1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35

This is one of the cars that competed in the HGPCA Pre '52 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 of Paul Grist and has an 8-cylinder 3,822cc engine with twin overhead camshafts. It was built to challenge the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars but rarely managed to get the better of them. The Alfa Romeo 8C-35 was introduced when the Tipo B Monoposto – or P3 as it is more popularly known – became overdue for replacement.  The P3 had itself been derived from the Monza and had flown the Alfa flag with great success between 1932 and 1935. The 8C-35 never beat the German cars in a top level Grand Prix but did succeed in doing so in a number of smaller races, in the hands of Tazio Nuvolari.

1962 AEC Mercury Turntable Ladder

This is a photograph that I took at the Greater Manchester Transport Society’s Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It’s not listed in the programme of the event, but it took part in the rally in 1996 when the programme of the event had this note about it:

 

AEC Mercury, Merryweather, 1959                                                         VBA 187

Entered by    B.Longden, c/o Sylvan Brick Ltd, Trafford Park, Manchester.

This vehicle was new to Salford Fire Brigade in 1959. Retired 1983 and used by a Painting Contractor. Bought by us and renovated to present condition. Ladder 100 ft. Diesel Engine 15 mpg, 45 mph.

 

The DVLA record says that it was first registered in 1962 and has been untaxed since August 1998.

1961 Austin Healey 3000

I took this photograph at Druids Corner during qualifying for the Equipe Pre ’63 race at the Aston Martin Owners Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It’s a 1961 Austin Healey 3000 which has a 6-cylinder inline 2,912cc engine and was driven in the 40 minutes long race by Mike Thorne and Sarah Bennett-Baggs.

Ferrari California

This was one of a host of Ferraris at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's Ferrari California with a 4,297cc 32 valve V8 Ferrari F136 engine, and body designed by Pininfarina. The California was in production from 2008 to 2017.

1957 Vanwall 'Streamliner'

I took this photograph at the Donington Park museum in September 2014.

It's the 1957 Vanwall F1 car with the streamlined body that never actually raced. The Vanwall of 1956-58 was designed by Colin Chapman and the body by Frank Costin, and it used the Vanwall engine designed by Norton engineer Leo Kuzmicki which was basically an enlarged version of four single-cylinder 498cc Norton engines joined together. The streamlined body was taken to the high-speed Reims circuit (a triangular five-mile road circuit with just two sharp corners and a couple of long sweeping curves) in July of 1957 for the non-championship Reims Grand Prix for evaluation. Regular drivers Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks were unavailable and Roy Salvadori and Stuart Lewis-Evans were drafted in for the race. Both drivers tried the streamlined car in practice, but it proved no faster than the normal one, which both drivers preferred to use in the race.

M8 Light armoured car

This was one of the vehicles in a Military Camp Display at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2017.

It’s an M8 light armoured car, over 8½ thousand of which were produced by the Ford Motor Company during the Second World War.

Mercedes Benz Kompressor Club

Several members of Germany's Mercedes Benz Kompressor Club for vehicles produced between 1927 and 1934 attended the Coys International Historic Festival Meeting with their cars in July 1994 and took part in a demonstration run around the circuit. This is a photograph that I took at Luffield Corner during the demonstration run.

The programme of the event had this note about the Kompressor Club: