Austin 12 Clifton

This is a photograph that I took at a vintage car show and a run from Stockport to Matlock in July 1985 organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport.

There was no programme at this event, but it looks like an Austin 12 Clifton, a car that was produced from 1921 to 1939.

1939 Mercedes Benz W154

This is a photograph that I took at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

It's a 1939 Mercedes Benz W154 from the Mercedes Benz museum that had been taken to the event to complete a number of demonstration runs in the hands of Tony Dron – here seen getting out of the car after completing one of those runs.

 

The rules governing the running of the European Championship races for 1938 had been changed from a 750kg weight limit with no restriction on engine sizes to a maximum engine capacity of 4½ litres unsupercharged or 3 litres with a supercharger. The W154 was designed by Rudolf Uhlenhaut based on the chassis of the previous year's W125 and used the 2,962cc supercharged V12 M154 engine. Three of the four European Championship races that year were won by three Mercedes Benz drivers, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Richard Seaman and Rudolf Caracciola, with Tazio Nuvolari winning the final race in his Auto Union D-Type. For the 1939 season the engine was modified to use a two-stage supercharger and designated as an M163 - for this reason the 1939 car is sometimes erroneously referred to as a Mercedes Benz W163. The body was also given a sleeker, less bulbous look. Mercedes Benz again won three of the four European Championship races, Hermann Lang winning two and Rudolf Caracciola one. The other race was again won by an Auto Union D-Type, this time driven by Hermann Müller.

1931 MG C Type Montlhery

I took this photograph at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It's the 1931 MG C Type Montlhery of D.H.Cooksey which has a 747cc supercharged engine. The MG C Type was developed from a car designed for International speed record attempts and was based on the 847cc MG M Type with a supercharged engine reduced to 743cc to try to capture speed records in the under 750cc class H. In January 1931 Captain George Eyston succeeded in setting speed records for this class with several runs at the Montlhery race track in France at over 100mph and the subsequent production MG C-Type was given the tag 'Montlhery'.

1960 Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca

This car competed in the RAC Tourist Trophy Race for Historic Cars at the Silverstone Classic meeting at Silverstone in July 2010.

It’s the 1960 Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca of Liz Halliday and was based on the Alfa Romeo Guilietta with a body designed by Zagato. It had a 1,290cc 4-cylinder inline engine and only 30 examples of the car were built.

1926 Jowett

This is a photograph that I took before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club’s Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1980.

It’s a 1926 Jowett and the programme of the event had this note about the car:

 

72.     F. Barrett, Accrington, Lancs

            1926 Jowett, 2-cylinder, 6.9 h.p.

 Horizontally opposed twin cylinder engine, cone clutch, external brakes on rear wheels only. Restored in the late 1960s after standing in a field for over 12 years. The car was bought from a scrap yard in 1949 by a student for £15 and driven 5,000 miles through Europe and over the mountains of Norway and Sweden, almost to the Arctic Circle, returning with little trouble. Has been featured twice on BBC/TV. Today is the Jowett’s tenth Manchester/Blackpool run.

Willys Jeep

This is a photograph that I took in one of the car parking areas at the Vintage Sports car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1975.

It’s a Willys Jeep, and it was quite common to see these vehicles  at meetings, particularly when bad weather was expected, to help people get their cars out when they became bogged down.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a Ferrari F355 Berlinetta, one of 4,871 cars produced between 1994 and 1999. It has a 3,496cc V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts on each bank of cylinders and 5 valves per cylinder. The F355 replaced the Ferrari 348 and was itself replaced by the Ferrari 360. From 1997 the F355 became the first-ever road car to have the paddle operated F1 style gearbox transmission system.