Bugatti Type 44

This is a car pictured on the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the Silver Jubilee Manchester to Blackpool Veteran & Vintage Car Run in May 1987.

It's a 1929 Bugatti Type 44, and here's what the programme of the event says about it:

                                                                                                               117         1929 Bugatti Type 44

                                                                                                                              Reg: 6037 DH 8 cylinders 17 hp

                                                                                                                              (David F. Tonge, Bolton)

                                                                                                                              This Corsica-bodied 4-seater has a hairy 3-litre

                                                                                                                              engine.

Supercars.net has this to say about the Bugatti Type 44

Friday's Ferrari

This is a car photographed in the Ferrari Owners Club area at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1961 Ferrari 250GT SWB California Spyder, and its serial number is 3077GT. The car was originally red then repainted yellow in 1979, and in 1992 was owned by Stephen Pilkington. In 1998 it was repainted again, this time silver grey.

I've featured the Ferrari 250GT California previously, on 8 February 2013.

Jaguar Mk1 & Mk2

Here are some photographs taken at the Jaguar Drivers' Club event at Oulton Park in April 1987 billed as the 6th Cheshire Cats Trophy Meeting. They all feature the Jaguar Mk1 or Mk2 saloon of the mid 1950s to late 1960s.

This is the Mk2 of Laurence Bailey

Race 2 was the CSCC Pre '65 Saloon Car Challenge Race and this is Andrew Moore in a Jaguar Mk1 between two Lotus Cortinas at the Foulstons chicane.

Race 4 was the JDC Pre '68 Saloon Car Challenge Race and here is a group of Jaguar Mk1 and Mk2s at the Foulstons chicane.

Another pair of Mk2s in race 4 at the Foulstons chicane, I think this is Tony Williams in the red and silver car leading Rob Newall in the red one.

Another photograph from race 4 with what looks like Tony Williams and Rob Newall again at Foulstons, and you can see here the entire loop of the circuit from Island Bend through Shell Oils Corner to Foulstons. Foulstons is now called Britten's and Shell Oils Corner was originally called Esso Bend.

Race 4 again, Tony Williams this time at Hill Top on the way to Knickerbrook - at that time still without a chicane.

Bugatti Type 57

This is a car brought along by H&H Classic Auctions to the VSCC SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2008.

It's a 1937 Bugatti Type 57 Sports Saloon and it appears that it was sold at auction for £143,000

Friday's Ferrari

This car was in the paddock at the Ferrari & Maserati Festival of Racing meeting at Donington Park in May 2003 although it neither took part in any race at the meeting nor did it, as far as I'm aware, perform a demonstration run.

It's a Ferrari 312T, one of which was driven by Niki Lauda to win the World Championship in 1975

This is what Wikipedia says about the car

It seems that it may be chassis number 018

Guernsey and new Granddaughter

Back to Guernsey last week to see our new granddaughter Eliza Gillian Mary for the first time, born 3 weeks early and now 7 weeks old.

On the Thursday we watched the 2014 Guernsey Air Display from the Candie Gardens which allow a good view across St Peter Port Harbour.

There were quite a few people there, here watching the Red Arrows perform one of their manoeuvres

The star attraction was the appearance of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight which was joined on this occasion by the only other airworthy Lancaster bomber which had come over to Britain from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum for a two month tour.

Here's the two Lancasters leading the Hurricane and Spitfire past St Peter Port Harbour

And the two Lancasters performing another pass

The event was closed by the Red Arrows who gave their usual polished display

On the Friday Edward had his weekly swimming lesson at the Beau Sejour Leisure Centre, before which he had to try out the attractions on the outdoor play park.

Friday was a bit breezy but we went to Port Soif which has a sheltered U-shaped beach where Eliza settled down for a nap................

..............whilst Edward had a paddle with grandma.........

........then a swim with mummy and daddy........

........ then a walk along the beach scuffing up the sand with his feet.

On the Saturday we went to the Proms on the Pier in St Peter Port with entertainment from the Guernsey Welsh Male Voice Choir, Bel Canto, and the Guernsey Jazz Orchestra followed by the BBC Last Night of the Proms from the Royal Albert Hall on a big screen, then a firework display and music from The Barlows for anyone who wanted to stay a bit later.

This is Bel Canto, very impressive even though their best singer was unable to take part

Boeing 757

These photographs were taken at 12:39pm on 7 September 2014 and are of Condor Flight DE 7669 passing over Hyde and preparing to land at Manchester Airport.

It's a Boeing 757-330 flying from Zakynthos to Manchester

The aircraft registration number is D-ABOJ

Apparently the Condor airline was originally was originally Deutsche Flugdienst GmbH and you can read the history of the company here.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a car I photographed at the Ferrari Owners Club area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's a 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Spyder and I featured the same car in December 2012, at the 1996 meeting; its serial number is 0198ET and it was owned at that time by David Vine.

Cisitalia D46

This is one of the cars entered in the 'Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race' at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's a 1946 Cisitalia D46 and was entered and driven in the race by Richard Pilkington. It raced in the Voiturette class and Wikipedia says this about the car:

'Using Fiat parts as a base Dante Giacosa designed the D46 which made its successful debut in 1946. Giacosa had a vast knowledge of Fiat bits and pieces as he had designed the legendary 500 Fiat Topolino before WW II. The engine and suspension were directly derived from the small Fiat but extensively modified for racing. The engine received dry sump lubrication and further tweaks considerably increased the power output to 60-70 bhp. With a spaceframe chassis and weighing under 400 kg (880 lb) the available power was more than enough for competitive performance. Dusio's dream of a one model series came to nothing, but instead his D46s started to dominate the voiturette series. Highly talented drivers like Tazio Nuvolari piloted the D46 to multiple successes against more advanced but older racing cars.'

You can read more about the car here.

Higham Special 'Babs'

Here's a photograph I took at the 1983 Northern Classic Car Show in the Belle Vue exhibition halls, Manchester in September 1983.

It's the Higham Special otherwise known as 'Babs', a Land Speed Record car built by John Parry-Thomas based on one of Count Louis Zborowski's 'Chitty Bang Bang' cars. Whilst making a record attempt at Pendine Sands in South Wales in March 1927 the car overturned and John Parry-Thomas was killed. His friends buried the wreckage of the car in the dunes and it was dug up in 1969 by Owen Wyn Owen who then commenced a lengthy restoration job which still hadn't been completed at the time the car was put on show in Manchester. The restoration is now finished and the car is put on display each summer in a specially built museum at Pendine as this piece in the Carmarthen Journal reports.

Friday's Ferrari

This photograph was taken at the VSCC Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's a Ferrari Dino 246 F1 and, though it's got no race numbers, only one Dino is shown in the programme of the event and that's Robin Lodge's 1959 model, chassis number 0006. It's shown in the entry list for 'The Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race For Post War, Pre 61 Racing Cars' and I can't even remember if it ran in that race because the entry list for Robin Lodge shows that he nominated two alternatives, the Dino and his 1954 Lancia D50. I don't know if the Lancia was present as I haven't got a photograph of it taken on that day, but that's possibly because I spent so much time looking at and photographing the C-Type and D-Type Auto Unions which were the meeting's star attractions.

Lotus 16

On 27 August I showed a photograph of a Lotus 12, the first single-seater racing car built by Colin Chapman. In the same race at that August 1996 Oulton Park VSCC meeting was a car which was the successor of the Lotus 12, the Lotus 16, shown here being driven by Philip Walker at Lodge Corner.

It was an improved version of the Lotus 12 with the bodywork designed by Frank Costin who also designed the Vanwall, to which it bears a passing resemblance. Like the Lotus 12 though it didn't have much success, being dogged by unreliability problems.

Arnolt Bristol

According to the programme of the event car number 20 in  the 'Guards Trophy GTSR Race', race 6 of the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008, was a 1953 Cooper Mk1 T20 driven by Ed Cottam of Fareham. Here's the car in the paddock and it's obviously not a Cooper T20:

It's an Arnolt Bristol from the early 1950s and you can read what www,classicandperformancecar.com says about it here.

Here's Ed Cottam at Lodge Corner during the race