Kieft 1100

This car was part of the BRDC display at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1953 Kieft 1100, and you can read about this car here. Kieft Cars was founded by Cyril Kieft in the early 1950s and is chiefly known for the manufacture of 500cc Formula 3 cars, one of which was raced successfully by the young Stirling Moss.

Brabham BT37

The entry list for the Force Classic Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003 included the car shown below.

It's a 1972 Brabham BT37 and it was driven here by Peter Wünsch. The BT37 competed in the World Championships of 1972 and 1973, but wasn't a particularly successful car.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in one of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge races at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's Carlos Monteverde's 1958 Ferrari 250 TR Spyder, more commonly known as the Testa Rossa, seen here in the pit lane during a practice session. The serial number of the car is 0738TR and I've featured it before, on 10 January 2014.

Crossley 14 Tourer

This is a car I photographed on the Exchange Station car park in Manchester prior to the start of the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1986.

It's a 1923 Crossley 14 Tourer, apparently the oldest 14 still on the road, and the programme of the event said this about it:

1923 Crossley 14 Tourer,

Reg: CJ 5721  4 cylinder  14 hp

(E.Ryan, Hadfield, Hyde, Cheshire)

This is the oldest known Crossley on the road,

first registered on New Year's Day 1923. It is

still used regularly.

Lister Storm

This is one of the display cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's a 1997 Lister Storm GTL, one of the Lister Storms that took part in the British GT Championship series in the 1998 season.

Rileys at Oulton Park (2)

Following my post of 17 January 2015 here are some more photographs taken in the paddock of the Rileys competing in the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.

John Reeve's 1928 Riley Brooklands

Robert Wardale's 1936 Riley Special

Durward Lawson's 1937 Riley Special

Tony Canny's 1935 Riley TT Sprite

Richard Iliffe's 1934 Riley Kestrel 12/4 Special

James Whitmore's 1936 Riley Special

John Collins' 1930 Riley Brooklands & Tim Kneller's 1933 Riley TT Sprite

Porsche 804

Here's a couple of photographs taken during practice for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

This is the Porsche 804 of Dan Gurney who qualified in sixth place on the grid and finished the race in ninth place.

Here's his team mate Jo Bonnier's car with the top half of the bodywork removed. Jo Bonnier qualified in seventh place on the grid but retired after 27 laps of the 75 lap race.

Leyland Atlantean

This is one of the vehicles taking part in the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester, in September 1998.

It's a 1958 Leyland Atlantean PDR1/1, with a Metropolitan Cammell Weymann body, and is the first production Atlantean built. The programme of the event said this about it:

Leyland Atlantean/MCW 1958                                                                                   FHF 451

Entered by   J Nolan for the 201 Bus Group, New Brighton

First production Atlantean built, delivered to Wallasey Corporation in 1958. Withdrawn by the Merseyside

PTE in May 1977, stored until 1979, it then passed to the 201 Bus Group who have restored the bus to

Wallasey Corporation livery.

The 201 Bus Group member is telling my dear friend George Brown about the history of the bus, and George's son Ian is standing in front of the vehicle. I worked with George for several years but sadly he passed away last September and I shall miss him and the stories he used to tell me.

Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato

This is a car in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010 waiting to go out on a practice session.

It's a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato which was driven by Julien and Matthew Draper at this meeting in the one hour long race for the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy for Historic Cars. It's the first DB4 GT Zagato built, chassis number 0200, and took part in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hour race in the hands of Mike Salmon and Ian Baillie, but unfortunately failed to finish the race.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car in the pit lane at Donington Park during a practice session for the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting in May 2004.

Shown in the programme of the event as a 1952 Ferrari 625, a car that was derived from the 2 litre Ferrari 500 used during the 1952 and 1953 seasons with a lengthened chassis and a 2½ litre engine so that it could be used in the 1954 season. The serial number is 0482 and the barchetta.cc record shows that it was fitted with a 2942cc type 735 sports car engine later in 1954. At the time of the Donington Park meeting it was owned by Alex Boswell and the programme says that the engine capacity was 2999cc which seems to indicate that it then had a 750 sports car engine, although the barchetta.cc record doesn't say when this was fitted. This does, however, explain its current designation as a Ferrari 750 GP car.

Alta F2

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society's Allcomer Race at the Richard Seaman Memorial trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It's the 1952 Alta F2 of Martin Grant-Peterkin, and the programme of the event said this about the car:

'Very welcome is Martin Grant-Peterkin's 2-litre Formula 2 Alta, actually the last car built by Geoffrey Taylor, and sold to Peter Whitehead. The original engine went to power a Cooper-Alta and the car went to Australia where a Holden engine was fitted. The car now has a proper Alta engine out of a HWM, which has just had a rebuild.'

I've previously shown photographs of two of the pre-war Altas, on 22 August 2015 and 4 November 2015.

Fiat Dino

This car was at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Exhibition Centre, Manchester in August 1993.

It's a Fiat Dino Coupé, and the 'F' at the end of the registration number indicates that it was first registered between 1 August 1967 and 31 July 1968. The board at the front of the car is headed 'Trentside Classic & Sports Cars', but they didn't have a stand at this show. The Fiat Motor Club did have a stand at the show, but there's no indication in the brochure of the event about what cars were going to be displayed.

Maserati Spyder

These cars were lined up in the paddock at the Ferrari & Maserati Festival of Racing meeting at Donington Park in May 2003.

They're Maserati Spyders, a car that had been recently introduced to replace the Maserati 3200 GT and were accorded a double page write-up in the programme of the event.

Ford Mustang

I took this photograph in the Owners Clubs area of the paddock at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

It's a 1966 Ford Mustang and a line-up of cars of one of the AC or Cobra Owners Clubs.

Rileys at Oulton Park

Here are some photographs taken in the paddock of some of the Rileys competing at the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.

James Potter's 1930 Riley Brooklands

David Lamb's 1929 Riley Brooklands

Ralf Emmerling's 1928 Riley Brooklands

James Whitmore's 1936 Riley 12/4 Special

Richard Brightman's 1935 Riley Nine 12/4 Special

Andy Bush's 1935 Riley TT Sprite Replica

Greg Lerigo's 1932/35 Riley Special

ATS Tipo 100

This car took part in the Historic Grand Prix Race Association for Pre-1966 Rear-Engined Grand Prix Cars at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's a 1963 ATS Tipo 100, a car designed by Carlo Chiti, the former chief engineer of Ferrari who, along with several other people were fired by Ferrari in late 1961 and went on to form the ATS company. This was the only F1 car produced by ATS and you can read about it and the singular lack of success it experienced in this conceptcarz article. The owner at the time of the Donington Park race was Philip Walker and it was driven in the race by Andrew Wolfe.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 celebrated 50 years of the Formula 1 World Championship, which started with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950. There was a display of a representative selection of Formula 1 cars from those 50 years and here's one which saw action in 1979.

It's the Ferrari 312 T4 with which Jody Scheckter won the World Championship in 1979. Scheckter won three races, the Grands Prix of Belgium, Monaco and Italy, and his team mate Gilles Villeneuve won the South African, United States and United States West races, finishing in second place in the Drivers' Championship. Ferrari, naturally, won the Constructors' Championship.

Fiat Type 52B

This was one of the entrants in the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1987, photographed before the start of the run on the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.

It's a 1912 Fiat Type 52B, and the programme of the event said this about it:

15   1912 Fiat Type 52B

       Reg: LU 4369  4 Cylinder  15 hp

       (Vic Lupton, Colne, Lancs)

This blue five-seater was an advanced model

in its day, boasting a four-speed gearbox and

shaft drive.

You can see that some of the participants liked to get into the mood by taking part in period dress.

Falling Educational Standards? (3)

On 21 May 2014 and 24 August 2015 I showed how the numbers affixed to the fence of a local primary school to teach the children how to count were gradually reducing  and questioned whether this indicated that educational standards were slipping. The photograph below shows what I saw when I went past the school recently.

The even number '2' has disappeared since the last time I noticed the numbers, leaving just the odd numbers '1' and '3'. I suppose the odds were that this would happen.

'2' down and two to go.

GN Parker Special

I photographed this car at the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's the 1926 GN Parker Special and is a GN Cyclecar with an engine of 6124cc capacity, which I understand is a Gypsy Moth aircraft engine.

Here's the car at Britten's chicane being driven by the owner, Justin Maeers.

OSCA

I took this photograph at the Donington Park museum in May 1989.

The board in front of the car says 'OSCA', but perhaps it should say 'OSCA-Maserati'. It's the Maserati 4CLT/48 of Prince Birabongse (better known as Bira) which had been fitted with a 4½ litre V12 OSCA engine for the last race of the 1951 World Championship season. The works OSCA 4500G used the same engine and had a similar appearance to this car. Bira's car (and the OSCA 4500G) became obsolete with the introduction of the F2 regulations in for the 1952 World Championship season which limited the engine capacity to 2 litres, and OSCA brought out the OSCA 20 for the new Formula. I showed photographs of that car on 22 October 2014 and you can see the family resemblance to the older car.

Leyland Leopard

This was one of the entries in the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally organised by the Greater Manchester Transport Society at Heaton Park, Manchester, in September 1993.

It's a 1961 Leyland Leopard L2 with a Harrington Cavalier C28F body, formerly operated by Southdown Coaches, and the programme of the event said this about it:

Leyland Leopard L2, Harrington C28F, 1961                                                       2703 CD
Southdown 2703
Entered by G Pickard for 2703 Preservation Group
New as a top range touring coach. Now being reseated to original 28 seat configuration.

Talbot Lago T26C

This is a car I photographed in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's the 1948 Talbot Lago T26C of François d'Huart which took part in the Maserati UK Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars. It's finished in the yellow racing colours of Belgium and according to the programme of the event it's the car with which Louis Rosier took fourth place in the 1948 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, although  Louis Rosier was actually third in that race and in fourth place was the Talbot Lago T26C of Philippe Étancelin. On 27 September 2015 I showed a photograph of this car in the pit lane at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in 1994. This site gives a brief history of all the Talbot Lago T26C cars.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars I photographed amongst the spectators' cars at the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies race meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.

It's a Ferrari 328 GTS, and the 'E' on the number plate indicates that it was first registered between 1 August 1987 and 31 July 1988.

De Tomaso Longchamp

On 8 April 2015 I showed a photograph of a De Tomaso Pantera that I had taken at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Exhibition Centre in Manchester in August 1991. Here's a photograph of the other car that was on the De Tomaso Drivers Club stand that day.

It's a De Tomaso Longchamp, and the brochure of the show said this about the cars:

'The Pantera is the most well known and has been in production 20 years. It's a mid engined 330-450 bhp Supercar. The Longchamp is a front engined 2 door, 4 seater and with the same engine will cruise at 150 mph. The Pantera will do 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, standing ¼ in 13 secs.'

Italian Formula Junior Cars

I showed some photographs on 31 October 2015 of several British Formula Junior cars at an HSCC meeting at Oulton Park in 1986. Here are a couple of photographs of Italian Formula Junior cars at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

The red car is Tony Pickering's 1959 OSCA FJ and the blue car is Antony Childe-Freeman's 1959 Volpini FJ.

This is Gordon Wright's 1958 Stanguellini FJ.

Lola T70

This car took part in the HSCC Atlantic Computers Historic GT Championship race at the HSCC's Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.

It's Stuart Graham's 1968 Lola T70 GT, and you can read about the T70 here.

On looking for information about this car I discovered from a short pen-picture of Stuart Graham that he was born the day after I was born. If you read this, Happy Birthday for this Saturday Graham!

Lotus 24

Here are a couple of photographs I took during practice for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

This is Masten Gregory's Lotus 24 Climax, entered by the UDT Laystall Racing Team. He qualified in fourteenth place on the grid and ended the race in seventh position, one lap behind the winner.

Here's the car approaching Waterway corner during practice.

Bugattis

Here are three Bugattis I photographed at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

I can't be sure I've identified these correctly as I can't find the original notes I had written and you can't see any race numbers on the cars, but I think the nearest car is Ivan Dutton's 1928 Type 35C, the next car is Alf Smith's 1925 Type 35T and the third car is John Howell's 1930 Type 45. This article gives information about the Type 35 cars and this one about the Type 45.

Birthday Card

This is a card I bought for my brother's recent birthday:

When I picked it up I expected that there would be something on the back of the card saying what race was being depicted and giving some information about the cars and drivers shown, but instead.....

.....all that it says is 'Flags 1936'. The cars shown are obviously an Alfa Romeo 8C 35 or 12C 36 leading a Mercedes-Benz W125 - the Alfa could have been in a race during 1935, 1936 or 1937, but the W125 was only raced in 1937 so the date of 1936 is incorrect. Trawling through the major races of 1937 the only race this could possibly be is the 1937 Italian Grand Prix at Livorno, where the number 22 Alfa Romeo 12C 36 was driven by Tazio Nuvolari, who handed the car over later in the race to Guiseppe Farina, and the number 6 Mercedes-Benz W125 was driven by Herrman Lang. I've come across a photograph of the 1937 Italian Grand Prix of two of the Mercedes-Benz W125s about to round a corner where there's a fence exactly like the one in this painting, which seems to confirm that it is Livorno.

NB: This is the Daimler AG photograph I found showing the two W125s apparently at this corner in the 1937 race. (Photo from SportCarDigest.com: http://www.sportscardigest.com/silver-arrows-at-the-goodwood-revival-2012/4/)