Maserati Type 26

This car was part of a display in the Paddock Suite at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's a 1926 Maserati Tipo 26, a straight-eight supercharged 1½ litre Grand Prix racing car and the first model to be produced by the Maserati brothers. If it is a genuine 1926 car then it should be chassis number 11, 12 or 13, as these were the only cars produced in that year according to the official record.

Railton

This photograph was taken at the Northern Classic Car Show in the Belle Vue Exhibition Halls in Manchester in September 1986.

It's on the Railton Owners Club's stand and the brochure of the event said this about the car:

'The Railton was a successful combination of American power and English coachwork, It was based on the 8 cylinder Hudson chassis and the example shown is fitted with the popular Fairmile drophead coupe body.'

The Railton Straight Eight was produced between 1933 and 1940 - this is a 1935 car and has a 4,168cc engine.

Lotus 23B

This car took part in the Guards Trophy Sports Racing Cars race at the Gold Cup Meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008.

It's Matthew Newman's 1963 1600cc Lotus 23B, with a 4-cylinder inline Ford Cosworth engine. This was a very successful car in period with about 130 examples of the 23, 23B and 23C built.

Bristol Cars

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000, and I presume that the cars belong to members of the Bristol Owners' Club.

From the left the cars are:

SMT 259 - A 1947 Pininfarina bodied Bristol 400 Cabriolet with the inline 6-cylinder 1,971cc Bristol engine and 3 SU carburettors.

1951 BT - This is a Bristol 401 with bodywork by  Beutler Brothers of Switzerland. It also has the 1,971cc Bristol engine, and I've seen it's year of manufacture given as 1950, 1951 and 1953. The DVLA record says 1953.

265 HYL - This is the standard Bristol 400 and is a 1949 model, again with the 1,971cc BMW-derived Bristol engine.

Cooper Bristol T23

I photographed this car at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004 where it took part in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race.

It's the 1953 Cooper Bristol Mk2, also known as the T23, of David White and has a Straight-six 1,971cc Bristol engine derived from the BMW 328 unit. There are some nice period shots of the Cooper Bristol in this Primotipo article, and I've featured the car previously, on 30 April 2014, 17 July 2016 and 13 September 2017.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the cars taking part in the 70s Road Sports race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2017.

It's Greg Thornton's V8 engined 1979 Ferrari 308 GTB. This car replaced the Ferrari 246 GT, being produced from 1975 to 1985, and was in turn succeeded by the Ferrari 328 GTB which also had a V8 engine, but of 3.2 litres compared to the 308 GTB's 3 litre unit.

Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta

This was one of the cars taking part in the Maserati UK Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Carlo Vögele's 1948 straight-8 supercharged 1½ litre Alfa Romeo 158 Alfetta. The car was originally designed in 1938 to take part in the pre-war Voiturette class of racing, and when the rules for the new Formula 1 were drawn up in 1947 they allowed engines of 4½ litres unsupercharged or 1½ litres supercharged, so the Alfetta was able to take part. When the World Championship for Drivers was introduced in 1950 it was won in the first two years by these cars, driven by Giuseppe Farina in the 158 in 1950 and Juan Fangio in 1951 in the redesigned 159.

Here's Carlo Vögele in the pit lane taking the car out during a practice session.

On 3 April 2016 I showed photographs of an Alfa Romeo 158 on display in a tribute to Juan Fangio at the 1994 Coys meeting at Silverstone.

RGS Atalanta Jaguar

This car competed in the BRDC Historic Sportscar Championship race at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's Barry Wood's 1952 RGS Atalanta, constructed by Dick Shattock and originally fitted with a Lea Francis engine, but now with a 3,442cc Jaguar XK engine. There's not much information about the RGS Atalanta on the internet, but there's an RGS Atalanta website which says that a book is shortly to be published about Dick Shattock's cars.

On 9 June 2014 I showed photographs of some of the Jaguar-engined cars at a Donington Park meeting, including another of this RGS Atalanta.

Connaught L2 & L3 Sports Cars

One of the car clubs represented at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998 was the Lea-Francis Owners' Club. The Lea-Francis 14hp engine powered the Connaught L2 and L3 sports cars of the late 1940s/early 1950s and several of these cars were on display.

This is a 2½ litre 1948 Connaught L2 and is chassis #7004, the fourth car built. The original 4-cylinder 1,767cc Lea-Francis engine was replaced by the 2,496cc unit in 1952 and you can read the history of the car related by Bonhams when they offered the car for auction in 2004.

This is a 1950 Connaught L3 model but I can't find out much about it, only that the DVLA say that it was first registered in June 1952 and has the 1,767cc engine.

The last of the L-series cars produced was the 1951 Connaught L3/SR with the cycle-type wings, of which 3 examples were built.

On 19 August 2015 and 25 June 2017 I showed photographs of the Connaught L2, and on 12 October 2015 I showed the later Connaught sports car, the 1954 ALSR.

Daimler Fleetline

This was one of the participants in the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1996.

It's an ex-Manchester City Transport 1969 Daimler Fleetline with a Park Royal body. A note in the programme of the event said this about the vehicle:

Daimler Fleetline, Park Royal Body                                                                   NNB 598H

Entered by     Hycote, Royton, Oldham, Lancs

Former Operator - Manchester City Transport. Hycote recently purchased this vehicle to save it from going to scrap. The company intend to use it for exhibition purposes but retain the exterior vintage livery of Manchester City Transport. The vehicle has been exposed to weather for 5 years, hence the poor paint finish.

Renault KJ1

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's a 1924 Renault KJ1, an updated version of the KJ, the two cars being produced from 1923 to 1924 in the Renault factory at Billancourt. It has a 6CV 4-cylinder inline engine with a capacity of 951cc. 

Bugatti Type 35C

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

It's Hubert Fabri's 1928 2 litre Straight-8 supercharged Bugatti T35C, chassis #4871. I always have trouble remembering the difference between the different types of pre-war Bugattis and I came across this list on an 8w.forix.com site that is a great help:

The T35C was a supercharged 2-litre model equipped with a Roots compressor to give some 125 bhp. Here is a list of the various Bugatti variants:

The original 1924 model:                                  Type 35: 60*88 mm = 1991cc

The 1925-'26 model:                                         Type 35: 52*88 mm = 1495cc

The voiturette model:                                        Type 35: 51.3*66 mm = 1091cc

The detuned production model, the "Tecla":     Type 35A: 60*88 mm = 1991cc

The long stroke 2.3 litre 'Targa Florio' model:   Type 35T: 60*100 mm = 2262cc

The supercharged variant of the 35T model:    Type 35B: 60*100 mm = 2262cc supercharged

The 2-litre supercharged model:                       Type 35C: 60*88 mm = 1991cc supercharged

The 4-cylinder engine model:                            Type 37: 69*100 mm = 1496cc 4 cylinder

The supercharged variant of 4-cylinder T37:    Type 37A: 69*100 mm = 1496cc supercharged

The short-stroke model:                                    Type 39: 60*66 mm = 1493cc

The supercharged variant of T39:                     Type 39A: 60*66 mm = 1493cc supercharged

The d.o.c. 2 valves/cyl model:                           Type 51: 60*88 mm = 1991cc supercharged

The long-stroke variant of the d.o.c. T51:         Type 51-1: 60*100 mm = 2262cc supercharged

The short-stroke variant of the d.o.c. T51:        Type 51A: 60*66 mm = 1493cc supercharged

(All with 8-cylinder engines unless noted otherwise)

On 8 June 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in 2004.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Coys of Kensington Ferrari GT Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO of Peter Sachs, chassis #4091GT. Some Ferrari 250 GTOs had their original engines replaced by 4 litre V12 units, but this car still has the 2,953cc V12 engine. Peter Sachs acquired the car in 1981 and has competed regularly with it both in the USA and in Europe and you can read the history of the car here.

Porsche 804

I photographed this car during the Friday practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

This is Jo Bonnier in the paddock in his 1962 Flat-eight air cooled 1½ litre Porsche 804 just about to go out on track during a practice session. He qualified in seventh place on the grid but retired from the race on lap 27 with a broken differential. Jo Bonnier didn't manage a top three finish with the car in 1962, but his team mate Dan Gurney won the French Grand Prix and finished third in the German Grand Prix.

On 25 January 2016 and 18 October 2016 I showed other photographs I took of this car on that date.

Aston Martin DB3S

This car competed in the Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers GT and Sports Endurance Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's a 1956 Aston Martin DB3S, driven in the 90 minute long race by David Bennett and Ted Rollason. It's the last of the works cars, chassis #DB3S/10, and has the usual 2,992cc straight-six Lagonda engine. After being raced by the Aston Martin Team in 1956 and 1957 it passed into the hands of John Dalton for two years, then had various owners including Tony Smith, manager of Pink Floyd and other bands.

Tojeiro Bristol

This car took part in a 10 Lap Scratch Race for 1950s Sports Racing Cars at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's Nick Wigley's 1953 Tojeiro Bristol, with a 1,971cc straight-6 engine derived from the pre-war BMW 328. This is the car that inspired the AC Ace Bristol, which in turn led to the Ford V8-engined AC Cobra.

On 15 August 2016 I showed a photograph of this car at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in 2002.

BRM P133

This car took part in the Classic & Sportscar Pre '68 GP and Tasman Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 3 litre V12 1967 BRM P133 of Ean Pugh - at least that's what it says in the programme of the event. The P133 was produced in Bourne by BRM following the design of Len Terry's P126 which was built by his own Transatlantic Automotive Consultants company. There is some suggestion that the car pictured above is actually a P126. Only two examples of the P133 were built, the second of which was written off in an accident at the 1968 Monaco Grand Prix by Pedro Rodriguez. The remaining P133 was driven in the 1968 season by Pedro Rodriguez, and by Jackie Oliver in the first part of the 1969 season.

Maserati Ghibli

There's a Maserati dealer in nearby Stockport, (H.R.Owen) but it's not often you see a Maserati on the streets of Hyde. I came across this one recently on my daily walk to Hyde town centre.

It's a third generation Maserati Ghibli which was introduced in 2013, and the '16' on the number plate indicates that this one was registered between 1 March and 31 August 2016.

It has a 3 litre engine, and there's a choice between twin turbo V6 petrol and turbo V6 diesel engines.

The writing at the bottom of the number plate shows that the car was provided by Marshall Maserati of Peterborough. The 'AF' shows that the DVLA local office licensing the car is Peterborough.

On 4 January 2017 I showed photographs that I'd taken of a Maserati Ghibli the same colour as this one and in exactly the same spot - but the registration number was different and for a 2015 model. The 'FA' on the number plate for that car shows that the license was issued by the Nottingham DVLA office.

Hispano Delage 500CV

This car competed in the Boulogne Trophy Race at the VSCC's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's described in the programme of the event as a 1926/30 27 litre Delage/Hispano Single Seater, entered and driven in the race by Robin Baker. It seems to be better known as a Hispano Delage 500CV and is a 1926 Delage with a 1930 Hispano Suiza 27 litre V12 aero engine, the Type 57 12Mb, developing some 500 hp.

Here's Robin Baker at Britten's chicane during the race.

On 7 November 2016 I showed a photograph of another Hispano Suiza engined Delage, the Bequet Delage of Alexander Boswell, at Donington Park in 2007.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car in the Donington Park Museum in March 1996.

It's the 3 litre flat-12 1970 Ferrari 312B raced in the 1970 season by Jackie Ickx and Clay Regazzoni and is chassis 003 70. The car was succeeded by the 312B2 in 1971 and was further revised, but still called the 312B2, for the 1972 season. It was second in the World Constructors Championship in 1970, third in 1971 and fourth in 1972. The 1973 car was designated the Ferrari 312B3, but it was a totally redesigned car.

On 18 December 2015 I showed a photograph of this car displayed in the Paddock Suite at the Donington Park SeeRed meeting in 2004.

Ford GT40

This was one of the cars taking part in the Coys auction at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's a Ford GT40 and it's painted in the livery of the Shelby-American GT40 driven by Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant in the 1966 Le Mans 24 Hour race, and has the same racing number. That car retired from the 1966 Le Mans race after 257 laps. There's no mention of it in the write-up about the auction in the programme of the event, however, so I assume that it is just a replica. The Shelby-American car was chassis 1047 and was wrecked in an accident at the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hour race, but later rebuilt. This is what a website detailing all the Ford GT40 chassis numbers says about 1047:

#1047 – Mark II Rolling Chassis

17/1/1966 – Shelby USA (SAI)

427 Cui engine fitted

1966 – Le Mans Gurney/ Grant Retired

1967 – Daytona 24 Hours Foyt/ Gurney Retired

1967 – Le Mans McClusky/ Gardner Crashed

Wreck Returned to Holman & Moody

Holman & Moody rebuild

1976 – Freddy McCall

Restored by Freddy McCall

1970’s – Japan

2006 – USA

Restoration commenced c2006

#1047B – Replica

Tennant tub and some original parts

1980’s – Brian Winfield UK

George Stauffer

2001 – Bill Ostrower USA

2009 – Mecum did not sell @ $220,000

2010 – Dan Mershon

(Re-creation of a Mk II built mostly from original N.O.S. GT40 components, including most of the tub. Very well done, but at the end of the day, it’s still not a real one…but it is a hell of a lot cheaper. Should be worth the low estimate of $250k, which would have basically been the high bid plus vig.)

Elva Mk7

This car took part in the Group4 Racing European Sports Prototype Trophy race at the HSCC's Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

It's Clive Wilson's 1964 Elva Mk7 with a 1,598cc engine - the programme of the event doesn't specify the engine maker and Ford, Porsche, BMW and others supplied engines for the Mk7. I would guess that this one is a Ford. There's an Elva Owners Club for people who own any vehicle produced by Elva.

Here's Clive Wilson during the race leading the 1963 Lotus 23B of Chris Jolley and the 1962 Lotus 23B of Kelvin Jones at Foulstons chicane.

On 10 October 2016 I showed photographs of two Elva Mk7s at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in 2005.

Ford Model A

This car is pictured in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the LAC's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1992.

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's a 1930 Ford Model A Coupe which the DVLA say has an engine of 3.2 litres. The website of the Model A Ford Club of Great Britain says that it was built in Canada in 1930 and has a 24hp engine.

Maserati T61

This car was one of the contestants in the 'Classic Car' Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1960 Maserati T61 'Birdcage' of Hartmut Ibing, and was driven in the race by Peter Hannen. The Maserati T61 had a 2,890cc inline 4-cylinder engine, and this car is chassis #2461 which was acquired when new by Lloyd Casner for his Camoradi team, for whom it won the 1960 Nürburgring 1000 km race in the hands of Stirling Moss and Dan Gurney.

Frazer Nash

These two cars took part in the 2 hour long VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-war Sports Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

PG 7028 is the 1930 Frazer Nash Interceptor of Richard Parsons. The Interceptor was produced between 1930 and 1932 and was chain driven, with either an Anzani side-valve, or a Meadows overhead-valve engine both of which were 4-cylinder 1,496cc units. This car was previously owned by Vaughan Skirrow, who was Captain of the Frazer Nash Car Club from 1966 to 1969.

This car is the 1928 Frazer Nash Super Sports of Frederic Wakeman. The Super Sports was produced from 1924 to 1929 and was again a chain driven car with either the 1,496cc Anzani engine or a Power-Plus 4-cylinder engine of the same capacity.

The Frazer Nash Car Club caters for all owners of (or anyone with an interest in) Frazer Nash cars and the website has details of the chain driven cars, and all the others produced by Frazer Nash.

Jaguar XK120

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's a 1952 Jaguar XK120 which the DVLA record says has a 3,442cc engine, presumably the XK6 straight-6 unit that was fitted to these cars when new. Its chassis number is 672427 and it's said to have been fitted at one time with a 4.5 litre and/or 4.2 litre engine, and to have competed in the Carrera Panamericana race in Mexico in the early 1950s (or possibly in the modern revival series started in 1988 - the xkdata.com record is inconclusive). It's also possible, of course, that it's still got this larger engine and the DVLA record is incorrect.

Friday's Ferrari

Here is another of the Ferraris that was on display at the Footman James Classic Car Show at EventCity, Manchester in September 2017.

It's a 3½ litre V8 1999 Ferrari F355 Spider, a car that was produced from 1995 to 1999 when it was superseded by the F360. It was the first Ferrari to take it's model number from the engine capacity in litres (3.5) and the number of valves per cylinder (5) - hence 355. The general numbering system at this time was the capacity in litres plus number of cylinders - as in the 3.4 litre V8 Ferrari 348 that preceded the F355. In the 1950s and 60s the usual numbering convention was the cubic centimetre capacity of one cylinder - so all the V12 3 litre cars were 250, as in 250 GTO, and the 4 cylinder 3 litre cars were 750, as in 750 Monza.

Veritas Meteor Streamliner

This car, although originally built and raced as a Formula 2 car, took part in the Champagne Charles Heidsieck Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's Gerry Porter's 1949 Veritas Meteor Streamliner, a car originally purchased by Karl Kling who had this streamlined body made by the coachwork company Herbmüller in place of the normal open wheeled body. The earlier Veritas sports cars had used a modified BMW 328 engine, but Veritas designed their own Meteor engine for use in the Formula 2 cars.

On 7 March 2016 I showed photographs of this car that I had taken at the Coys meeting at Silverstone in 1999.