Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at Club Corner during the Corse Clienti Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's the Ferrari 488 Challenge of Dutch driver Fons Scheltema, a car which has a 670hp 3,902cc V8 turbocharged engine developed from that of the Ferrari 488 GTB.

1936 ERA R12B

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1972.

It's the 1936 ERA R12B of Bill Morris and David Kergon which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 1,488cc engine and was driven in the race by David Kergon.  Bill Morris owned two ERAs, R12B and R12C and the two cars have a strange history, R12B being a works car that was originally built in 1936 with a 2 litre engine as a B-type car, but in 1937 it was rebuilt to C-type specifications, thus becoming R12C, and given a 1½ litre engine. In 1938 it was sold to Prince Chula to become one of his White Mouse stable's trio of ERAs driven by Prince Bira, where it was given the name 'Hanuman'. In 1939 the car was badly damaged in a crash during practice at Reims and was rebuilt with a B-type frame, reverting to being R12B and the name changing to 'Hanuman II'. After passing through various hands after the Second World War it came to Bill Morris. Bill Morris had managed to acquire the rest of the wreckage left over from the 1939 crash and using the damaged chassis frame rebuilt the car to its 1939 C-type specifications by 1982. That car was now R12C, as if the 1939 accident had never happened, and was given the original car's name of 'Hanuman'.

1958 Bedford SB3 Duple C41F

This is one of the vehicles that turned up at a small motoring meet at the top of Werneth Low in Hyde in July 1991.

It’s a 1958 Bedford SB3 Duple C41F, chassis No 60893 which was new to Robinson of Great Harwood in April 1958. In 1991 it was owned by Ray Butcher of Bee-Style coaches, East Didsbury, Manchester.

1976 March 761

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010, and it's a car that competed in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1955-1985 race.

It's Mark Higson's 1976 March 761, a car that was designed by Robin Herd and powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. It competed in the 1976 and 1977 seasons, but the only notable result was Ronnie Peterson's victory in the 1976 Italian Grand Prix. Any drivers following this car must have been comforted by the message on the rear spoiler.

 

1947 Leyland Octopus

This was one of the vehicles entered in the Greater Manchester Transport Society’s Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park in September 1988.

It’s a 1947 Leyland Octopus, and the programme of the event had this note about it:

 

LTN 265 LEYLAND OCTOPUS FLAT. 1947. Entered by B. Brash, Stoke-on-Trent. New to C.W.S. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, passing to a showman and to scrap before restoration by the present owner.

1952 Cooper Bristol Mk1

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1965.

It's the 1952 Cooper Bristol Mk1 of John Brown which has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971 Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol Mk1 (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the Mk1, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

1953/4 Maserati A6GCM

This is a photograph that I took at McLeans Corner during the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's David Bennett's 1953/4  Maserati A6GCM. The car is finished in the Siamese colours of Prince Bira who competed in a Maserati A6GCM in the 1954 season. This is a car that that started off life in 1953 as a Maserati A6GCM, chassis number 2044 with a 6-cylinder inline 1,979cc engine, but was converted to a 250F in 1954 with a 6-cylinder inline 2,493cc engine and given the chassis number 2504. Later that year after an accident the chassis 2504 was switched with that of 2509.  Though it's shown in the programme of the event as a Maserati A6GCM it also says that it had a 2,493cc engine, so I suppose it should really have been called a 250F.