in March 1996.

It's a 1935 Alfa Romeo Bimotore, one of two cars that were built when the Alfa Romeo competition affairs were run by the Scuderia Ferrari team and it was an attempt to challenge the German Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars that were dominating the sport at that time. It has two engines, one at the front and one at the rear, and it was conceived by Enzo Ferrari and his development engineer Luigi Bazzi. The chassis was effectively a lengthened Alfa Romeo P3 chassis with an 8-cylinder inline engine at each end, those for one of the cars being 2,905cc and the other 3,165cc. The cars were first entered in the 1935 Tripoli Grand Prix, the 6.3 litre car being driven by Tazio Nuvolari and the 5.8 litre one by Louis Chiron. The cars proved to be fast, but the weight of the cars and the power of the engines took its toll on the tyres though Nuvolari managed to finish in fourth place behind 2 Mercedes Benz and an Auto Union despite having to make 13 stops for tyre changes. Louis Chiron drove a more conservative race making far less tyre changes and finished in fifth place. The project was abandoned before the end of that season and the larger engined car was dismantled, but the 5.8 litre car was sold to British driver Austin Dobson and it is that car that ended up in the Donington Museum. The photograph is rather spoilt by the Merryweather turntable ladder on the fire engine behind the Alfa. 

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the competitors in the GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It's a 2007 Ferrari F430 Challenge and was driven in the race by Tony Jones. The car has a 4,308cc V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder 2018 and here it’s seen during the race at the Knickerbrook chicane.

Cooper T51 and Jaguar D-Type

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994 featured a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio and there was a display of cars in the paddock in which he had competed in the 1950s. His nephew Juan Manuel Fangio II drove a Maserati 250F in track displays during the meeting and was joined by several other cars that had been displayed in the paddock beside those of Fangio. This is a photograph that I took at Luffield corner during one of the displays.

Neither of these cars competed in any of the races at this meeting and the leading car here is a 1959 Cooper T51, the car that took Jack Brabham to his first World Championship success in that year. Behind it is a 1955 Jaguar D-Type, one of the long-nose models that won the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, and this car is XKD606, a former Ecurie Ecosse car.

1996 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205

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

It's a 1996 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 with a 4-cylinder inline 1,998cc engine. 2500 of these cars were built for homologation purposes to allow Toyota to contest the World Rally Championship.

Lagonda Rapiers

These two cars competed in one of the races at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

They are both Lagonda Rapiers, the one on the left being the 1936 car of Piers Leigh and the one on the right the 1935 car of John Waterson. 470 of these cars were built by between 1934 and 1935 and a further 46 by Rapier Cars who took over the rights to make the Rapier after the Lagonda company failed in 1935. It was originally made with a 4-cylinder inline 1,104cc engine which was later reduced to 1,084cc to allow it to compete in the 1,100cc racing class. The programme of the event says that Piers Leigh's car had a 1,098cc engine and John Waterson's a capacity of 1,450cc.

1974 BRM P201

The 50th Anniversary of the BRM was marked at the Coys International  Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999 by a display of many of the cars and this was one of the cars in the display.

It's the 1974 BRM P201 which has a 2,998cc V12 BRM engine and competed in what was to be BRM team's last season in F1. It was driven that season mainly by Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo, Beltoise finishing in second place in the South African Grand Prix on the car's first appearance. That was the best result the car achieved and after a series of retirements and low-place finishes BRM called it a day. Louis Stanley soldiered on as the Stanley-BRM team for a couple more unsuccessful seasons after before finally closing the team down.

1976 Reliant Kitten Estate

This is a car that I came across a few weeks ago parked at the side of the Town Hall in Hyde.

It's a 1976 Reliant Kitten Estate, a car produced from 1975 to 1982 with Reliant's own light alloy 4 cylinder inline 848cc engine.

There's a Reliant Kitten Register for owners of all 4 wheel under 1 litre Reliant cars.

1925 Salmson Gran Sport

I took this photograph in one of the car parks at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's a 1925 Salmson Gran Sport with a 4-cylinder inline 1,098cc engine. The Gran Sport was produced at Salmson's Billancourt factory from 1924 to 1930. The DVLA record says that the car is currently taxed up to May 2025 and that its colour is blue.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Ferrari Racing Days event at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's the Ferrari 488 Challenge of James Weiland, and has a 3,902cc V8 turbocharged F154CB engine. This is what Ferrari say about the Challenge series of races:

 

'Over 1000 drivers have taken part in it, 100s of races have been disputed, while the overtaking, the thrills and the fun are incalculable. We are talking about the Ferrari Challenge, the most renowned single-marque championship, that has been bringing together dream cars and esteemed clients on the world’s most picturesque tracks since 1993. A competition for those who, not satisfied with just driving their Ferraris on the road, feel the urge to compete in top-level sprint races. The Ferrari Challenge is divided into three continental series: Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific series, which celebrated its inaugural season in 2011. A further English national series was added in 2019.Challenge races are always hard fought and battle-filled, allowing the driver to fully savour the excitement that only the track can give.'

1955 Bristol KSW6B

This is one of the buses that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1988.

It's a 1955 Bristol KSW6B bus originally operated by the Bristol Omnibus Company. The note about it in the programme of the event reads as follows:

 

UHY 360 BRISTOL KSW6B, EASTERN COACHWORKS. 1955. BRISTOL OMNIBUS CO.

Enteed by D.Wayman, Oldham, Lancashire. Operated in the City of Bristol until withdrawal in 1971 and now with its fifth owner since. Restoration continues.

Cooper Jaguar T38

I took this photograph at the entry to Lodge Corner during the twelve lap 1950's Sports Car Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies race meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993.

It's the 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc 1955 Cooper Jaguar T38 of John Pearson, chassis CJ-3-55, one of three cars built by Cooper for endurance sports car racing. One of the cars competed in the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour race, but retired after 4 hours with an oil leak.

1960 Lola Mk1

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's Stirling Moss in his 1960 Lola Mk1 which is chassis BR17. The Lola Mk1 was designed by Eric Broadley in 1958 and was powered by a 4-cylinder inline1,098cc Coventry Climax engine. Around 40 of the cars were built and a variety of engines used, this car having 1,220cc Coventry Climax engine.

1910 Humber Drophead 12/20

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1977 and is pictured in Manchester before the start of the Run.

It's a 1910 Humber Drophead 12/20 and the programme of the event had the following note about it:

'17. Doug Hacking Motor Cycles, Bolton

1910 Humber Drophead 12/20 4 cylinders.

This is reputed to be the only one of this model in existence.'

Apart from that note I can find no other information about the Humber Drophead 12/20.

1957 Maserati 250S

This is a photograph that I took at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's Robin Lodge's 1957 Maserati 250S which he drove in the Classic Car Invitation Race. The Prototype of the 250S sports cars of 1954-56 used the earlier sports A6GCS chassis fitted with a 6 cylinder 250F 2.5 litre engine giving 230 bhp instead of the 240-270 bhp of the Grand Prix 250F engines as it ran on petrol instead of alcohol. The developed 250S cars were converted from the left hand drive of the A6GCS to right hand drive and these, in turn, were developed into the 300S Maseratis by an increase in stroke, giving 245 bhp. There was a second coming of the 250S in the period 1957-1959, having a 196 bhp 4 cylinder engine in a shorter wheelbase chassis resulting in a lighter car. Only two cars were originally built with a 2½ litre engine, Robin Lodge's car (chassis #2432) and chassis #2431.