Renault Alpine A110

This was one of the competitors in the HSCC Post-Historic Road Sports Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1986.

It's the 1969 Renault Alpine A110 of Sam Thomasson with the 4-cylinder inline 1,565cc engine that powered the Renault 16. The car was in production from 1961 to 1977 and was a successful rally car in the early 1970s. Although it is shown as a Renault Alpine in the programme of the event the Alpine company wasn't bought-out by Renault till 1973, so this car is strictly speaking an Alpine 110.

On 18 September 2016 I showed a photograph of this same car that I'd taken at the HSCC meeting at Oulton Park in May 1986 when it displayed what is apparently a French registration - 3093 MG 59.

Maserati & Lotus

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the Chopard Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

Leading the race is the 1957 Maserati 250F, chassis 2531, of Thomas Bscher, a car that was built with a 2,491cc V12 engine instead of the usual 2,490cc straight-6 unit. When Maserati disbanded the racing team at the end of the 1957 season the car was sold minus the engine and at one point acquired a Chevrolet V8 engine which was later replaced with a 3 litre V12 unit from a Maserati Tipo 63. The programme of the Silverstone event shows the engine capacity as 2,500cc. The car challenging the Maserati for the lead is the 2,200cc 1958 Lotus 16 of Chris Drake followed by the Maserati 250F of Jeffrey Pattinson, Tony Smith's Aston Martin DBR4 and what looks to be the ERA R9B of Peter Mann.

On 5 September 2015 I showed photographs of the Maserati 250F V12 that I had taken at Donington Park in  2005.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars taking part in 'A Demonstration of Italian Racing Cars' at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005, and it's seen at McLeans Corner.

It's John Fenning's 1980 Ferrari 312 T5, chassis 048 being driven by Mike Littlewood, and the car has the same 2,992cc flat-12 Ferrari 015 engine that powered all the 312T cars. Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve drove the T5 in the 1980 season, but didn't manage to win a single Grand Prix, their best efforts being three fifth place finishes, two for Villeneuve and one for Scheckter. Jody Scheckter retired from racing at the end of that season.

Brabham BT30

This car competed in the HSCC Seldon Pre '71 Single Seater Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1986.

It's the 1969 Brabham BT30 of Andrew Fellowes, chassis BT30/8,  with what the programme of the event says was a 1,598cc engine. The BT30 was built as a Formula 2 car when the capacity limit was set at 1,600cc and was usually powered by a 4-cylinder inline 1,599cc Ford Cosworth engine.

On 21 November 2015 I showed a photograph of BT30 /15 at Silverstone in 2004.

Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato

This was one of the competitors in the BRDC '60s GT Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

2 VEV is one of four special lightweight versions of the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato and is one of two such cars produced for John Ogier's Essex Racing team for the 1961 season. It had the straight-6 twin overhead cam 3,670cc engine and is chassis DB4GT/183/R, and its first race, together with the other Essex Racing Team car was the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hour Race where it was driven by Australians Lex Davison and Bib Stilwell. Both cars retired early in the race suffering from overheating because the cylinder heads had not been correctly tightened after engine rebuilds. It was subsequently driven to fourth place (stablemate 1 VEV finishing in third place) in the 1961 RAC Tourist Trophy Race at Goodwood by Jim Clark. The car was driven at this Silverstone meeting by Nick Cussons and the programme of the event says that its engine capacity was 3,761cc.

This is a photograph I took 31 years previously at the 1961 British Grand Prix meeting where the car had its second outing for the Essex Racing Team in the supporting GT race. It was driven by Lex Davison, who won the race ahead of the Jaguar E-Type of Jack Sears.

1926 Morris Cowley

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1986, starting from the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.

It's a 1926 Morris Cowley, popularly known as the 'Bullnose' because of the rounded radiator cowling, and is seen here moving up to the start line. The programme of the event had this note about the car:

95   1926 Morris Cowley

        Reg:  UM 2490  4 cylinder  11.9 hp  1200cc

        (Geoffrey Bull, Birchencliffe, Huddersfield)

If this two-seater seems familiar, it could be because you've

glimpsed it on television - it has starred in Nanny, The

Mitford Sisters and The Good Companions, driven by

Judy Cornwell.

Although the programme note says that the car has a 1200cc engine, the 1926 Morris Cowley was offered with straight-4 engines of 1,548cc and 1,802cc capacity. To complicate matters even further, the DVLA say the capacity of this car's engine is 1,479cc.

Connaught A-Type

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society's Allcomers Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1952 Connaught A-Type, Chassis A8, of Gerry Walton and was part of the Connaught Works team in 1953, being mainly driven by John Coombes, Stirling Moss and Prince Bira.

The Connaught 1,960cc straight-4 engine developed from the Lea Francis 1,767cc unit.

1975 Shadow DN7 Matra

This car was part of the Donington Collection for 26 years and this is a photograph I took when I visited the museum in May 1989.

It's the 1975 Shadow DN7 Matra, a car that was designed by Tony Southgate to replace the Ford Cosworth-engined DN5 but only competed in two races, the Grands Prix of Austria and Italy, failing to finish in both races. On both occasions the car was driven by Jean-Pierre Jarier and retired with fuel injection problems in the Matra engine which was a 48 valve 2,993cc double overhead camshaft V12 unit. As Matra had contracted to supply engines to the Ligier team in 1976 it was decided not to proceed with development of the Matra-engined car and Shadow reverted to the DN5 for the last race of the 1975 season and the start of the 1976 season until the new Ford Cosworth-engined DN8 was available.

1975 Hesketh 308

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

It's the 1975 Hesketh 308C  of Graham Wilcox, seen here at Luffield Corner during the race. The car has a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine, and it was in one of these cars that James Hunt won his first World Championship race, the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

On 22 April 2013 I showed photographs of the car in the pit garage at this meeting.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed (briefly) in the AMOC Intermarque Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017.

It's the 1995 Ferrari F355 Berlinetta due to be driven by Geoffrey Lewis and Jason Hindle, but pulled out of the race just before Island Bend on the first lap of the race. The car has a 3,496cc 40 valve V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts on each bank of cylinders.

This is the car at Old Hall Corner during the early morning practice session.

On 2 June 2017 I showed more photographs of the car at this meeting.

Lea Francis Hyper TT

I took this photograph during the Williams Trophy Race for Pre-1934 Grand Prix Cars at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's Bryan Gill driving John Gill's 1930 Lea Francis Hyper TT - also known as S-Type - at McLeans corner. The car has a supercharged 4-cylinder inline 1,496cc Meadows engine and it was with one of these cars that Kaye Don won the 1928 Ulster TT on the Ards circuit in Northern Ireland. There's a Lea Francis Owners' Club for enthusiasts and owners of these cars.

Austin Healey 100

I photographed this car at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's a 1956 Austin Healey 100 with the 2,660cc 4-cylinder inline engine that had been used for the earlier Austin A90. Two versions of the Austin Healey 100 were produced, the BN1 from 1953 to 1955 and the BN2 from 1955 to 1956, the main difference being that the BN2 had a 4-speed gearbox instead of the 3-speed one of the earlier model. The car is chassis number 231197 and still exists, but it's now a metallic blue colour.

Porsche 956

This is one of the cars that took part in the 2 hour long British Empire Trophy race for Group C Endurance Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's the Brunn Racing 1983 Porsche 956 that was driven in the race by Philipp and Siggi Brunn from Germany and has a 24-valve twin turbo 2,650cc flat-6 engine. The programme of the event says:

'At least five of the 956/962 cars will be racing this weekend, and three of them have a significant Le Mans history. Away from the 24-hour race, the 956 of Philipp Brunn is a short-tail car that was rebuilt after a major accident in Japan in 1984. Prior to that, it had won the 1993 All-Japan Sportscar title with a driver line-up headed by Vern Schuppan.'

The reference to the car being rebuilt after a 1984 accident in Japan points to it being chassis #956-108, which was written off at Fuji in 1984 and rebuilt using chassis #956B-118.

André Pilette

This photograph was taken in the paddock at Aintree during practice for the Aintree 200 race in April 1961.

It's the Belgian racing driver André Pilette who competed sporadically in Grand Prix races between 1951 and 1964 for three Belgian racing teams, for Équipe Gordini, and a single race for Scuderia Ferrari in 1956 when he drove a Lancia-Ferrari D50 in the Belgian Grand Prix, continuing Ferrari's tradition of fielding a car in that race painted in Belgium's national racing colours and driven by a Belgian driver. In the Aintree 200 race he drove an Écurie Nationale Belge Emeryson Maserati and finished in 16th place.

1932 Alfa Romeo 8C

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C of Anthony Bamford which was driven in the race by Willie Green and has a 2.6 litre straight-8 engine.  The programme of the event says:

'Willie Green drives a very historic 8 cylinder 2600cc sports Alfa Romeo belonging to Anthony Bamford. This is the car well known in prewar speed trials when it was successfully driven by G. Bagratouni, an Italian then living in this country. Despite its heavier body by the Italian coachbuilders, Touring, AMO 999 may well be amongst the Monzas with Willie Green at the wheel'

This photograph wasn't taken during that race, though, but during an earlier handicap race - although it isn't shown in the entry list for that race in the programme of the event. The car following it is the 1933 Sunbeam Speed 20 of R.J.R. Sevier which has a 2.9 litre straight-6 engine. The photograph was taken at Foster's Corner on the short circuit at Oulton Park which omits the loop beween Cascades and Knickerbrook.

1950s Sports Racing Cars

I took this photograph at Redgate Corner on the first lap of the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

Leading is the 4.7 litre 1959 Lister Corvette of Jamie McIntyre followed by the 2 litre 1959 Lotus 15 of his brother Ewan McIntyre. The green car on the outside is the 5.4 litre 1952 Allard J2X Le Mans of Tom Walker ahead of the red 2 litre 1959 Cooper Monaco of Paul Woolley. The yellow car is the 1.2 litre Widi-Climax of Rupert Wood and behind that are two Cooper Monacos, neither of which are listed in the programme of the event for this race. The one on the left, however, looks like that of Mark Clubb who competed in the BRDC Historic Sports Car race the previous day in his 2 litre 1959 model, and the other one could be the 2 litre 1959 car of Graeme Dodd who also took part in that race. The car with the motorcycle mudguards on the extreme left of the picture is the 2 litre 1953 Cooper Bristol T24 of Peter Mann, driven by John Ure, and next to that another Lister, which looks like the 3.8 litre 1959 Lister Knobbly of Barry Wood.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed in the Italian Historic Car Cup race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB/C of Ross Warburton and was driven in the one hour long race by the owner and Andy Newall. This was the competition version of the 275 GTB and has a 3,286cc V12 engine with a single overhead camshaft per bank. It was originally owned by the Swiss Scuderia Filipinetti and is chassis #09079.

I've shown photographs of the Ferrari 275 GTB/C three times previously, most recently on 4 December 2015.

Maserati 250F

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting in June 1975.

Both 1957 Maserati 250Fs, number 3 being that of Patrick Lindsay, chassis #2527 and number 1 being the car of Neil Corner, chassis #2528. The Maserati 250F has a 6-cylinder inline 2,490cc engine and was developed from the earlier A6GCM car to run in Formula 1 World Championship races when the regulations allowed an engine capacity of 2½ litres from 1954. The Maserati 250F competed in every year of that 2½ litre Championship from the first race of 1954 to the last race of 1960 and Juan Fangio became World Champion in 1957 driving for the Maserati team.

Daimler CVG6

This bus took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1956 Daimler CVG6 with a Northern Counties H58C body and with what the DVLA record says is an 8.6 litre diesel engine. It was entered for the event by D.A. Jones of Burnley and was originally operated by the Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Transport and Electricity Board, SHMD for short.

On 19 June 2016 I showed a photograph of this bus at the 1996 Trans Lancs Rally, and the programme notes in 1995 were the same as those I reported on that occasion.

Group C/GTP Sports Cars

This is a photograph of the leaders rounding Redgate Corner at the start of the Group C/GTP Sports Car Race during the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

Leading is Justin Law in his 7 litre V12 1990 Jaguar XJR-12 and alongside him is the 3 litre flat-six twin turbo Porsche 962C 0f Mark Sumpter. Behind the Jaguar is the 7.2 litre V8 1991 Intrepid RM-1 of Brian Devries and further back the dark blue car is the 3.5 litre V8 1990 Nissan R90C of Nick Randall. At the rear is the V8 1990 Spice SE90 Chevrolet of Fredy Kumschick and behind the Porsche is another car, but I can't make out what it is.

Cooper MG

These three cars are lined up in the paddock outside the pit garages at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

The car furthest away from the camera is a 1954 Frazer Nash Sebring and next to that a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica, a car that was produced between 1948 and 1953. All the post-war Frazer Nash cars had the 1,971cc straight-6 Bristol engine. The car nearest the camera is a 1952 Cooper T21 MG, chassis #1455, originally built for Horace Porteous of Abergele, and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,466cc MG XPAG engine.

1929 Packard

This car took part in the Concours d'Elegance at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

The only information in the programme of the event is that it is a 1929 Packard and was entered by H.U.P. Edwards. The DVLA now has no record of 620 WJH and I can only assume that it's been repatriated to the USA at some time in the intervening years. As far as I can ascertain all 1929 Packards were produced with straight-8 engines of either 319 cu in (5.2 litres) or 384 cu in (6.3 litres).

Alvis TD21

This car was on the stand of the Alvis Owners Club at the Northern Classic Car Show in the Belle Vue Exhibition Halls, Manchester, in September 1986.

It's an Alvis TD21 Series II, 285 of which were produced between 1962 and 1963 following on from the 784 Series I cars that were made between 1958 and 1961. Both cars had the Alvis 2,993cc straight-6 engine and a body by Park Ward, but the Series II had Dunlop disc brakes on all four wheels whereas the Series I had drum brakes on all four wheels till 1959 when the front wheels were given disc brakes.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car in the pit lane during a practice session at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's Alexander Boswell's 1952 Ferrari 625A, chassis #0482, that competed in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race and in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge Series. It was originally a 2-litre Formula 2 Ferrari 500 and competed in World Championship races in the 1952 and 1953 seasons when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. When the 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into effect in 1954 a four cylinder inline 2,498cc engine was fitted to the lengthened Ferrari 500 chassis and the car was redesignated a Ferrari 625. Later in 1954 a 2,942cc 4-cylinder inline engine from a Ferrari 735 sports car was installed and the car was raced in Australia by Peter Whitehead.

I've featured photographs of this car several time, most recently on 4 January 2019.

Maserati Tipo 63

This car took part in a Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Belgian Edmond Pery's 1961 Maserati Tipo 63 and has a rear mounted 3 litre V12 engine. The history of the car is confusing (as with many Maseratis) but appears to have been reconstructed by Edmond Pery from chassis 63002 LWB which was originally one of the two Tipo 63s acquired by American Briggs Cunningham.

On 5 September 2016 I showed a photograph of this car at the 1996 Coys meeting at Silverstone.

ERA R12B

This is one of nine ERAs that competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1971.

It's the 1936 ERA R12B of Bill Morris, previously one of the White Mouse stable's trio of ERAs driven by Prince Bira, where it was given the name 'Hanuman'. It was originally built with a 2 litre engine as a B-type car, but in 1937 it was rebuilt to C-type specifications, thus becoming R12C, and given a 1½ litre engine. In 1939 the car was badly damaged in a crash during practice at Reims and was rebuilt with a B-type frame, reverting to being R12B and the name changing to 'Hanuman II'. After passing through various hands after the Second World War it came to Bill Morris. 

Some years after the photograph above was taken Bill Morris had also acquired the rest of the wreckage left over from the 1939 crash and using the damaged chassis frame rebuilt the car to its 1939 C-type specifications. That car was now R12C, as if the 1939 accident had never happened, and was given the original car's name of 'Hanuman'.

Cooper T53

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars Race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1961 Cooper T53 of Ted Rollason and according to the programme of the event had a 2,700cc engine. It is apparently chassis F1-1-61, a car that was originally campaigned by the Yeoman Credit Racing team in the 1961 season, driven by John Surtees and Roy Salvadori. After taking part in the 1961-62 South African Springbok series the car was sold to a driver from Rhodesia, given an Alfa Romeo engine and was seen sporadically in Rhodesia and South Africa until 1967 when it was destroyed in a crash at Kyalami while being driven by Rhodesian driver John Coetzer. The remains of the car were acquired by Ivan Glasby and eventually sold to John Harper in the UK who rebuilt the car with a new frame, completing the task in 1999. Ted Rollason took over the car in 2001, competing with it for several years before selling it to German Wulf Goetze in 2014.

I've featured the Cooper T53 three times previously, most recently on 30 January 2019.

Lotus 88B

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

It's the controversial 1981 Lotus 88B that never actually started a Grand Prix race. It was created by Colin Chapman and his design team of Tony Rudd, Peter Wright and Martin Ogilvie and effectively had two chassis to take advantage of the downforce produced by ground effects cars, and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine. The other F1 teams queried the legality of this twin chassis layout and for the first three Grands Prix of the 1981 season the original Lotus 88 passed scrutineering but was then not allowed to take part in the races. Minor changes were made to the car before the British Grand Prix to create the Lotus 88B, but the car was not even allowed to be presented for scrutineering. You can read the full story of the car in this auto123.com article.

On 18 January 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at the 1995 Coys meeting at Silverstone.

McLaren M6B

This car competed in the HSCC Pre'80 Endurance Challenge race at the Gold Cup Meeting at Oulton Park in August 2018.

It's Anthony Taylor's 1968 McLaren M6B which the programme of the event says has a 5 litre engine.

The M6B was the customer version of the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team's M6A which was built for the 1967 Can-Am season. The customer car was developed in conjunction with McLaren's technical partner Trojan and sold without an engine, but the M6A had a Chevrolet engine and it's likely that this car also has the 307 cu in Chevrolet small-block V8 engine.

Anthony Taylor's car is chassis 50-08 which was originally supplied to Canadian Roger McCaig who used it to contest the 1969 Can-Am series He then sold it to fellow Canadian Ranier Brezinka who used it to compete in the 1970 Can-Am series but crashed and wrecked the car at the Road Atlanta race. The remains of the car, excluding the severely damaged tub were sold to Doug Rowe, and some years later Ranier Brezinka sold the damaged tub to Anthony Taylor who acquired the remaining parts from Doug Rowe and used these to help rebuilt the car.

I've shown photographs of the McLaren M6B previously, most recently on 28 November 2017.

Cisitalia D46

This car took part in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting in May 2004.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1946 Cisitalia D46, a car that was designed by Dante Giacosa based on Fiat parts to participate in voiturette racing in the years immediately following the Second World War. It is powered by the Fiat 1,089cc 4-cylinder inline engine.