2007 Maserati Gran Turismo

I photographed this car at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's a 2007 Maserati Gran Turismo, a car that was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March of that year. The Gran Turismo is still in production after several tweaks and improvements, and the original car has the 4,244cc Ferrari/Maserati F136 V8 engine with a 6-speed ZF automatic gearbox.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Shell Ferrari Historical Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1952 Ferrari 225 S of Olivier Cazalieres, chassis #192ET, which has a Gioachino Colombo 2,715cc V12 engine with a Carrozzeria Vignale body. There were 21 examples of the 225 S built, with a mix of Berlinetta and Spyder bodies and coachwork by both Vignale and Touring.

1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

This is one of the cars that I photographed at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1993 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 and is a replica of the pace car used at the 1993 Indianapolis 500 race. The standard fourth generation Camaro had a 204 cu in (3.4 litre) V6 engine, and in 1995 a 230 cu in (3.8 litre) V6 unit. The Z28 models should all have the 350 cu in (5.7 litre) Small Block LT1 V8 engine, though the DVLA record says that the engine capacity of this car is 3,800cc. The history of the car was detailed in a description in the windscreen of the vehicle which read as follows:

'The Indianapolis 500 auto race has used a pace car every year since 1911. The pace car is utilised for two primary purposes. At the start of the race, the pace car leads the assembled starting grid around the track for a predetermined number of unscored warm-up laps. Then if the officials deem appropriate, it releases the field at a purposeful speed to start the race. In addition, during yellow flag caution periods, the pace car enters the track and picks up the leader, bunching the field up at a reduced speed.

In 1993 the Chevrolet Camaro Z28 was selected as the official pace car for the Indianapolis 500. The starting pace car was driven by Jim Perkins and the caution pace car had Don Bailey behind the wheel.

After the Indy 500, Chevrolet released only 633 "Pace Car Editions" of the Camaro Z28, all were sold instantly. They featured "Indy 500" identification on a black and white body colour scheme with multicoloured pinstriping and white painted wheels.

After being built in Canada, and first sold in America, this Pace Car has travelled the globe, spending years with a collector in Japan. It has now found its way to the U.K. where it is owned, and being treated well, by an American car enthusiast.'

Connaught A-Type and ERA R12B

Here are two of David Wenman's cars which both took part in the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

The yellow car is a 1952 Connaught A Type which has a 1,960cc 4-cylinder inline engine based on the 1,767cc Lea Francis unit. It was chassis A4 and one of Connaught's works team cars in 1952, when it was usually driven by Dennis Poore, then in 1953 it went to the Écurie Belge team where the drivers were Johnny Claes and André Pilette. The blue car is the 1936 ERA R12B, named Hanuman II, with the 6-cylinder inline 1,488cc supercharged ERA engine. Before the Second World War this was one of Siamese Prince Chula's White Mouse Racing stable cars and was driven by his cousin Prince Bira. There's quite an involved story about this car and ERA R12C which you can read about in this history of all the ERA cars. David Wenman drove the Connaught in the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy race,and the ERA was driven by Tony Stephens.

1981 Brabham BT49C

This car took part in the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's the 1981 Brabham BT49C of Joaquin Folch, seen here at Redgate corner during a practice session. The Brabham BT49 was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine and was introduced towards the end of the 1979 racing season. In the 1980 season Nelson Picquet in his BT49 finished second to Alan Jones and his Williams FW07 in the Drivers World Championship, but won the following year's Championship in the car. The BT49 underwent various modifications over that period and Joaquin Folch's car is the BT49C, chassis #BT49/10, that was introduced in the 1981 season. Although it was used in practice at various World Championship races it never competed in any of those races, and its only major competitive outing was in the non-Championship South African Grand Prix in 1981 where Nelson Piquet finished in second place.

The car behind the Brabham is the 1979 Arrows A1 of Rowland Kinch.

1948 Alfa Romeo 158

This car was one of the competitors in the Magneti Marelli UK Race for Pre-1952 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1948 Alfa Romeo 158 of Carlos Monteverde and was driven in the race by Willie Green. The Alfa Romeo 158 was originally designed in 1938 to compete in the pre-war Voiturette class of racing and has a 1,479cc supercharged straight-8 engine. A note in the Silverstone programme said this:

'The final two seasons of pre-war voiturette racing were dominated by Alfa Romeo's Tipo 158, a scaled-down version of one of its GP designs. Whenever it ran it won, leaving the Maserati and ERA opposition to fight over the pickings. Alfa carried on in the 1940s where it had left off before the war, for the 'Alfetta', as it was known, now complied with the new Grand Prix regulations. It retired in one 1946 race, but from then on was unbeatable until, famously, an unblown 4.5 litre Ferrari dealt the death blow here at Silverstone in 1951.'

1912 Cadillac 30 Tourer

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1991 starting in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.

It's the 1912 Cadillac 30 Tourer of Roy Sherman of Billinge, and the only other information shown in the programme of the event is its registration number and that it's a 30hp car. The Cadillac 30 was introduced in 1909 and had a 226.2 cu in (or 3.7 litres) 4-cylinder inline engine. The engine size was increased to 255.4 cu in (4.2 litres) for 1910 and to 286.3 cu in (4.7 litres) for 1911 and 1912. The DVLA record says that the engine capacity is 4½ litres - and that the car hasn't been taxed since 2013.

On 7 April 2019 I showed a photograph of a 1911 Cadillac 30 Limousine that also competed in this 1991 event.