McLaren M8E

This car competed in the HSCC Atlantic Computers Historic GT Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.

It's The Offord Group's 1971 5 litre V8 Chevrolet-engined McLaren M8E that was driven in the race by James Wallis. The car was used in the North American Can-Am series of races and the M8E was the customer version of the M8D.

Triumph

Here are the photographs I took of some of the Triumphs at the Footman James Classic Car Show at EventCity, Manchester in September 2016.

This is a 1948 1,776cc straight-4 Triumph Roadster, produced from 1946 to 1948

This is a 1937 Triumph Dolomite Special, but the only information I can find about this car is the DVLA record that says it has a 1,750cc engine. The 1930s Triumph was produced with three different engine sizes, and the nearest I can find to this is the 1,767cc engine of the 14/60 and 14/65.

A  Michelotti bodied 1967 1,147cc straight-4 Triumph Herald 1200 Convertible, produced from 1961 to 1971.

A 1957 1,991cc straight-4 Triumph TR3. The original TR3 had a smaller central radiator grille and this version with the full width grille was unofficially known as a TR3A, but just badged as a TR3. This version was produced from 1957 to 1962.

Another Michelotti bodied car, a 1974 2,997cc V8 Triumph Stag. This is one of the  MkII cars that were produced between 1974 and 1977.

This is one of the original Triumph TR3 models, made in the last year of the 1955 to 1957 production run and has the smaller central grille. It shares the 1,991cc straight-4 engine of the later 'TR3A'.

This is the first production model of the TR series of cars, the Triumph TR2 that was produced from 1953 to 1955 and used the same 1.991cc straight-4 engine of the later TR3. There was one prototype model built which differed from the production car, mainly at the rear end, to such an extent that the production model was called the TR2 and the prototype retrospectively named the TR1.

This is a 1966 2,138cc straight-4 Triumph TR4A, produced from 1965 to 1967. The Michelotti bodied car was externally little different from the TR4, but it had independent rear suspension instead of the Hotchkiss drive system of the earlier car.

A 1974 2,498cc straight-6 Triumph TR6 with Lucas fuel-injection, produced between 1968 and 1976. The body basically followed the same lines as the TR4 and TR5, but was restyled by the German firm of Karmann.

This is a 1982 1,998cc straight-4 Triumph TR7 Drop-head Coupe, designed by the chief stylist at British Leyland, Harris Mann. The cars were produced between 1975 and 1982 and this one bears the double bulge bonnet of the later cars that was designed to clear the carburettors of the V8 engined TR8 which had an identical body to the TR7.

Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupé

This car was amongst a group of cars in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995 publicising The Shelby Heart Fund.

It's a 1965 Shelby Daytona Cobra Coupé, but is not listed as taking part  in any of the races at the meeting, and is not mentioned in the programme of the event. Following a lifetime of heart problems and a heart transplant in 1990 Carroll Shelby set up his Foundation to help young people who are similarly afflicted.

On 23 August 2015 I showed a photograph of Shelby Daytona Cobra CSX2286 that took part in the Coys meeting at Silverstone in 1998.

Friday's Ferrari

Here's a photograph of a car competing in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association's meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's Alexander Boswell's 1952/55 Ferrari 625, originally a Ferrari 500, chassis #0482, built as a 4-cylinder 2 litre Formula 2 car and used in World Championship races in 1952 and 1953 when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. The new Formula 1 regulations specifying a 2½ litre engine came into force in 1954 and this car was given a 2½ litre unit to convert it to a Ferrari 625. It later had a 4-cylinder 3-litre Ferrari 735 engine installed and was raced in Australia by Peter Whitehead.

Lagonda LG45

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's a 1936 Lagonda LG45 Tourer with a four-seater body and a 4,467cc straight-6 Meadows engine. It's chassis #12004, and the car was offered for sale by Bonhams in December 2005.

On 2 August 2016 I showed photographs of various Lagondas, including three LG45 models, that I'd taken at Oulton Park in July 2015.

Maserati A6GCS

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting of July 1993 took place at Silverstone in a typical mixture of British weather with sunshine and rain at different parts of the day. Here's a couple of photographs I took of one of the competing cars just after a particularly heavy spell of rain.

It's the 1955 Maserati A6GCS/53 of Maurizio Grazzi that took part in the Champagne Charles Heidsieck Sports Car Race. It's chassis #2090 and has the Massimino/Colombo 2-litre engine with a body designed by Medardo Fantuzzi. As far as I know it's the only A6GCS Spider with this style of body - all the others seem to have the same Fantuzzi body as chassis #2058 that I featured on 22 December 2015.

Lister Bristol

This was one of the cars taking part in the AMOC 50s Sports Cars race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017.

It's Stephen Bond's 1955 1,991cc Lister Bristol 'Flat Iron', formerly John Horridge's Ecurie Bullfrog car.

The car was put up for auction in 2008 by H&H Auctioneers in a state of considerable disrepair.

Here's the car during the race at Druids Corner.

On 6 August 2015 I showed a photograph that I'd taken at Donington Park in 2008 of the car in its pre-auction state.

ERA-Riley Special

This car competed in the Seaman Historic Trophy race at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's one of the ERA 'specials', the 1936 ERA-Riley of Keith Knight, and the programme of the event said this about the car:

'Another ERA engined car is Keith Knight's ERA-Riley (68) the chassis of which is based on the works Rileys that used an independent front suspension, patented by André Girling and similar to that used on the Daimler cars of the period.'

Percy McClure compaigned the car before the war at Brooklands, Donington Park, Prescott and Shelsley Walsh, and after the war it was driven at Silverstone in the first British Grand Prix in 1948 by Geoff Richardson.

Opel

This car was in the paddock at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1914 Opel Grand Prix car, one of the cars that took part in the French Grand Prix at Lyon in the curtailed season prior to the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914. In accordance with the new regulations that season the Opel had a 4½ litre engine and complied with the weight limit of 1,100 kilograms.

Packard

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1990 and is seen here in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start.

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's a 1929 Packard with an engine of 5.2 litres, which would appear to make it a Packard 8 with an inline 8-cylinder engine.

Friday's Ferrari

Here's one of the cars that took part in the 45 minute long Intermarque Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015.

It's the 3½ litre V8 Ferrari F355 Challenge driven in the race by Vance Kearney and Lee Moulden.

Here's the car at Knickerbrook during the race.

Mercedes Benz W154

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

It's a 1939 Mercedes Benz W154, sometimes known as a W163 though it's actually a 1938 W154 with the M154 engine replaced by the 1939 M163 unit.

During the Second World War Mercedes Benz had stored its racing cars in and around the factory at Unterturkheim, but later in the war when the allied bombing became more of a threat many of the cars were taken to other, less targeted places for safety. They were usually stored in pairs and this car, chassis W154/10, together with W154/9, was walled up in the workshops of Czech pre-war racing driver Antonin Vitvar in Stará Paka. After the war W154/9 ended up in the USA and W154/10 was handed over to the National Technical Museum of Prague. Many years later the car was sent to Tom Wheatcroft's workshops at Donington Park for restoration and then had a period on loan at the Museum.

Triumph TR2

I photographed this car at a small motoring meet at the top of Werneth Low in Hyde in July 1991.

It's a 1954 Triumph TR2, a car which replaced the dated Triumph Roadster and was powered by the 4-cylinder inline 1,991cc engine from the Standard Vanguard. It vied with the MGA and Austin Healey 100 for the sports car market in the mid-1950s.

Maserati A6GCM

This car competed in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1952 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's John May's 1951 Maserati A6GCM, a car designed by Alberto Massimino and Vittorio Bellentani with a 6-cylinder in line 2-litre engine for Formula 2 racing. According to the programme of the event John May's car had an engine capacity of 1,985cc, and it looks as if it is chassis 2033.

Tatra Type 11

This car competed in one of the handicap races at the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.

It's Duncan Arthurs' 1925 Tatra Type 11 Rennwagen, produced by Tatra in Kopřivnice in what was then Czechoslovakia and is now the Czech Republic.

The car was designed by Hans Ledwinka and has a 1,056cc 2-cylinder air-cooled engine.

Aston Martin DB3S Coupe

This is a photograph I remember taking at Aintree in the late 1950s or early 1960s, but I can't remember which meeting it was.

It's an Aston Martin DB3S Coupe, and the only thing I can remember about it is that it was driven by Jean Bloxam that day. An internet search has shown the car to be chassis number DB3S/120, which was previously the personal road car of David Brown, then the owner of Aston Martin (and the 'DB' in the Aston Martins of that period), and it seems most likely that my photograph was taken in 1959.

Singer B37 Sports

The SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011 included the VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-war Sports Cars. This was a 2 hour race for 14 teams of either three or four cars and this car was one of those taking part.

It's the 1937 Singer B37 Sports of Eddie Williams. The car has a 1½ litre 4-cylinder engine based on the ohc engine of the Singer Twelve and was intended to be a replacement for the less powerful 6-cylinder Le Mans model. Sadly, due to Singer's financial restructuring only 12 of these cars were built.

Friday's Ferrari

Here's a photograph of a car leaving the pit lane during a practice session for the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Patrick Stieger in Engelbert Stieger's 1971 Ferrari 512 M, a car raced alongside the 512 S model by Ferrari in the 1970 Group 5 Sports Car Championship, but raced  solely by privateers in the 1971 season as Ferrari concentrated their efforts on the 312 PB. The 512 has a 5 litre V12 engine, and the car above is Chassis #1018, which was originally built as a 512 S in 1970 but converted to a Berlinetta 512 M in 1971.

I've previously shown photographs of the Ferrari 512 M on 9 January 2015 and 6 January 2017.

Aston Martin

Here are some of the Aston Martins not taking part in the racing that I photographed in the paddock at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015.

This is a line-up of cars belonging to members of the Aston Martin Owners Club

1972 Aston Martin DBS V8, with 5.3 litre V8 engine, produced from 1969 to 1972 as the DBS V8, and from 1972 to 1989 known simply as the Aston Martin V8.

1984 Aston Martin V8 Vantage, with 5.3 litre V8 engine. Several Aston Martins have used the 'Vantage' name, and this is the one produced from 1977 to 1989.

Here's another Vantage model this time the Aston Martin V12 Vantage S, introduced in 2005 and still in production. This one has a 5.9 litre V12 engine.

This is the Aston Martin DB Mk III, an evolution of the DB2/4 and initially named the DB2/4 Mk III. It has the 2.9 litre straight-6 Lagonda engine. Behind it is a 1931 Aston Martin International, originally with a 1½ litre engine but now fitted, I understand, with a 3 litre unit.

The Aston Martin DB6, produced from 1965 to 1970 with a 4 litre straight-6 engine.

Bugatti Type 51

I photographed this car in the pit garage at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's E Dean Butler's 2,262cc supercharged straight-8 1931 Bugatti Type 51 and it appears to be chassis 51146, the car with which Louis Chiron won the 1931 Monaco Grand Prix. The Type 51 was the successor to the more well-known Type 35 of the 1920s. At this Silverstone meeting the car competed in the HGPCA Pre-1952 Grand Prix Car Race.

Jaguar D-Type

I took the photographs of this car in the pit garage and pit lane at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

This car is a bit of a conundrum. It's Benjamin Eastick's 1955 Jaguar D-Type, but according to the programme of the event it was number 9 in the BRDC Historic Sportscars race. Twelve of these Jaguar D-Type Longnose cars were apparently made, six as works cars and six customer cars. This car is chassis XKD 133 and isn't one of the works cars so is presumably a customer car, but I can't find out any other information about it - neither the chassis number nor the registration number 207 RW turn up anything in the Jaguar Sports Racer Search site.

 What a beautiful car though!

Volvo Ailsa

This was one of the entrants in the Double Deck Buses Post 1963 Class at the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1976 Volvo Ailsa B55-10 Vanhool, and the programme of the event said this about the vehicle:

Volvo Ailsa B55, Vanhool, 1976                                                                                LWB 388P

Entered by    The 388 Group, High Green, Sheffield

Spent most of its life with SYPTE and was sold to Hampshire Bus in 1986 who converted

it to  single door  layout.  The 388 Group  purchased the  vehicle in 1994  and  restoration

work is already quite advanced.

Lancia Aurelia B20 GT

This car was in the Paddock at the VSCC's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's a 1954 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT and I took the photograph because it's a car that you don't see very often, even at historic race meetings. It has a 2½ litre V6 engine, and what's particularly special about this one is that it was once owned by the 1958 World Champion Mike Hawthorn himself. You can read about Mike and the car in this Mike Hawthorn tribute site.

MG K3 Magnette

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's Philippe Douchet's 1,100cc supercharged 1934 MG K3 Magnette, chassis #3026 that was driven in the Abingdon Trophy Race for MG Sports Cars by Bob Jones. According to the programme of the event this car was one of George Eyston's team cars in 1934.

There are three badges on the front of the car and from the top left these are:

The Vintage Sports Car Club

The British Automobile Racing Club

The Triple-M Register

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car in the paddock at Donington Park at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting in June 2003.

It's not listed in the programme of the event and I don't recall whether or not it took part in any of the races, but it's the 1959 Ferrari Dino 246 S of Harry Leventis, chassis #0784. The car has a 2,417cc V6 engine and the body was fashioned by Carrozzeria Fantuzzi. The barchetta.cc record doesn't show this car as appearing at this Donington Park meeting, but in April of 2003 Tony Dron drove the car in a Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at Spa where it had the race number 71. Harry Leventis drove his 1964 Ferrari Dino 206 SP in the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at Donington, so it's possible that Tony Dron also drove the 246 S here.

Volvo

Here are 3 Volvos that I photographed at the Footman James Classic Car Show at EventCity, Manchester in September 2016.

This is a 1957 Volvo PV444-08 that was imported from Sweden in 1985 by the owner of a Devon Volvo Dealership and used very little for the next 14 years. It is one of only four Volvo PV444-08’s known in Europe and the only example in the UK. PV444-08’s were produced for the USA Market only, but a few did escape onto the home (Swedish) market. These cars can be recognised by the fact that they are fitted with the sports B16B engine which has twin SU 1¼ carburettors.

This car, pictured in the car park outside the arena, is a 1972 Volvo P1800ES, a 2 litre fuel injection estate version of Volvo P1800.

This is one of the 120 Series Volvos, a 1968 Volvo 121, also known as the Volvo Amazon. It has a B18 badging on the grille, meaning that it is powered by the 1,778cc B18 engine.

Cooper T41

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-'66 GP Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's Ian Horner's 1956 1,460cc Cooper T41, and on 10 May 2016 I showed a photograph of this car at a VSCC meeting at Oulton Park in 2006. The T41 was designed by Owen Maddock and this Wikipedia article tells you the story of Owen Maddock and the early Cooper years.