Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took  during the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association's meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's Alexander Boswell's in his 1952/55 Ferrari 625, originally a Ferrari 500, chassis #0482, built as a 4-cylinder 2 litre Formula 2 car and used in World Championship races in 1952 and 1953 when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. The new Formula 1 regulations specifying a 2½ litre engine came into force in 1954 and this car was given a 2½ litre unit to convert it to a Ferrari 625. It later had a 4-cylinder 3-litre Ferrari 735 engine installed and was raced in Australia by Peter Whitehead.

1904 Renault VB

This is a photograph that I took on Quay Street in Manchester at the Lancashire  Automobile Club’s Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run on a very rainy day in June 1967.

It’s the AA’s 1904 Renault VB with Park Phaeton coachwork, and the programme of the event had this note about the car:

 

14.      Automobile Association, London.

             (Driver – Mr. W. G. Thompson).

             1904 Renault 4398c.c.

The AA are entering, for the first time, their 1904 Renault which they acquired just over a year ago. Its previous owner, Mr. Paul Waring, was a well-known collector of Veteran Cars and the car is being preserved in his memory and as a representative of the Motoring Age in which the AA was founded. The brass plaque on the car tells, in brief, the history :- The Paul Waring Renault. This 1904 Park Phaeton 20/0 h.p. Renault was owned by Mr. Paul Waring, who painstakingly restored it in every detail prior to his tragic death in 1964. In his memory it is being preserved for posterity, and the delight of the motoring public of every age, by the Automobile Association. The Renault, which has now been given the registration number AA1, is a magnificent vehicle, being both impressive and graceful. It seats seven comfortably, and is powered by a four-cylinder 4½ litre engine (100 x 140 mm.) rated at 24.8 h.p. It has a three-speed quadrant-change gearbox behind the cone clutch, and the final drive is by a central propellor shaft to a “live” back axle. Its maximum speed is about 50 m.p.h. and it does 20 miles to the gallon. Known as a “Park Phaeton” model the coachwork was specially built by Rothschild et Cie of Paris and won a gold medal at the Paris Salon in December 1904. It was originally bought by Elizabeth, Lady Cheylesmore, who used it as a town carriage. She was at one time Lady-in-Waiting to the late Queen Mary who is said to have ridden in the car on numerous occasions. On the occasion of the fiftieth Paris Motor Show, the Renault led the procession with General de Gaulle as a passenger down the Champs Elysées. It also featured prominently in the film, “Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines” and has successfully completed the London to Brighton run on at least sixteen occasions.

 

Behind the Renault is a 1904 Siddeley, about which the programme says:

 

16.      Mr. G. A. Estler, Whiteleaf, Bucks,

             1904 Siddeley two-seater.

Car delivered to King & sons of Bournemouth in November 1904. Then the colour was Navy blue, lined yellow. Purchased by my uncle from R. G. J. Nash in 1934 and in use by the family ever since. Has competed in many Brighton Runs and finished thirteen times. The engine is horizontal and  the drive by a largr single chain. The car was manufactured by the Wolseley Company and is identical to a contemporary Wolseley apart from the bonnet and radiator. Three similar cars are known to the Veteran Car Car Club.

1950 Alfa Romeo 158

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

It's not shown in the entry list for that race, but it's Carlo Vögele's 1939 Alfa Romeo 158. At around that time I went to a meeting at Donington Park where this car appeared and a note in the programme of that meeting said this about the car:

'The 158 Alfetta, a voiturette, of Carlo Vögele with its Columbo designed straight-eight engine first appeared in 1938 at the Coppa Ciano where the three cars entered and came first, second and seventh. With only a single stage supercharger, the engine was said to develop 195bhp at 7500rpm. A Formula One Grand Prix car from 1948, in its final form in 1951 the engine had two-stage supercharging, developed something like 400bhp plus after the superchargers had taken some 135bhp, and did 1.6mpg, according to David Hodges. This car had independent suspension all round with trailing links at the front.'

1954 Maserati 250F

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 indistinguishable from a 1950s Maserati 250F, but it's one of 12 replicas built by Cameron Millar and this one has the chassis number CM8. Cameron Millar acquired a genuine Maserati 250F in 1964 (originally 2501, later renumbered 2523) which he kept and raced for 8 years. In this time he purchased all the remaining cars and spare parts belonging to the Scuderia Centro Sud who had competed with the 250F in the 1950s, and also the chassis jigs from the Maserati factory. He then set about creating this series of replicas, using as far as possible genuine period parts, which are so well crafted that the FIA has allowed them to race alongside the genuine Maserati 250F and its contemporaries in competitive historic racing event. It was driven in the Historic Car Championship Race at this meeting by the owner Robin Lodge.

1962 Lotus 24

This is a photograph that I took at Aintree on practice day for the British Grand Prix in July 1962. It was actually a colour slide that had deteriorated, but I’ve managed to restore it to a recognisable picture.

It's the UDT Laystall Racing Team's 1962 Lotus 24 which was driven in the race by Innes Ireland. The Lotus 24 was a spaceframe car offered to customers instead of the monocoque Lotus 25 used by the Lotus works team, and was powered by the Coventry Climax FWMV 1,496cc V8 engine. Innes Ireland qualified the car in third position on the grid, but because of some wear in the gearbox it was rebuilt overnight by the mechanics. During the warming-up lap before the race one of the selector forks in the gearbox broke and the mechanics quickly removed the top to remove the broken parts before the start leaving Innes Ireland with no second or third gear. When the flag fell he couldn't find any gear and sat on the grid as all the other cars dodged round him and went on their way. The car was then wheeled to the pits and the mechanics spent several laps getting the gearbox to work, Innes Ireland starting the race on lap 10 with only 1st, 4th and 5th gears but he soldiered round to finish in 16th and last place 14 laps behind the winner, Jim Clark.

1932 Austin 10

I took this photograph at a classic car show organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport in July 1987.

It’s a 1932 Austin 10 and should have a 4-cylinder inline 1,125cc engine, though the DVLA record says 1,141cc. It was introduced in 1932 and production lasted, with upgrades, until 1947.

1959 Lola FJ

This is a photograph that I took at Lodge Corner during the Lenham Storage Formula Junior Championship race at the HSCC Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.

It’s David Grant in his 1959 Lola FJ which has a 4-cylinder inline Ford Kent 1,098cc engine. Formula Junior was introduced in 1959 as a class of racing where younger drivers could be introduced to single-seater racing. It ended when Formula 2 and Formula 3 were re-introduced to the racing scene for the 1964 season. Formula Junior has continued to be featured at historic racing events.