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Tuesday, 29 September 2026

1959 Lotus 16

This car competed in the Cheshire Building Society’s Allcomers Race at the  Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in Jun 1984.
It’s Bruce Halford’s 1959 Lotus 16 which has a 2,495cc straight-4 Coventry Climax FPF engine. Bruce Halford raced in Formula One from 1956 to 1960, firstly with a Maserati 250F, then a Lotus 16 in 1959 and with Cooper T45 and T51 in 1960. In the mid-1970s he bought this Lotus 16 and competed at Historic meetings himself for several years. The Lotus 16 was raced by Team Lotus, and private entrants, from 1958 to 1960 with little success in World Championship races. Colin Chapman had to wait until the Monaco Grand Prix of 1960 for his first Lotus victory, achieved by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's Lotus 18.

Monday, 28 September 2026

1973 BRM P160E

I took the photograph of this BRM 160E at the Donington Park Museum in October 1989.
BRM had introduced the P160 in 1971 and it had a relatively successful season, winning two Grands Prix and finishing in second place in the World Constructors' Championship. The car struggled the following season, however, and despite several updates couldn't match the Lotus 72 and when its successor the BRM P180 proved to be uncompetitive the P160 was updated yet again to produce the 160E. The P160E made its debut in the Spanish Grand Prix in April 1972, and despite Jean-Pierre Beltoise winning the Monaco Grand Prix BRM only finished in seventh place in the World Constructors' Championship. The team fared no better in 1973, again finishing in seventh place in the World Constructors' Championship with a solitary fourth place finish by Jean-PieBlogrre Beltoise being its best points-scoring finish. In 1974 Jean-Pierre Beltoise finished in fifth place in the first Grand Prix, in Argentina, but after the Brazilian Grand Prix he completed the season in the P201, though the team used the P160E in several more races that year. The Donington Museum's car was BRM P160/10 and when the museum closed it was bought by Australian John Gale who set about a comprehensive restoration of the car which he has detailed in a very informative Blog.

Sunday, 27 September 2026

1928 Chrysler Model 72 Roadster

This is a photograph that I took at the Lancashire Automobile Club’s Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1983.
It’s a 1928 Chrysler Model 72 Roadster and a note in the programme of the event reads as follows:
 
144   1928 Chrysler Roadster “72”  
           Reg: YV 6036, 6-Cylinder, 26 hp, 4096cc
           (Nigel F. Walker DSO, DFC, Oxford)
Making its Manchester to Blackpool debut, this impressive American import has standard external contracting brakes, and the powerful 4-litre seven-bearing six cylinder engine.

Saturday, 26 September 2026

1952 Connaught A-Type

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.
It's Gerry Walton's 1952 Connaught A-Type with a 1,960cc engine based on the Lea Francis 4-cylinder 1,767cc unit, and is chassis A8. Ten Connaught A-Types were built and A8 is one of only two that  featured a Hilborn-Travers fuel injection system instead of the Amal carburettors that were fitted to the other eight cars. It was mainly driven in period as a works car by John Coombes, Stirling Moss and Prince Bira. A later owner, Mike Young, sold the 2 litre engine and installed a 2½ litre HWM-Alta engine in 1955 to take part in Formula One racing and later took the car to South Africa. Phil Bowker subsequently bought the car and Gerry Walton sourced the Lotus 10 with the original engine which was reunited with A8. Gerry Walton acquired the car in the late 1960s and fully restored it to its 1953 state, competing with it until 1988.


Friday, 25 September 2026

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars I photographed at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.
It's a Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano which has a 5,999cc V12 F140B engine. It's named after Ferrari's Fiorano test track at Maranello and was produced from 2006 to 2012.

Thursday, 24 September 2026

1938 Guy Wolf

This is a photograph that I took in Heaton Park at the Greater Manchester Transport Society’s Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in September 1990.
It’s not listed in the programme of the event but it’s a 1938 Guy Wolf with Waveney bodywork, one of the Llandudno Marine Drive Tour buses owned by Llandudno UDC and mainly used for the 5 mile tour round the Great Orme.

Wednesday, 23 September 2026

1981 Reliant Scimitar GTE SE6B

I took this photograph at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.
It's a 1981 Reliant Scimitar GTE SE6B, and the main difference between the SE6A and the SE6B is that the 3 litre Ford Essex V6 engine in the earlier car was replaced by the 2.8 litre Ford Cologne V6.