Friday's Ferrari

This is another car seen in the Ferrari Owners Club area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 2001.

It's a Ferrari 196SP produced in 1962 to take part in sports car racing in the 2 litre class and you can read about it here.

Racing Drivers

During race weekend current-day racing drivers are cocooned from the ordinary spectators, but this was not always the case. In the 1950s and 60s the spectators could gain access to the paddock and get close up to  the competing cars and drivers. The following photographs were taken at the Friday practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

1961 World Champion Phil Hill who retired his Ferrari 156 Dino on lap 47 of the 75 lap race

1962 World Champion Graham Hill who finished 4th in his BRM P57

Bruce McLaren (left) and Jackie Lewis (right), team mates for Cooper driving the Cooper-Climax T60.

McLaren finished in 3rd place and Jackie Lewis in 10th.

Masten Gregory who finished 7th in the UDT Laystall Lotus-Climax 24

1960s Sports Prototypes

At the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004 one of the races was for the 'European Sports Prototype Trophy Organised by Group4Racing'. This table in the programme showed the cars which were eligible for this race series:

Here are a couple of the cars shown in the pit lane during the Saturday morning practice session for this race:

This is the 1968 Ford F3L DFV entered and driven by Jonathan Baker. You can read about the Ford F3L (or P68) in this Wikipedia article.

This is the 1969 Lola-Chevrolet T70 Mk3B of Nigel Hulme and you can read about the T70 here.

Here are both cars at Luffield Corner during the afternoon's race being followed by the Lola-Chevrolet T70 Mk3 of Frank Sytner.

Friday's Ferrari

Today's car is one I've photographed twice in the Ferrari Owners Club area at Coys International Historic Festival meetings. It's a 1954 Ferrari 250 Europa GT and you can read about that model here.

This is at the 1997 meeting in July of that year

This is the same car in July 2000 and its serial number is 0375GT

Speedway: Belle Vue Aces v Wimbledon (5 July 1975)

Another Gulf Oil British League speedway meeting at Belle Vue and now I had my telephoto lens.

Heat 1: Soren Sjosten (red), Paul Tyrer (blue) & Barry Briggs (white)

Heat 1: Barry Briggs

Heat 2: Reg Luckhurst (yellow/black), Graham Banks (white), Russ Hodgson (blue) & Geoff Pusey (red)

Heat 3: Ed Stangeland (white), Chris Morton (red) & Roger Johns (yellow/black)

Heat 4: Peter Collins (red), Tommy Jansson (white) & Geoff Pusey (blue)

Heat 5: Ed Stangeland (yellow/black), Chris Morton (red) & Alan Wilkinson (blue)

Heat 6: Soren Sjosten 

Match Result: Belle Vue Aces 53 Wimbledon 25

Edwardian Cars

This is another Edwardian car from the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006. It isn't listed in the programme of the meeting, but I've found that it's a 1913 Vauxhall fitted with an 11 litre 1918 Wolseley Viper engine and it's known as a Vauxhall Viper Special.

Friday's Ferrari

The display in the Paddock Suite at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006 included this Ferrari F2005.

The F2005 was driven by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in the 2005 season, Schumacher finishing third in the Championship and Barrichello eighth. The Championship was won by Fernando Alonso driving a Renault R25.

The red car behind the F2005 in these photographs is the Ferrari 500 with which Alberto Ascari won the 1952 and 1953 World Championships and is part of the Donington Collection of racing cars. Have a look at this excellent photographic review of the Donington Collection by Mark Haggan and go along to the museum if you get the chance.

Speedway: Belle Vue Aces v Oxford (28 June 1975)

This is one of my early photographic attempts at Belle Vue speedway stadium and before I got a telephoto lens for my camera.

Soren Sjosten on his way to the start line for heat 1

Heat 1: Soren Sjosten (red), Paul Tyrer (blue), Richard Greer (white) & John Dews (yellow/black)

Heat 3: Chris Morton (red), Alan Wilkinson (blue) & Eddie Davison (yellow/black)

Heat 4: Gordon Kennett (yellow/black) & Dag Lovaas (white)

Match Result: Belle Vue Aces 42 Oxford 36

Edwardian Cars

The Veteran Car Club of Great Britain and the Vintage Sports Car Club state that the dates for which cars are eligible to be defined as Veteran, Edwardian or Vintage are as follows:

Veteran are cars built up to and including December 1904

Edwardian are cars built from January 1905 to December 1918

Vintage are cars built from January 1919 to December 1930

VSCC race meetings frequently include races for Edwardian cars, usually of short duration in deference to the age of the cars competing. The photograph below is of one such car, a 1906 Renault AK GP car entered and driven by John Brydon at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

Friday's Ferrari

Seen in the Ferrari Owners Club area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995 is this Ferrari F40. The F40 was apparently the first road legal production car to break the 200mph barrier. The car behind it is a 250GT SWB.

Last of the Summer Wine

'Last of the Summer Wine' was a BBC comedy sitcom which was broadcast between 1973 and 2010 - it's the longest-running comedy programme in Britain and the longest-running situation comedy in the world. This Wikipedia article gives an excellent history of the show which was set in West Yorkshire and much of the filming took place in the town of Holmfirth. Tameside has a connection with three of the people involved in the programme and Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council has commemorated each of them with blue plaques on three buildings in Dukinfield and Ashton.

The first to be unveiled, on 19 April 2009, was for Ronnie Hazelhurst who composed the theme, and the incidental music for the early years of the programme. The plaque is in Lodge Lane, Dukinfield, at the house where he was born in 1928.

On 11 March 2011 a plaque was unveiled for Kathy Staff, who was born in Dukinfield, and it is on St Mark's Church Hall in Dukinfield where she was a lifelong member.

On the same day as Kathy Staff's blue plaque one was also unveiled for Brian Wilde who was born in Ashton, and his plaque is on the wall of the house in Montague Road where he spent his early childhood.

Friday's Ferrari

This is another car which I photographed at the 1962 London Motor Show at the Earls Court exhibition centre. It's a Ferrari 250 GTO and I've found this information about that particular car on a website called finemodelcars.com:

Ferrari 250 GTO Chassis No. 3869GT

3869GT left the factory on October 8th 1962, painted red with an Oxford blue nose, it was delivered to Col. Ronnie Hoare/Maranello Concessionaires, UK. Chassis number 3869 was the London Motor Show Car. In 1963 Ron Fry became the new owner, he won many hillclimbs and sprint races. In December 1964 Karl Richardson bought the GTO and raced it in 1965 at Mont Ventoux hillclimb (3rd IC), Ollon-Villars hillclimb (4th IC) and at the Brighton & Hove MC Brighton Speed Trials (3rd IC).




Here's the barchetta.cc history of 3869GT.

BRM P160

This is another car which took part in the Grand Prix Masters race at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

It's a 1971 Yardley sponsored BRM P160 of 1971. The car isn't listed in the programme, but it appears to be the car in which Peter Gethin won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in a race which until the 2003 Italian Grand  Prix was the fastest Formula One race of all time, and it is still the closest finish ever. In 2004 it was owned by the American Nick Rini.

Nick Rini during the Grand Prix Masters race at Luffield Corner. The car behind is the Hesketh 308C which I featured recently.