1960 Lotus 18

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

It's Michael Schryver's 1960 Lotus 18 with a 4-cylinder 2,495cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. At Monaco in the last season of the 2½ litre Formula in 1960 Stirling Moss in the Rob Walker Racing Team's Lotus 18 gave Lotus their first Grand Prix victory, and also won the United States Grand Prix later that year. In 1961, the first year of the 1½ litre Formula, Stirling Moss repeated his win at Monaco in the Rob Walker car and also won the German Grand Prix.

1929 Napier-Bentley

This photograph was taken on the straight just before Lodge Corner at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Peter Morley in the 1929 Napier-Bentley, a vehicle that he and David Llewellyn created in 1968 using a 24 litre Napier Sea Lion engine which has a 'W' configuration - two banks of four cylinders in a 'V' with a third upright bank between them. The car was originally built on a Sunbeam chassis but after an accident was rebuilt using the chassis of a 1929 8 litre Bentley. It originally had a Bentley radiator cowling, as seen in the photograph I showed on 30 September 2018 of David Llewellyn driving the car at Oulton Park in 1973.

Brabham BT34

I photographed this car at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996 which included a tribute to Sir Jack Brabham who was 70 years old that year.

It's a 1971 Brabham BT34, a car designed by Ron Tauranac who placed the car's radiators in front of the front wheels in order to fit a wing to give downforce at the front. Because of the unusual look of the bulky radiators at the front of the car the BT34 was dubbed the 'lobster claw'. Only one BT34 was built and it was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Graham Hill drove the car in the 1971 season without much success, his best result being fifth place in the Austrian Grand Prix, although he did win the International Trophy Race at Silverstone. In 1972 the car was driven by Carlos Reutemann and Wilson Fittipaldi, the best result being Carlos Reutemann's win in the non-Championship Brazilian Grand Prix. There were track demonstrations at the meeting featuring various Brabham cars in which the BT34 was driven by John Watson.

1957 AC Ace

This car took part in the 20 minute long Pre-1961 Sports and GT Car Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1957 AC Ace of D Emmans, driven in the race by Andy Shepherd. Early Aces were fitted with the 1,991cc straight-6 AC engine, but this car is chassis BE 318, the 'BE' indicating that it has one of the 1,971cc straight-6 Bristol engines. Some later cars were given the 2,553cc Ford Zephyr straight-6 engine.

1937 ERA R8C

This is one of eight ERAs listed as competing in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's the ERA R8C of Bruce Spollon with a straight-6 supercharged 1,496cc engine. The car was originally built for Earl Howe with a B-type chassis as R8B but was rebuilt to C-type specifications before the Second World War. It was drastically modified in the early post-war years with a D-type chassis and streamlined bodywork, but Bruce Spollon returned it to its pre-war specification after he had acquired the car in 1977.

On 30 April 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at Oulton Park in 1987.

Aston Martin

I took this photograph of these two Aston Martins at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

1995 marked the Diamond Jubilee of the Aston Martin Owners' Club and there was a display of a variety of Aston Martin cars in the AMOC's marquee, but these cars were in another part of the paddock. On the left is the Aston Martin DP215, the only one produced, which was built to compete in the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The car had a straight-6 Aston Martin 3,996cc engine (later changed to a 4,164cc unit) and was driven at Le Mans by Phil Hill and Lucien Bianchi but retired in the 4th hour of the race with gearbox problems. On the right is one of only four special lightweight versions of the Aston Martin DB4 Zagato, and one of two such cars which were produced in 1961 for John Ogier's Essex Racing team. It raced in the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hour race, driven by Jack Fairman and Bernard Consten, but retired with engine problems at an early stage. It was subsequently driven by Roy Salvadori to third place in the 1961 RAC TT Race at Goodwood.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of four examples of the Ferrari 250 GT SWB that took part in rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's Vincent Gaye's 1960 model, chassis #2069GT, powered by the Gioacchino Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine and seen here in the pit lane during a practice session. The Ferrari 250 GT SWB was a formidable GT racer, but was equally at home when used as a road car.

Bristol 404

I photographed this car at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1975.

It's a Bristol 404, though the DVLA now has no record of the number so I don't know the year it was built. The Bristol 404 is a two-door coupé which was built from 1953 to 1958 alongside the larger four-door Bristol 405 and has the 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine. Just 52 examples of the 404 were produced and 308 of the 405.

1918 Stutz Bearcat

This car took part in a 5 lap Edwardian Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

The programme of the event has car number 95 in this race as the 1908 Brasier Voiture de Course of Mike Holt, but this is his 1918 Stutz Bearcat. The car is chassis S2306 and was once part of the A.K.Miller Stutz collection in Vermont, USA. Mike Holt obtained the car from that collection in the 1990s as a rusted rolling chassis which was mechanically complete but with no usable body parts, and sourcing the parts and performing the restoration took 12 years. The Stutz Bearcat has a 4-cylinder 6 litre sixteen valve engine with dual ignition.

On 19 May 2016 I showed photographs of this car that I took at Oulton Park in 2008.

1967 Maserati Mistral

I photographed this car in the Maserati Club's area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's a 1967 Maserati Mistral Spyder with a twin-plug double overhead cam straight-6 engine of 4,014cc. A total of 953 Mistrals were built, 828 of them Coupés and 125 Spyders, only 20 of which were right-hand drive like this one.

1927/39 ERA Delage

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's Ray Potter's ERA Delage which appeared alongside nine ERAs in the 29 car field for this race. The car had a 6-cylinder 1,488cc ERA engine with two-stage Roots supercharging, and the programme of the event said this about the it:

'Ray Potter's ERA-Delage has the engine from one of the ill-fated E-type ERAs in a 1927 GP Delage chassis.'

The Delage was one of Albert Lory's 1927 Delage 15 S8 cars which had dominated the 1927 season, winning all four of the European Grand Prix races.

1962 Lotus 24

I took this photograph in the paddock at Aintree on practice day for the Aintree 200 race in April 1962.

It's the 1962 Lotus 24 driven to pole position and to first place in the race by Jim Clark. The Lotus 24 was intended as a customer car to run alongside the Lotus 25 of Team Lotus and was used by the team in this race as the Lotus 25 was not yet ready. Both cars used the Coventry Climax FWMV 1,496cc V8 engine but the 25 had a monocoque chassis as opposed to the conventional spaceframe of the 24. The other Team Lotus car finished in fifth place in the race driven by Trevor Taylor. Jim Clark's car was chassis 948, which was apparently written-off in an accident at the Belgian Grand Prix later that year when being driven by Trevor Taylor.

1990 Spice SE90 Chevrolet

This car competed in the race for Group C/GTP Sports Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's the 1990 Spice SE90 Chevrolet of Fredy Kumschick, a GTP car, and apparently the only one produced with a Chevrolet engine. Originally a Spice USA works car it was sold to Team Auto Toy Store in 1992 and is chassis #013. The photograph was taken at McLean's Corner.

Friday's Ferrari

This car is taking part in the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's the Ferrari 488 Challenge of Palle Kjærsgaard, a car which has a 670hp 3,902cc V8 turbocharged engine developed from that of the Ferrari 488 GTB. The photograph was taken at Club Corner.

1949 Gordini T15

This was one of the entrants in the Allcomers Scratch Race for Historic Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1971.

It's Chris Renwick's 1949 Gordini T15, chassis 0008-GC, which was a works race car till 1950 and was acquired by Chris Renwick in 1971. It was later part of the Donington Collection from 1973 to 1994. The engine of the Gordini T15 was based on a Simca 4-cylinder 1,495cc unit, in which form it competed in Formula Two races, and with the addition of a supercharger it could run in Formula One.

1983 Osella FA1D

This car took part in the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's the 1983 Osella FA1D of Terry Sayles seen at Redgate Corner during a practice session. The 1983 Osella FA1Ds were created from the crashed remains of the 1982 FA1Cs, and were interim cars with the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine that were raced by the team until the Alfa Romeo powered FA1E was available. Piercarlo Ghinzani drove the FA1D for the first three races of the 1983 season and Corrado Fabi for the first eight, but both drivers either failed to qualify or failed to finish in all those races.

1958 Vanwall

This car competed in the Chopard Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's a 1958 Vanwall, chassis VW10, owned by Vijay Mallya and driven in the race by John Harper. The Vanwall was a very successful competitor in Grand Prix races in 1957 and 1958, winning three races in 1957 when Stirling Moss finished second in the World Driver's Championship to Juan Fangio's Maserati 250F. In 1958 the Vanwall won six races but Stirling Moss again ended up in second place in the World Drivers' Championship, this time by only one point to the Ferrari 246 Dino of Mike Hawthorn who only won one race but had five second place finishes to give him the title. Vanwall's Tony Brooks finished in third place in the Championship, but the points that he and Stirling Moss won were enough to give Vanwall the World Constructors' Championship.

1930 Avon Alvis Special

This car competed in two Short Handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

It's the 1930 Avon Alvis Special of Alan Harpley and is based on an Avon Standard Special which had an Avon body on a Standard Nine chassis. Alan Harpley's car has a 1,842cc Alvis engine in place of the usual Standard engine, and narrower bodywork.

1959 AEC Reliance

This is one of the vehicles entered in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1996.

It's a 1959 AEC Reliance with Plaxton Panorama bodywork, and the programme of the event said this about it:

'AEC Reliance, Plaxton Panorama, 1959                                                           129 DPT

Entered by            P. Salmon, Chapelthorpe, Wakefield

The vehicle was purchased new by E. Howe (Spennymore), a founder member of the OK Motor Group. Withdrawn from service in 1979. It was acquired for preservation in 1982.'

Several engines were available for the Reliance, and the DVLA record says that 129 DPT has the 7,790cc AEC AH470 diesel engine.

Two Coopers

This photograph was taken at Donington Park at the SeeRed meeting in September 2005.

On the left is the 1958 Cooper T45 of Bill Kirkpatrick that competed in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy race. The Cooper T45 was derived from the T43 of 1957 that had competed in Grand Prix racing in that year with a 2 litre Coventry Climax engine, but in 1958 the T45 was on equal standing with the other Formula One teams with a 2½ litre unit. Rob Walker's rear-engined 2½ litre Cooper Climax T45 was good enough to win the first two races of the season, the Argentine Grand Prix (Stirling Moss) and the Monaco Grand Prix (Maurice Trintignant), and although Mike Hawthorn with his Ferrari 246 Dino won the World Drivers' Championship that was the last one to be won by a front-engined car. Bill Kirkpatrick's car at Donington Park had a 1,960cc engine. The car next to it is Brian Joliffe's 1955 Cooper T39 Bobtail with a 1,460cc Coventry Climax FWB engine. The T39 was raced in the popular 1½ litre class in sports car races in the mid-1950s, competing against the Lotus Eleven, Maserati 150S, Porsche 550 and others.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph in the paddock at Silverstone at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting in July 1997.

These four cars, all Ferrari 250 GTOs, took part in the Coys of Kensington Ferrari GT Race. All four cars have the 2,953cc Tipo 168/62 Gioacchino Colombo designed V12 engine, the two cars on the left being 1962 cars, and the two on the right 1963. The first car on the left is that of Paul Pappalardo, chassis #5111GT, and originally supplied to French driver Jean Guichet who used it to win the Tour de France in 1963. The next car is chassis #4713GT, one of Anthony Wang's cars, which was driven in the race by Louis Sellyei and is unusual in that it has a Pinin Farina 330 LM body. It was originally owned by Luigi Chinetti and its first major race was the 1963 Le Mans 24 Hour race where it was driven to sixth place overall by David Piper and Masten Gregory. The third car is another of Anthony Wang's cars, chassis #3769GT, and he drove this one in the race himself. This car's first owner was Fernand Tavano, and he and André Simon gave this car its first major outing in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hour race but failed to finish. The last car is the 1962 car of Peter Sachs, chassis #4091GT, which started off with the 1962 GTO bodywork but was re-bodied in December 1963 with a 1964 style body. It was first owned by Sergio Bettoja, but does not appear to have taken part in any major events until it was entered in the 1964 Tour de France where it was driven by Ludivico Scarfiotti and Giampiero Biscaldi. It failed to finish the event.

1979 De Tomaso Longchamp

This was one of the exhibits on the De Tomaso Drivers Club's stand at the Northern Classic Car Show on the G-Mex Exhibition Centre in Manchester in August 1991.

It's a 1979 De Tomaso Longchamp, one of about 410 produced between 1972 and 1986. The Longchamp was powered by the same 351 cu in (5.8 litres) American-built Ford Cleveland V8 engine that was used in the De Tomaso Pantera.

1975 March 75S

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

It's Kevin Cooke's 1975 March 75S, seen here being prepared in the pit garage before the race. Originally intended to replace the unsuccessful March 74S in the European 2-litre Sports Car Championship this completely redesigned car was only able to compete in support races as the European Championship series ended after 1974. The car has a 2-litre BMW M12 engine..

Here's Kevin Cooke at Lodge Corner during the Saturday morning qualifying session.

1967 McLaren M1C Chevrolet

I photographed this car on the straight between Priory and Brooklands corners during a practice session for the AT & T Istel Steigenberger Supersports Cup race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's Wido Roessler driving the Derichs Rennwagen 1967 McLaren M1C, chassis M1C-40-11, with a small-block Chevrolet 4,992cc V8 engine. The M1C was a customer car built to compete in the CanAm series in Canada and the USA, and M1C-40-11 was originally supplied to Carl Haas. It later passed to Ralph Treischman and then Jim Phillips before spending 14 years in Harrah's Museum then coming back to the UK.

1912 Stoewer Open Tourer

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1992, starting in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.

It's a 1912 Stoewer Open Tourer, and the only information about it in the programme of the event is that it was entered by Kevin Bann of Fence, Burnley, and that it ran in the class for cars from 1905 to 1918 of over 20hp RAC rating. The Stoewer company was founded by Emil and Bernhard Stoewer in Stettin (then in Germany) and produced cars from 1899 to 1940. At the end of the Second World War that part of Germany was occupied by the Russians who closed the factory down, and in 1945 Stettin became part of Poland and was renamed Szczecin. I've been unable to find out any more information about this particular car.

1925 Bugatti Type 13 Brescia

The Williams Trophy Race for Pre 1935 2-Seater Racing cars was run alongside the Seaman Trophy for Vintage Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Donington Park in May 2001 and this is one of the cars that competed in that race.

It's the 1925 Bugatti Type 13 of David Marsh which has a 16-valve 4-cylinder inline 1,496cc engine. Five examples of the Type 13 were produced before the First World War and when the war was over Ettore Bugatti prepared the cars for racing. The cars took the first four places in the 1921 Brescia Grand Prix and the Type 13 subsequently became known as the Brescia Bugatti. There was a great demand for the car and its derivations and 2000 were built before production ended in about 1926.

Jean Behra

This is a photograph taken by my brother during practice day at the British Grand Prix meeting at Silverstone in July 1956.

It's French racing driver Jean Behra beside the Maserati 250F that he drove in the race. Officine Alfieri Maserati entered four cars for the race to be driven by Stirling Moss, Jean Behra, Cesare Perdisa and Paco Godia, and there were also seven privately entered Maserati 250Fs. Stirling Moss retired from the race but Jean Behra finished in third place behind the Lancia-Ferraris of Juan Fangio and Peter Collins. The other two works cars and two of the privately entered Maserati 250Fs finished in the first eight in the race, the fourth place finisher being Jack Fairman in a Connaught B-Type. Jean Behra ended the season in fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship behind Juan Fangio, Stirling Moss and Peter Collins.

On 10 July 2016 I showed a photograph that I had taken of Jean Behra at Aintree in 1958.

Friday's Ferrari

Three Ferraris at the exit of the Knickerbrook chicane during the 50 minute long GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

This is the Ferrari F430 Challenge of Wayne Marrs which isn't listed in the programme of the event and he didn't nominate a co-driver for the race. The Ferrari F430 Challenge has the F136 E Ferrari-Maserati 4,308cc V8 engine.

This car is the 1999 Ferrari 360 driven by Matthew Wilton and John Cowan and is powered by the F131 3,586cc V8 engine.

This is the another Ferrari F430 Challenge, that of Tony Jones, who also did not nominate a co-driver. The Ferrari 430 Challenge was in production from 2007 to 2010.

1978 Brabham BT46B

This is a photograph I took at the Donington Park Museum in October 1989 of a controversial Grand Prix car that only competed in one race in this configuration.

It's the 1978 Brabham BT46B, powered by a 2,995cc Alfa Romeo flat-12 engine. This was a Brabham BT46 modified by Gordon Murray in order to counter the dominant Lotus 78, the underside of the body of which was designed to allow the flow of air to 'suck' the car closer to the ground and allow higher cornering speeds. Gordon Murray's answer to this was the enormous fan at the rear of the car, ostensibly to cool the engine but which also had the effect of drawing the air from beneath the car more quickly thus increasing the ground effect. The car only competed in one race in this form, the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix where Nike Lauda won convincingly, helped in no small part in the latter stages of the race when a back-marker dropped oil on the track which proved less of a problem for the Fan Car (as it was dubbed) than for the other competitors. There was lots of controversy about the car as movable aerodynamic devices were not allowed, but FISA accepted that the main purpose of the fan was to cool the engine - which was known to have overheating problems - and the race result was allowed to stand. The Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) was founded that year and Bernie Ecclestone, then owner of Brabham, became Chief Executive of the organisation. Fearing he would lose the support of the other constructors he agreed that the BT46B would not compete in any future races. 

The concept of ground effects is more fully explained in this article.

1979 Lotus 80

This car took part in the Grand Prix Masters race for F1 cars from 1966-1986 at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1979 Lotus 80 of Sid Hoole which has a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. The car was designed by Colin Chapman to maximise the benefits of ground effects produced by the body but it proved to be unsuccessful. Mario Andretti competed in only three Grand Prix races in the car, finishing in third place in Spain and retiring from the Monaco and French Grands Prix.

Jensen S-V8

I photographed this car amongst the cars displayed by various car clubs at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2017.

It's a 2000 Jensen S-V8, one of only about 32 cars produced in an abortive attempt to revive the Jensen name. The cars have the same 4,601cc 32-valve four-camshaft V8 engine that powered the Ford Mustang.