Maserati 300S

Here's a car that I photographed at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996 at Silverstone in what I think was its first outing since an extensive restoration in the early 1990s.

It's the ex-Benoit Musy 1955 Maserati 300S, chassis number 3057, entered in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race by Peter Scott and driven in the race by Martin Stretton. I remember seeing this car being driven by Benoit Musy at Oulton Park and Aintree in 1956.

Ecosse Ford

This car competed in the race for Group C/GTP Cars at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's Andrew Smith's 1985 Ecosse Ford Group C2 car, one of three Ecurie Ecosse cars that competed in the Group C2 World Sports Car Championship between 1985 and 1988. You can read about the Ecosse cars here.

Morgan

I photographed this car at Lodge Corner at Oulton Park at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting in June 1993.

It's Gary Caroline competing in a Four Lap Scratch Race in his 1928 Morgan 3-wheeler. There's a Morgan Three Wheeler Club especially for the owners of these cars, and you can read about it here

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Friday's Ferrari

I've shown two photographs of this car previously, on 18 April 2012 and 30 Oct 2015 which were taken at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994 when it was part of a display paying tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio.

It's a 1949 Ferrari 166 F2 car, Enzo Ferrari's first single seat racing car, and the chassis number is 011F. It is thought to be one of the cars that Fangio drove early in his career before he joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team and had been fully restored by Tony Merrick in the 4 years before this appearance. The blue and yellow car behind the 166 is Robs Lamplough's 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, chassis number 3445GT.

Ford GT40

I took this photograph at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

According to the programme of the event car number 101 is a 1960 Ferrari 250GT SWB, to be driven in the 2¼ hour long Gentleman Drivers GT and Sports Endurance Race by Jeremy Agace and Bill Wykeham. The car above is obviously a Ford GT40, however, and there's no mention of it in the programme. It appears to be the 1965 GT40, chassis number P/1027 that was used as a camera car for the movie 'Grand Prix' and which thereafter remained in the USA until it was acquired in 2000 by Sir Anthony Bamford of JCB Excavators Ltd, whose colours it bears in this photograph.

Mitsubishi FTO

On 22 March 2016 I showed photographs of a Mitsubishi FTO that I'd seen in Hyde. Here's a photograph I took of the same car a couple of weeks ago in a compound behind some commercial properties where it had been parked for several weeks.

It's in a more distressed state than it looks in the photograph, and there are notes attached to the driver's window and the windscreen:

It was still there yesterday, but I don't know how long it will remain.

Tojeiro Jaguar

This car took part in the Hawthorn International Trophy race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's Tim Llewellyn's 1956 Tojeiro Jaguar, the first Jaguar-engined car to be built by John Tojeiro,  at the instigation of John Ogier. Ogier himself drove the car on its first appearance, but although the car proved that it looked the part and was quick he realised that it needed a competitive driver and it was subsequently mainly driven by Dick Protheroe.

York

Earlier this month we spent a week in York in the company of our eldest son Paul and his family who came over from Guernsey, and our youngest son David, who came across from the USA. here are a few photographs of the week.We stayed in an airbnb house on Bishopthorpe Road near the racecourse and only a few minutes walk from the centre of York,

Here we're crossing Skeldergate Bridge over the River Ouse, which was a toll bridge until 1st April 1914......

......and just around the corner is Clifford's Tower which was built in the 13th century, replacing the wooden tower that had been rebuilt in 1190 after the Norman tower built by William the Conqueror had been burnt down.

On the Monday we had a look round some of the shops in the Shambles area of York before visiting York Minster. (I don't know who the young lady is - I didn't see her until I uploaded the photograph!)

York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in Europe, absolutely enormous and apparently taking some 250 years to build. A fascinating place, with an interesting exhibition in the Undercroft, and I'll show more of the photographs I took there at a later date.

The following day we visited York Castle Museum, just behind Clifford's Tower, which is housed in prison buildings that were built in the 18th century on the site of York Castle, another of William the Conqueror's buildings. The museum includes Kirkgate, this reconstruction of a Victorian street named after Dr John L Kirk who founded the museum.

That day we had bought tickets for the York City Sightseeing Red Bus Tour which is a hop-on hop-off service round the city centre with a commentary about the places the journey was taking you past. Anna has another angle on this photograph.

The Red Bus Tour tickets are valid for 24 hours so we used them following day to go into the city, and this is one of the gates, or 'bars' as they are known, that we passed. There are four of these gatehouses around York and this one is Micklegate Bar.

Our first visit that day was to the National Railway Museum adjacent to York Railway Station and here's Edward at the controls of the ride-on Thomas the Tank Engine just inside the entrance to the museum.

The main part of the museum is the former locomotive roundhouse which consists of a turntable round which are arranged a series of lengths of track so that locomotives could be kept inside the shed but easily moved individually to the mainline track by means of the turntable. The first locomotive here is the ex-LMS 6220 'Duchess of Hamilton'. The streamlined casing of this locomotive, as with the other Princess Coronation class locomotives, was removed during the Second World War in 1944 for maintenance reasons, but not re-instated after the war. It's been a static exhibit at the National Railway Museum since 1998, and in 2005 it was decided to re-instate the streamline casing, the work being completed in 2009. Next to that is an ex-GWR Diesel Railcar - Number 4 - which was powered by a 130bhp 8.85 litre 6-cylinder AEC diesel engine. At the end is the famous ex-LNER 4468 'Mallard', the holder of the world speed record for steam locomotives at 125.88 mph. Again, I'll show more of the photographs I took here soon.

The National Railway Museum runs a frequent roadtrain service to and from the museum and Duncombe Place near the Minster, and here's Edward enjoying the trip after our visit......

.....and here's the roadtrain which I photographed a couple of days later in Duncombe Place.

After getting off the roadtrain we lunched in Nandos and this is Eliza enjoying a piece of corn on the cob. I know a lot of people like Nando's, but there was only one item on the menu that I could eat, and I found that caesar salad contaminated with peri-peri isn't a very appetising combination.

The next day we went to an out of town shopping centre which included a visit to a Toys R Us store where Edward was fascinated by a Star Wars character:

Paul, Edward, Eliza and Anna just before bedtime (but not necessarily sleep-time) for the children.

Friday morning it was a bit damp, but we went with Edward and Eliza to the nearby park and playground:

Later in the afternoon we had a last walk round the streets of York, and here's Uncle David with Eliza.

This was taken on the last day just before we left for home. By Edward. Not bad for a not-yet 4 year old.

Alta

This car took part in the Corporate Jets Historic Grand Prix Cars 100-Mile Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's David Baldock's 1938 2-litre supercharged Alta which was driven in that race by Paul Jaye, and on 4 November 2015 I featured the same car at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in 1993,

Singer Junior

This car took part in the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1993 and is here seen before the start of the run in the Village Hotel car park in Cheadle, Stockport.

It's a 1927 Singer Junior, a car with an 848cc engine and produced by Singer Motors Limited between 1926 and 1935. The only information about the car in the programme of the event is that it was entered by Len Neve of Sale, Cheshire.

Friday's Ferrari

Three Ferraris here today, at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

Competing in a round of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series are three Ferrari GT cars. All three have 3 litre 12-cylinder engines, and leading is the 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB Berlinetta TdF of Plinio Haas, chassis number 1401GT. Behind that is the 1954 Ferrari 250 Europa GT Coupe of Erich Traber - being driven, according to the programme of the event, by Christian Traber - and is chassis number 0357GT. Bringing up the rear is the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta TdF of Thomas Studer, which is chassis number 0909GT.

Lotus Eleven

Two cars photographed at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008 and both incorrectly listed in the programme of the event.

This one is shown in the programme as Rudolf Ernst's 1952 Lotus XI with a 1460cc engine, presumably the Coventry Climax unit, but this model was made from 1956 to 1958 and was always referred to as a Lotus Eleven. I think it's a 1957 model.

This is another Lotus Eleven, that of Ivan Dutton, but the programme calls it a Lotus 11 and says that it has an 1100cc engine, also presumably the Coventry Climax unit.

Here's Ivan Dutton at Lodge Corner during the Guards Trophy GTSR Race.

Porsche 956

This was one of the large variety of cars displayed on the infield at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's the Swiss Brun Motorsport Porsche 956 that finished in seventh place in the 1984 Le Mans 24 Hour Race in the hands of Massimo Sigala, Oscar Larrauri and Joël Gouhier.

Porsche 804

This is the 1½ litre flat-8 air cooled engine of the Porsche 804 that Joakim Bonnier drove in the 1962 British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

Jo Bonnier retired from the race, but his team mate Dan Gurney (in car no. 8 alongside) finished in ninth place.

Cadillac Eldorado

I photographed this car at the Northern Classic Car Show at G-Mex, Manchester in August 1993.

It's a 1953 First Generation Cadillac Eldorado Convertible, 532 of which were produced by General Motors in 1953, all of them convertibles. It had a 331 cu in (or 5.4 litres) OHV V8 engine.

Williams FW08C

The VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003 featured a tribute to Ayrton Senna which included a static display of some of the cars he had driven in his career and a track demonstration.

The 1983 Williams FW08C was the first F1 car that Ayrton Senna drove, in a test at Donington Park in July 1983. The car was driven in the 1983 World Championship season by Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite.

Cooper T66

I photographed this car at the VSCC's Boulogne and Hawthorn Memorial Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006, but it's not listed in the programme of the event.

It's a 1963 Cooper T66, and it appears to be the ex-Rob Walker car of Sidney Hoole. The T66 was a slimmer version of the Cooper T60 with revised suspension geometry, but it wasn't a great success on the track.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Louis Vuitton '50s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's one of two 1956 Ferrari 860 Monzas that competed in this race, and this is Fritz Grashie's car, chassis number 0602M. I remember seeing photographs of this car, driven by Luigi Musso, and the sister car of Peter Collins (chassis number 0628 - since converted to a 290MM) in the 1956 Mille Miglia. Musso finished in third place and Collins was second to the 290MM of Eugenio Castellotti.

Honda Insight

There didn't seem to be anything unusual about this car when I was walking past it in a car park in Hyde recently, until I saw the word 'Hybrid' on the back.

It's a Honda Insight, and the '61' in the registration number shows it to have been first licenced between 1 Sept 2011 and 29 Feb 2012.

It's a 5 passenger 5 door Second Generation car with a 1.3 litre petrol engine as opposed to the 2 passenger 3 door First Generation car which had a 1 litre engine. This Wikipedia article tells you about the car.

Miller 4WD

I took this photograph of a car that competed in one of the scratch races at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies race meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's Dean Butler's 1934 Miller 4-wheel drive which, as far as I can ascertain, took part in the Indianapolis 500 race in that year. It has a 4.2 litre, or 255 cu in, 4-cylinder unsupercharged engine.

Dennis Arrow

This is one of the then current operating PSVs at the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1996.

It's a Nottingham City Transport Dennis Arrow SFD with Northern Counties H44/36F body. The 'N' registration was issued between 1 August 1995 and 31 July 1996 so it was obviously then a fairly new vehicle, but the organisers of the event were obviously expecting a different one as the entry in the programme reads:

Dennis Arrow, N.C.M.E. Body, 1995                                                                 N401 ARA

Entered by     G Clowes, Bulwell, Nottingham

The prototype Dennis Arrow which appeared at the 1995 Bus & Coach show. Vehicle owned

by Nottingham City Transport.

Elva Mk7

Here are two photographs I took of cars which competed in the hour long Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers Sports Racing Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

This is the 1965 Elva Mk7 driven in the race by Marc Devis and Rupert Clevely. The other badge shows that it has a BMW engine which the programme of the event says is 1991cc.

This is another Elva Mk7, the 1963 car of John Wilkes and the programme doesn't specify who the second driver was for this car. It doesn't specify what make of engine the car has either, but it says that its capacity is 1598cc which seems to indicate that it's the Ford twin-cam engine that was fitted to several of these cars.

Kieft Bristol

This car was one of the competitors in the Italy v Rest of the World race for Pre-1959 Drum Brake Sports Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting of August 2001.

It's Michael Erlich's 1953 Kieft Bristol, and according to this article about Cyril Kieft it was one of eight sports cars built in 1953 and 1954, four of which had the Bristol 2 litre power unit and the remaining four had MG engines.

Talbot Lago T23 & Bugatti T35

These cars both competed at the VSCC's SeeRed & Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Car number 102 is Richard Black's 1939 Talbot Lago T23, a 6-cylinder 4 litre built after Antonio Lago had taken over the Talbot concern. Car number 55 is Bruce Stops' 1928 Bugatti T35. The Bugatti T35 had an 8-cylinder 2 litre engine, but the programme of the event shows Bruce Stops' car to have a 3 litre unit.

Friday's Ferrari

Another of the Ferraris taking part in the AMOC Intermarque Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015.

This is Tristan Simpson's 1995 Ferrari F355 Challenge. Henry Ford is reputed to have said 'Any colour you like as long as it's black' when talking about the Model T Ford. With Ferrari you expect it to be 'Any colour you like as long as it's red'.

Here's Tristan Simpson during the race at Knickerbrook. I showed photographs of the other Ferraris in this race on 19 June 2015,  11 December 2015 and 6 May 2016,

Chevrolet Camaro

Here's another car I saw recently coming out of the Shell filling station in Hyde

It's a second generation Chevrolet Camaro with 'The Bootlegger' painted on the side of the car. On searching the internet for any information about this car it seems that 'The Bootlegger' is a reference to the Lunati Bootlegger camshaft which this car presumably has fitted.

Arnolt Bristol

Here's a couple of cars in the area in the infield set aside for displays by various car clubs at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

They're Arnolt Bristols, cars constructed by S H Arnold Inc of Indiana using the chassis and 2 litre 6-cylinder engine of the Bristol 404 with a body designed by Franco Scaglione and built by Carrozzeria Bertone. Stanley Arnolt's team of Arnolt Bristols had some success, winning the Sports 2000 class at the Sebring 12 hour race three times in the mid-1950s.