Lotus Mk X

This car is listed as the 2nd reserve entry in the Champagne Charles Heidsieck Sports Car Race in the programme of the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's the 1955 Lotus Mk X of Jeremy Agace, identical to the Mk VIII but which used the 1,971cc Bristol engine in place of the smaller capacity Ford, MG and Coventry Climax engines typically used by the Mk VIII. The Mk X has a hump in the bonnet to accommodate the taller Bristol engine.

On 13 May 2015 I showed a photograph of this car that I had taken at Donington Park in 2004.

1909 Rover

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

The only note I made at the time is that it was a 1909 Rover and I can't ascertain whether it's a Rover 15 or a Rover 20. Both cars have a 4-cylinder inline engine, the Rover 15 being a 15 hp 2,450cc unit whereas the Rover 20 is a 20 hp car with a capacity of 3,251cc. From photographs I've seen I'm inclined to believe that it's a Rover 20.

Cooper Bristol

Two Cooper Bristol sharing a trailer in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

No racing numbers visible, but it looks like the car of Michael Parr on top and that of Bob Gilbert underneath. Both are the Cooper Bristol T23 model, or MkII, and have the 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. The cars were numbered 19 and 44 respectively in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy race at this meeting.

Old Trafford Car Park

Yesterday I showed photographs of a Ferrari 488 GTS that I had taken in the car park at Old Trafford on 10 April 2019 when Manchester United played Barcelona. Here are photographs of some of the other cars I took that night.

This car is a McLaren and unfortunately because of the position in which it was parked I couldn't get a photograph of the front of the car because of the van parked in front of it, nor the sides because of a car parked too close on one side and the angle of the sun on the other side. The DVLA record tell me that it's a 2019 car and has a 3,799cc engine, and it appears to be a McLaren 570GT with a twin turbocharged V8 M838T engine with twin overhead camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder.

I saw what looked like a BMW with this unfamiliar badge which turned out to be a high performance version of a BMW 5 Series developed by Alpina Burkard Bovensiepen GmbH of Buchloe, Bavaria and marketed as an Alpina D3.

It's a 2007 car and has a 1,995cc straight-four diesel engine.

One of several Bentleys on the car park, this is a 2016 Bentley Mulsanne with a 6,752cc twin turbo L-series V8 engine.

This Aston Martin is a 2015 Vanquish Convertible model with a 5,935cc 48 valve V12 engine.

A 2018 Mercedes-AMG GT R with a 3,982cc M178 twin turbo V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder.

Another Bentley, this time a 2018 Bentley Bentayga with all-wheel drive, and which uses the Volkswagen Group's 5,950cc W12 twin turbo engine with 4 overhead camshafts.

This Bentley is a 2017 Flying Spur V8 S with a 3,993cc twin turbo V8 engine.

Friday's Ferrari

There were some exotic looking cars in the car park at Old Trafford on 10th April when Manchester United played Barcelona and this is one of them.

It's a 2018 Ferrari 488 GTS, powered by the 3,902cc V8 twin turbocharged F154 engine with 2 overhead camshafts per bank and 32 valves.

Porsche 917K

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

It's a Porsche 917K in the Gulf Oil livery of John Wyer's JW Automotive Engineering team which campaigned with the cars in the 1970 and 1971 seasons. The cars won many events in the World Sportscar Championship in the 1970 and 1971 seasons, but a three-car team entered at the Le Mans 24 Hour race in both those years resulted in in five retirements with just a second place in the 1971 race to show for their efforts.

Ford GT40

I photographed this car at Britten's chicane during the Historic Motor Racing New Gentlemen Drivers Sports Racing Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's the 1965 Ford GT40 driven in the 60 minute long race by Shaun Lynn and Kevin Kivlochan and is chassis number GT40 P/1025. The GT40 was based on the Lola Mk6 and was developed by Ford specifically to beat Ferrari and win the Le Mans 24 Hour race, which it did on four occasions finishing in first place for four consecutive years from 1966 to 1969. Initially powered by the 289 cu in (4.7 litres) Ford Windsor V8 small block engine developed for the Ford Shelby Cobra, by the time of the 1966 Le Mans race the engine had been replaced by the 427 cu in (7 litres) Ford Galaxie engine and won the race with the same engine the following year. By 1968 the CSI had limited engine sizes to 5 litres for homologated cars (at least 50 had to be built) and 3 litres for the prototype class, and the GT40 reverted to a version of the original engine enlarged to 4.9 litres. That car won both the 1968 and 1969 races.

On 17 October 2017 I showed a photograph of Shaun Lynn's car in the paddock at this meeting.

Vanwall VW14

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

This is the last car built by Vanwall, the rear engined 1961 Vanwall VW14, which was built when the old 2½ litre limit for Formula 1 cars was reduced to 1½ litres and VW14 was built to contest the 3 litre Intercontinental Formula. The car originally had a 2½ litre Vanwall engine bored out to 2,605cc and only contested a handful of races before development was stopped when the Intercontinental Formula didn't catch on in Europe.

On 9 November 2015 I showed photographs of this and other Vanwalls that I'd taken at the Donington Park Museum in 2014.

Lister Maserati

This is another of those Kodak Brownie 127 photographs that my brother took of one of the cars that competed in the sports car race at the British Grand Prix meeting at Silverstone in July 1956.

It's the 1956 Lister Maserati being driven here in the paddock on practice day by Archie Scott Brown. Archie Scott Brown, although severely physically handicapped, had achieved much success in the 1954 season with a Lister MG which continued in the 1955 season when a Bristol engine was fitted in place of the MG unit. For the 1956 season a new car was designed using one of the 2 litre Maserati engines that had been designed for the A6GCS. This engine proved to be unreliable leading to a mixture of good and bad results, and at Silverstone the car failed to finish the race.

For the 1957 season Brian Lister designed a car round the Jaguar engine that had powered the Le Mans winning D-Types and in that season Archie Scott Brown won 12 of the 14 races he entered. In 1958 he looked set to repeat this success, but was unfortunately killed when driving the Lister Jaguar in an accident in a sports car race at Spa-Francorchamps in May of that year.

Leyland Titan PD2

This bus was a regular entrant in the Greater Manchester Society's annual Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rallies in the 1990s, and I took this photograph in Heaton Park at the event in 1998.

It's an ex-Manchester Corporation 1958 Leyland Titan PD2/34 with a 6-cylinder inline diesel engine with a capacity described by Leyland as 600 cu in which equates to 9.8 litres, although the DVLA record shows it as 9.7 litres. A note in the programme of the event reads as follows:

Leyland PD2/34 /Burlingham,  1958                                                                      TNA 520

Entered by     John Crankshaw, Meltham, Huddersfield

When 3520 entered service with Manchester Corporation they were experimenting with semi automatic gearboxes to ease the burden for the drivers. However 3520 entered service with a fully automatic box, proving unsuccessful it was soon converted to semi automatic. 3520 is yet another vehicle from the Museum of Transport.

OSCA MT4

This car took part in the Drum Braked Cars class of the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the VSCC's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's the 1953/58 OSCA MT4 of Tony Bailey, chassis #1126, and was built in 1953 with removable cycle wings so it could be used in both Formula 2 and Sportscar racing. It was rebuilt in its current form in 1959 and apparently had a 1,600cc Alfa Romeo engine fitted, which Historics Auctioneers said was still in the vehicle when it was put up for auction in 2014. The programme for this Oulton Park event, however, says that it has a 1,498cc engine.

Here's Tony Bailey at Britten's Chicane during the race leading the 1954 Frazer Nash Sebring of William Ainscough and the 1957 Lotus Eleven of John Gray.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of several Ferrari Grand Prix cars, dating from 1980 to 2002, that took part in track demonstration runs during the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1997 Ferrari 310B of Uwe Meissner, pictured here at McLeans Corner during one of the demonstration runs. It was driven by Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine during the 1997 season and has a 2,998cc V10 engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The 310B was developed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn from the 1996 Ferrari 310 which was designed by John Barnard.

On 30 September 2016 I showed a photograph of the car in the pit lane at this meeting.

Brabham BT42

This car competed in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1966-1985 race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1973 (though described in the programme of the event as 1974) Brabham BT42 of Paul Knapfield, and I've seen it described as being both chassis BT42/3 and BT42/6. The Brabham BT42 has a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine and was driven for Brabham in the 1973 season by Carlos Reutemann and Wilson Fittipaldi, the best results being two 3rd places by Carlos Reutemann.

Wolseley 1500

I photographed this car on the Wolseley Register stand at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1994.

It's a 1965 Wolseley 1500 Series III and has the straight-4 BMC B-Series 1,489cc engine that it shares with the almost identical Riley One-Point-Five. The Riley was the slightly better equipped of the two cars having leather seats and a superior Girling braking system instead of the Lockheed system of the Wolseley. It also had twin 1½ inch SU carburettors instead of the single 1¼ inch SU carburettor of the Wolseley.

Elva 100

This car took part in the Miller Oils/AMOC Historic Formula Junior race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

It's the 1959 Elva 100 FJ of Robin Lackford, seen here during the race at Lodge Corner. The front-engined Elva 100 was produced in 1959 and 1960 with a 948cc BMC 'A' series engine, but during the 1960 season the car was unable to match the rear-engined Cooper and Lotus cars and by the end of that season Frank Nichols had replaced it with the rear-engined Elva 200. Robin Lackford's car has a 998cc engine, presumably the BMC 'A' series with the same stroke as the 948cc engine, but with a larger bore, that was introduced in 1962.

Bugatti Type 51

This car competed in three races, including the Richard Seaman Historic Trophy race, at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the Bugatti Type 51 of Stephen Shoosmith, a 1931 car with a supercharged 2,262cc twin cam straight-8 engine. It has the same chassis and body as the Type 35, but with a twin cam instead of a single cam engine.

On 7 October 2013 I showed photographs of this and other Bugattis at McLeans Corner during the Williams Trophy race at this meeting.

Cooper v BRM

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the Grand Prix Masters race at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

Leading is Ron Maydon in the 1968 Cooper T86C Alfa Romeo with David Brown close behind in the 1968 BRM P126. The Cooper, chassis F1-3-68,  originally had a 3-litre V8 engine as used in the Tipo 33 sportscar, but was later converted to F5000 specifications with a Ford V8 5-litre engine. By the time of this Silverstone meeting it had been put back in it original form with a 3-litre Alfa Romeo engine. David Brown's BRM is chassis P126/01 and was the first BRM to have a V12 engine, which also has a capacity of 3-litres.

On 17 May 2018 I showed a photograph of the Cooper in the pit garage at this meeting.

Nissan Pulsar GTI-R

Took these photographs recently in Hyde, Cheshire, but I didn't have a clue what the car was.

I didn't recognise the badge and there's no other identification on the car, but after a bit of searching I've found that it's a Nissan Pulsar GTI-R, a 1993 model, and the badge identifies it as such. It was produced under homologation rules to allow Nissan to enter the World Rally Championship and has a 4-cylinder inline turbocharged 1,998cc engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the competitors in the GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It's a 2007 Ferrari F430 Challenge and was driven in the race by Tony Jones.The car has a 4,308cc V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

This is Tony Jones during the morning qualifying session at Druids Corner.....

.....and here approaching the Knickerbrook chicane during the race.

AC Ace

This car competed in the Drum-Braked Class of the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

It's the 1955 AC Ace of John Arnold, an early car with the straight-six AC 1,991cc engine derived from the one John Weller designed in 1919 for the AC Six, which was produced from 1920 to 1929. Later versions of the AC Ace were powered by a 1,971cc straight-six Bristol engine.

On 3 February 2016 I showed a photograph of this car at Donington Park in 2005.

Cooper T45/51

This car took part in the HGPCA Pre '66 Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1958 Cooper T45/51 of Rod Jolley and is pictured during the race at Lodge Corner. The car has a 4-cylinder inline 2,495cc Coventry Climax FPF engine and is a 1958 T45 model uprated to the specifications of the 1959 T51, and is chassis #F2-23A-58.

Jaguar XJR-5

This car competed in the 2 hour long British Empire Trophy race at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001 driven by Paul Chudecki and 'to be nominated'.

It's the 1984 Jaguar XJR-5 of Don Miles, a car that was actually designed and built in the USA by the American Group 44 team of Bob Tullius, with backing from Jaguar, with the intention of competing in the IMSA GTP class at the Le Mans 24 Hour race. The two cars entered in the 1984 Le Mans race failed to finish, but in 1985 although one car again failed to finish the other car, driven by Bob Tullius, Chip Robinson and Claude Ballot-Léna, finished in 13th place and first in the GTP class. The XJR-5 originally had a 5,955cc V12 engine, but according to the programme of the event the car at Silverstone in 2001 had a 6½ litre engine.

Lotus 16

This car competed in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's Philip Walker's 1959 Lotus 16, a car designed to compete in both Formula 1 and Formula 2 races, the bodywork being designed by Frank Costin who was responsible for the aerodynamic body of the 1956 Vanwall. Philip Walker's car has a 2,495cc engine, presumably the 4-cylinder inline Coventry Climax FPF unit. The Lotus 16 was campaigned by Lotus from 1958 till early 1960 when it was superseded by the Lotus 18, and its best result in that time was fourth place in the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix driven by Innes Ireland. Eight cars were produced in that period, and it seems that this car is chassis #368.

On 3 September 2014 I showed a photograph of Philip Walker in this car at Oulton Park in 1996.

Cadillac 30 Limousine

This was one of the participants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1991 and is pictured in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the run.

It's a 1911 Cadillac 30 Limousine, a car that was based on the 1907 Model G, and was produced from 1909 to 1911. The 1911 model had a 286.3 cu (4,692cc) engine. The programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

1911 Cadillac 30 Limousine

Reg:  DS 8678  4 cylinder  30hp

(C.R.Unsworth, Ashton-in-Makerfield)

Imported from a San Francisco museum last August, this "Open Drive" Cadillac has four separately cast cylinders, each with its own copper water jacket. It sports Fisher Coachwork, and is driven today by William Ellam.

Amilcar CO

This car took part in the 'Cars Built before 1935' class in the HGPCA Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2002.

It's the 1927 Amilcar CO of Belgian Paul Grant, and has a supercharged 1100cc 6-cylinder inline engine. Manufactured in St Denis, Paris the Amilcar concern was founded in 1921 and the factory closed in 1934 but in that time it built up a short but successful racing history. There's an Amilcar register that was formed in 1955 and you can read about it here.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 celebrated 50 years of Formula One and today's photograph shows two cars in the pit lane setting out as part of a parade of cars round the circuit marking the event.

There were two Ferrari Dino 246 F1 cars listed in the Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars Race in the programme of the event, that of Nigel Corner, chassis #0007, number 52 in the race, and Robin Lodge's car, chassis #0006. Robin Lodge has two cars listed for this race, the Ferrari and his recently re-created 1954 Lancia D50, both numbered 42, because of a doubt about the eligibility of the Lancia to take part. In the end Robin Lodge drove the Lancia and the Ferrari took part in the race driven by Willie Green, and it looks as if it was renumbered as 54 - the highest numbered car in the race programme being 53. The blue car behind the Ferrari is the 1949 Talbot Lago T26C of Tony Bianchi that took part in the Pre 1952 Grand Prix Cars Race, and is chassis #110 008.

Supermarine Spitfire

Because of the proximity of East Midlands Airport (the circuit is just across the road from one end of the runway) aircraft taking off or landing are a familiar sight during meetings at Donington Park. Most of the meetings I've attended there have also included a short flying display during the lunch break, and the SeeRed meeting in September 2006 was no exception.

I made a note at the time that this was a Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk XIX which was a photo reconnaissance version of the aircraft, and this one bears the black and white stripes that were painted on allied aircraft to reduce the chances that they would be fired on by friendly forces during and after the Normandy Landings. It appears to be the aircraft that is now registered G-RRGN.

Porsche 935

This car competed in the AMOC Intermarque Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

It's Richard Chamberlain's 1974 Porsche 935, shown in the programme of the event to have a 3,200cc engine. The car was apparently converted from a 1974 Porsche 911E and appears to have a 3,164cc twin-turbo Flat-6 Porsche 935 engine.

Aston Martin C-Type Speed Model

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

It's an Aston Martin C-Type Speed Model, but although it has a racing number it isn't listed in the programme of the event. The number on the car appears to be '12', and car number 12 in the Pre-War Sports Car Race was the 1935 Aston Martin Ulster of Simon Draper, which he was due to share with David Clark. As Simon Draper also owned an Aston Martin C-Type it's possible this car was switched for the Ulster. The Speed Model was developed from the Ulster with the straight four 1,481cc engine enlarged to 1,949cc. The new car was intended to be entered in the 1936 Le Mans 24 Hour race where the homologation regulations required 25 models to be made, but in the end the Le Mans race was cancelled due to a general strike in France. The works Speed Model cars were quickly sold but the other cars proved difficult to sell because of a perceived lack of power. In the end the last 8 chassis were given the more streamlined body as seen above and these vehicles were dubbed the C-Type. The DVLA record say that FZ 8212 is a 1940 car and the engine has a capacity of 1,998cc.

Maseratis

These two cars competed in the Historic Seaman Trophy Race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

The nearest car is Stephan Rettenmaier's 1934 Maserati 8CM, chassis #3020. The Maserati 8CM had a strengthened version of the 4CM chassis with a supercharged 2,991cc straight-8 engine and was raced by the Maserati team from 1933 to 1935. The car behind it is the 1934 Maserati 6C34, chassis #3023, of Josef Rettenmaier which has a supercharged 3,724cc straight-6 engine and was the first six-cylinder car made by Maserati. Five cars were built between 1934 and 1935.