Hudson Big 6

This car was on the Railton Owners Club's stand at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Arena, Manchester in August 1992.

It's a 1935 Hudson Big 6 Sedan with a 6-cylinder inline engine of 3,474cc. The Big 6 was only produced in 1935, and as well as the four-door sedan was also available as a 2-door coupe and 2-door cabriolet.

Chevron

The Chevron Car Company was founded in 1965 by Mancunian Derek Bennett, starting off in Salford and later moving to Bolton. It's no surprise then that meetings at nearby Oulton Park (about 40 miles away) attract a large number of Chevron cars at appropriate meetings. Here are some of the cars of this marque that took part in the European Sports Prototype Trophy races at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004. The photographs were taken at the Foulstons chicane.

Martin O'Connell in a 1,998cc 1967 Chevron B8

Jon Minshaw in a 1,950cc 1970 Chevron B16

Michael Schryver in a 1,600cc 1967 Chevron B6 leading David Yates in a 1,850cc Chevron B16

Sean Walker in a 1,850cc 1970 Chevron B16 leading Andrew Schryver in a 1,998cc 1969 Chevron B8

Itala

I photographed this car at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1908 Itala GP, but I don't have any more information about this particular car. I remember reading about Cecil Clutton taking part in VSCC events with one of these cars when I was a lot younger, but my motor racing visits at that time were restricted to Oulton Park and Aintree and I never saw the car at either of those circuits. The 1908 GP car apparently has a 12 litre 4 cylinder engine.

Maserati 250F

The SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005 produced probably the largest gathering of Maserati 250Fs that has ever been seen in this country - I understand that there were 24 in all. This is one of those cars, photographed at McLean's Corner during a track demonstration by a number of Italian cars.

It's Nigel Corner in the car that was campaigned mainly by Jean Behra in the 1957 season, but also driven that year by Juan Fangio and Harry Schell, and is chassis #2528. This car has been owned and raced by the Corner family, Nigel and his father Neil, since 1972, and it was they who commissioned the motoring journalist Ian Wagstaff to write a comprehensive history of the car.

Here's the car alongside several other Maserati 250Fs in a marquee in the paddock.

On 8 July 2016 I showed a photograph of 2528 alongside the Corner family's 1960 Ferrari Dino 246 F1 car at Silverstone in 1994.

Albion FT21N

This lorry took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park in September 1996.

It's a 1950 Albion FT21N, and the programme of the event said this about it:

Albion FT21N, 1950                                                                           HSR 112

Entered by J Butterworth, Littleborough

Originally operated by Angus & Kincardine County Council as a Library van for delivery of new books to schools, etc. Afterwards used as a Horse Box in Wetherby, then fitted with the drop-side body now carried. Bought in a run down state by the present owner, it was re-painted in Ripponden & District livery in 1992. The owner being a Ripponden & District driver.

There's a link here to an interesting little booklet about HSR 112 and its then owner Jack Butterworth produced by the Queensbury Old Farts Motor Club. It's well worth a read.

The lorry behind it in the photograph is another in the Ripponden & District livery, a 1964 Commer TS3 Parcel Van, and this vehicle was entered for the event by the Ripponden & District company. Its registration number is DWU 650B.

Ford Lotus Cortina

These two cars competed in the HSCC/HRSR Julius Thurgood Historic Racing Saloons race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

On the left is the 1965 Ford Lotus Cortina of Kerry Michael, and on the right the 1964 model of Chris Sanders, though the car's more commonly known as just a Lotus Cortina. Both cars have the 1,596cc version of the Ford Kent engine that was redesigned for Colin Chapman as a twin-cam unit by Harry Mundy. Chris Sanders' car was offered for auction in 2017 by Silverstone Auctions and always raced with the 'LUV 12' number plates, although it was never registered as such (it's really 256 TYC). Presumably the owner thought 'love one too' sounded more appealing.

Friday's Ferrari

One of the cars I photographed at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 2011 Ferrari California, with a 4,297cc V8 engine - the first front-engined Ferrari to have a V8 engine.

Alfa Romeo 158

This car took part in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge race series at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

The car is described in the programme of the event as a 1939 Alfa Romeo 158, Alfa Romeo cars from 1933 to 1939 being eligible for this series as the Alfa Romeo racing team in those years was run by Scuderia Ferrari. The straight-8 1½ litre supercharged car is better known, of course, for taking Giuseppe Farina to the first Drivers World Championship in 1950. This car belonged to Carlo Vögele who was named alongside Willie Green in the programme as driver for both races.

The car is seen here leaving the pits during a practice session, and I presume the driver is Carlo Vögele as I have a photograph of him in a black helmet driving a Maserati Tipo 61 at this same meeting.

This photograph was taken at Redgate corner during the first of the two races in which it featured, and because the driver's not wearing a black helmet I assume it's Willie Green.

Hans Herrmann

I took this photograph on practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1959.

On the left is Hans Herrmann who drove in Grand Prix races from 1953 to 1969 for a variety of teams, including Mercedes-Benz, Maserati and Porsche, several private entrants, and in cars ranging from a Veritas Meteor to a Lotus 59B. I think that the gentleman on the right could be Guglielmo Dei, founder of the Scuderia Centro Sud, for whom Hans Herrmann drove a Maserati-engined Cooper T51 in this race. He qualified in nineteenth position on the grid alongside his team-mate Fritz d'Orey who drove a Maserati 250F. Hans Herrmann retired with gearbox problems after 21 laps of the race.

Hans Herrmann's best season in Formula One was 1954 when he had 3rd and 4th place finishes in the Swiss and Italian Grands Prix respectively, but he is probably better known for his efforts with the Porsche team at Le Mans between 1953 and 1970, gaining four class wins, and an overall victory with Richard Attwood in a Porsche 917K in 1970 - after which he announced his retirement from motor racing.

Scrutineering Bay

The first thing competitors have to do when they arrive at a circuit is to take their car to the scrutineering bay for it to be checked to ensure that it complies with all the relevant regulations and is in a safe condition to take part in the racing. I took this photograph at the scrutineering bay at Oulton Park at the Gold Cup meeting in August 2002.

Car number 28 (actually number 24 in the programme of the event) is the 1955 Jaguar XK140 of Trevor Groom, chassis number 804394. This car has the straight-6 DOHC 3,442cc XK6 engine whereas the car next to it, the 1951 Jaguar XK120 of Richard Hackett, has the larger 3,781cc version of that engine. The red car behind is the 1,995cc 1977 Lancia Beta Monte Carlo of Gordon Russell, and the car number 6 in the background waiting its turn to be checked is the 7,206cc Chrysler V8-engined 1970 Jensen Interceptor of John Gadbury.

Cooper T51

This car competed in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars at the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004. 

It's John Clark's 2½ litre Climax-engined 1959 Cooper T51. The T51 was the car with which Jack Brabham won his first World Championship in 1959, and on 20 May 2014 I showed photographs of Jack Brabham in a Cooper T51 at Silverstone in 1993.

Gordini 23S

This was one of the entrants in the 1 hour long RAC Woodcote Trophy for Pre 1956 Sports Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1949 Gordini 23S driven in the race by Eddie McGuire and Nick Wigley and has a 2,262cc straight-6 engine.

On 1 November 2015 I showed photographs of this car at Donington Park in 2004.

Kieft CK52

This car competed in the 500cc Formula 3 Class in the AMOC Miller Oils Historic Formula Junior Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

It's Rod Delves' 1952 Kieft CK52 Formula 3 car, with a 498cc Manx Norton engine. This Formula started soon after the Second World War as an inexpensive way to go motor racing with a simple chassis powered by a 500cc motor cycle engine, typically Norton or JAP. It produced a whole range of home-made 'Specials' and also limited production runs by the likes of Cyril Kieft and Charles & John Cooper - the latter going on to greater things with their Formula 1 cars. There's a 500 Owners Association for enthusiasts and owners of these cars.

I've shown photographs of the Kieft F3 car previously, on 16 February 2016, 23 March 2016, 27 June 2016 and 25 October 2017.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003 where it took part in a Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race.

Shown in the programme of the event as a 1963 Ferrari 330 LM, it's also sometimes described as a 330 GTO. Unlike the other 330 GTOs which had a 250 GTO chassis with a 4 litre SuperAmerica engine, this car is basically a 400 SuperAmerica with a 250 GTO body. The car is chassis number 4561SA and was owned by Carlo Vögele who is seen here leaving the pits during a practice session.

I've shown photographs of the car twice previously, in the pit garage at this meeting on 9 May 2014, and on 15 August 2014 at the Silverstone Classic meeting in 2010.

Cooper T86C Alfa Romeo

This was one of the competitors in the Grand Prix Masters race at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

It's Ron Maydon's 1968 Cooper T86C Alfa Romeo, the last Formula One car to be built by the Cooper Car Company. It uses the same 3 litre V8 engine as the Alfa Romeo T33 sports car in place of the ineffective Maserati and BRM V12 units with which the earlier Cooper T86 and T86B cars had been fitted. It did not compete in either of the two Grand Prix races for which it was entered in the 1968 season.

On 14 June 2017 I showed photographs of this car that I'd taken At Oulton Park in 2003.

Armstrong Siddeley Tourer

This car is pictured in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the LAC's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1990.

I've shown a photograph of this car before, on 8 May 2017, at the 1993 Run, and as then the only information about it in the programme of the event is that it's a 1925 Armstrong Siddeley Tourer and was entered by Eric B Moores of Denton. It does say this time though that it's a 4 cylinder car of 10hp, which suggests that it's not the 14hp car that I presumed it to be previously. The problem is that I can't find any record of Armstrong Siddeley having made a 10hp car, and the only one they made with a 4-cylinder engine was the 14hp. To compound the problem the DVLA record says that the car was manufactured in 1927, not 1925, and the engine capacity is 2,309cc as opposed to the 1,852cc of the 14hp car. The only 2,309cc Armstrong Siddeley engine appears to be that which powered various 1940/50s cars.

Renault Dauphine Gordini

This car took part in the Historic Racing Saloon Championship Race at the HSCC's Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2001.

It's Arthur Smith-Fitchett's 1965 Renault Dauphine Gordini, with the performance of the Renault's straight-4 845cc engine much improved by Amédée Gordini's tuning skills.

Aston Martin DB Mk III

This car competed in the Pre-1961 Sports & GT Car Race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's Simon Jefferies' 1959 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk III, more commonly known as just the DB Mk III. It has the Lagonda 2,922cc straight-6 engine that had been enlarged from 2,580cc, in which form it had powered the DB2, DB3 and early DB2/4 cars as well as the 1948-53 Lagonda 2.6 litre. The larger engine was also used in the later DB3 and  DB2/4 cars, the DB3S, the DB2/4 Mk II, and the Lagonda 3 litre of the mid-1950s.

I've previously shown photographs of the Aston Martin DB Mk III on 18 July 2016 and 13 July 2017.

Iso Grifo A3C

This was one of the cars entered in the Italy v Rest of the World 1960s World Endurance Cars race at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's the 1965 Iso Grifo A3C of Gregor Fisken, and has a 5,354cc V8 Chevrolet engine. The car was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini who later left Iso and continued producing the car as a Bizzarrini A3C. I showed a photograph of an Iso A3C on 30 November 2015, and on 23 October 2017 a photograph of its Bizzarrini equivalent.

Aeroplanes

Friday 20th April 2019 was a nice sunny day, and here's four aeroplanes that I photographed passing over our house in Hyde about 3 minutes before landing at Manchester Airport.

3.57pm Royal Air Maroc flight AT818 from Casablanca

Boeing 737-8B6

Reg: CN-RNK

6.53pm Norwegian flight DY4479 from Stockholm

Boeing 737-8JP

Reg: LN-NHD

7.08pm Emirates flight EK19 from Dubai

Airbus A380-842

Reg: A6-EUP

7.17pm Oman Air flight WY105 from Muscat

Airbus A330-243

Reg: A40-DF

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Aston Martin GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017.

It's a 2009 Ferrari F430 Challenge, seen here in the scrutineering bay.

It was driven in the 50 minute long race by Richard Cook and Harvey Stanley.

The Ferrari F430 Challenge, which has a 4,308cc V8 engine, replaced the 360 Challenge and was produced from 2007 to 2001, being succeeded by the 458 Challenge.

Here's the car at Old Hall Corner during the early morning qualifying session.

During the race I walked to several different parts of the circuit, and this photograph was taken at Druids Corner.....

.....here the car's just exited Knickerbrook corner and is going up Clay Hill towards Druids Corner.....

.....and here rounding Knickerbrook corner having just negotiated Hislops chicane.....

.....and lastly just about to enter Knickerbrook corner.

Cooper Bristol T23

This car competed in the Flockhart Trophy Race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

It's Graham Burrows' 1953 Cooper Bristol T23 (otherwise known as the MkII) powered by a 1,971cc straight-6 Bristol engine derived from the prewar BMW M328 unit. The car is here leaving the pit lane during a practice session.

MG VA

I photographed this car at a local car show, in Ashton-under-Lyne, in March 1987.

It's a 1937 1½ litre MG, presumably a VA, a model that was produced from 1937 to 1939 as a 4-door Sports Saloon, a 4-seater Open Tourer, or a Drophead Coupé. The MG Car Club has an SVW Register for owners of the MG SA, VA and WA models.

HWM Jaguar

This car competed in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's one of three HWM Jaguars entered in the race, the 1955 car (1953 according to the programme of the event) of Richard Wills. It has the 3,442cc straight-6 Jaguar engine that powered the Jaguar XK models, and also the C-Type and D-Type. In 2003 it was offered for auction by Bonhams.

I've shown photographs of HWM Jaguars previously, most recently on 2 January 2018.

Bugatti Type 51

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's Charles Dean's 1932 2.3 litre supercharged straight-8 Bugatti Type 51 and may be chassis #51126, although there is some controversy about this chassis number.

On 12 July 2017 I showed a photograph of another Bugatti Type 51 (#51146) at Silverstone in 1998.

Rolls Royce 25/30

This was one of the exhibits at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2017.

It's a 1937 Rolls Royce 25/30, chassis GGR17, with a Thrupp & Maberly body and 4,345cc 6-cylinder in-line engine.

A note in the window had this information about the car and its owners since new:

Custodians from new:

1938-45        G French, Hale, Cheshire

1946-58        Sir Fred Emery JP

                     Tory MP for Salford West 1935-45

1958-60        L Jackson, Clifton Arms Hotel, Lytham

1960-74        Harold Hobson, Hobsons Garage, Liverpool  5

1974-86        Alexander Stratis Andreadis, London EC3

                     Son of Athens shipping & banking magnate; married to Christina Onassis 1975

                     Daughter of Aristotle Onassis, stepdaughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

1986-2012    Autosales of Kirriemuir wedding hire, Angus

                     Yellow paint added

                     Major engine rebuild 1994

2012 -           Martin Sinclair, Sale, Cheshire

                     Upgraded engine to Bentley 4¼ spec, with cross flow cylinder head & twin carbs

                     Modern Motoring (reversible) improvements include heating, electronic ignition,

                     Electric water pumps & fans

Brasier Voiture de Course

This car took part in the VSCC Edwardian Racing Cars race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's Mike Holt's 1908 Brasier Voiture De Course, powered by a 11,762cc V8 Hispano-Suiza aero engine from a WW1 Spad fighter plane.