1983 Lotus 92

This was one of the static displays at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 where 50 years of Formula One were celebrated.

It's a 1983 Lotus 92, a car that Nigel Mansell campaigned in the first half of the 1983 season, and the last car to be designed by Colin Chapman before he died in December 1982. The Lotus 92 had a 2,993cc Cosworth DFV engine but wasn't very successful, Nigel Mansell's best result being sixth place in the Detroit Grand Prix with three twelfth place finishes and four retirements. Nigel Mansell drove the Lotus 94T in all but one of the remaining Grand Prix races in 1983 with a bit more success, and drove in the Lotus 93T in the German Grand Prix but failed to finish. He finished in thirteenth place in the World Drivers' Championship that season.

1931 Bugatti Type 51

I photographed this car at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's not got a race number, so I'm not certain that it took part in the meeting, but appears to be a Bugatti Type 51 and I have found an item dated 2008 on a Bugatti website which says that, according to a one-time owner Roger Buxton it was built up on a Type 35C chassis. One of the races at this Donington Park meeting includes an entry for Roger Buxton with a 1931 Bugatti Type 51 with an engine capacity of 2,270cc. The Type 51 usually has a 2,262cc engine, but the DVLA record for ESU 700 shows the capacity as 2,270cc.

1961 Lotus 18

This was one of the competitors in the Aintree 200 race at the Liverpool circuit in April 1961.

It's the 1961 Lotus 18, one of three cars entered in the race by Team Lotus, and was driven by Trevor Taylor. The Lotus 18 was originally built in 1960 to compete in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula Junior races and was campaigned by the Lotus team in the 1960 Grand Prix season with a 2,467cc (later 2,497cc) Coventry Climax FPF 4-cylinder inline engine. In 1961 the regulations were changed limiting engine capacity to 1½ litres, and while Team Lotus mostly used the Lotus 21 for World Championship races the Lotus 18 was still put to use in some non-Championship races. The engine used in 1961 was the 1,500cc version of the Coventry Climax FPF engine. Trevor Taylor qualified in 14th position on the grid for the Aintree 200 race, but retired after 41 laps of the 50 lap race. The other two Team Lotus cars finished in 9th and 10th places respectively in the hands of Jim Clark and Innes Ireland.

Aston Martin Owners Club

The Aston Martin Owners Club has organised race meetings at Oulton Park for many years, and this photograph was taken at the 2002 meeting, in May of that year.

It's the start of Race 2 at that meeting, the long-winded sounding 'Pre-War Feltham Aston Martin Sports Cars + Other Pre-War/50s Sports Cars' race. Leading off the grid is Alan Collett's 2,922cc 1958 Aston Martin DB MkIII (SXT 1), and behind him the 3,780cc 1952 Jaguar C-Type (PUG 676) of Ben Cussons alongside the 2,922cc 1950 Aston Martin DB2 (VMF 65) of Oliver Leyba. Just poking its nose into the picture is another DB MkIII (MSL 277), the red 1958 model of Michael Hudson.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's the 1971 Ferrari 512M of Engelbert Stieger, chassis #1018, and was driven in the race by his son Patrick. The description of the 512M in the barchetta.cc website reads as follows:

'During 1969 Ferrari developed a sports racing model to compete in the 1970 Group 5 Sports Car Championship, this was the 512 S model, built to do battle with the Porsche 917. The regulations required that twenty five examples of the model had to be built to achieve homologation, and in January 1970 Ferrari presented the requisite number of cars to FIA officials in Maranello for inspection. The motive power was a mid-mounted 5 litre V12 engine with Lucas indirect fuel injection, producing a claimed 550bhp @ 8500rpm, coupled to a five speed + reverse transaxle. The body was available in either closed, berlinetta, or open, spider, configuration, and the fibreglass panels were mounted on a semi-monocoque chassis in aluminium with a supplementary steel tube frame. For the Le Mans 24 Hour Race a “coda Lunga”, long tail, body section was available, which was designed to provide greater aerodynamic efficiency on the long Mulsanne Straight.

The 512 S model ran through the 1970 season both as works and private entries, its best result being a victory on its second outing in the 12 Hours of Sebring, this being a works entry driven by Andretti/Giunti/Vacarella, with Andretti joining the driving squad after his own car retired with transmission failure when leading. A 512 S also won the non championship Fuji 200 Mile Race in Japan, and a 512 M version won the Kyalami 9 Hour Race in South Africa. Although there was little to choose in performance between the 512 S and the Porsche 917, the latter had the greater reliability, which enabled it to take the Manufacturers’ Championship.

For the 1971 season, Ferrari concentrated on their 312 P(B) sports prototype, and left the 512 entries to the privateers, although they did offer a revised more aerodynamic body package, which had first appeared on the Kyalami winning car in late 1970. This was called the “M” package, “Modificato” or modified, featuring a more wedge shape flatter profile, and all cars converted to this form were coupés. In the USA the Roger Penske team developed their own 512 M, chassis # 1040, which was the quickest 512 of all time, but like the regular cars didn’t meet with much overall success, with no 512 victories during the season. Late in 1971 chassis # 1010 was fitted with a 7 litre engine and converted to run in the American CanAm series. It managed a 4th place at Watkins Glen driven by Mario Andretti, before the car was sold to the NART organisation.'

#1018 was originally supplied to German driver Georg Loos but at the end of the 1971 season it became part of Pierre Bardinon's Ferrari collection for 20 years before ending up with Englebert Stieger in 1991.

On 4 July 2017 I showed a photograph of Patrick Stieger driving the car in the pit lane at this meeting during a practice session.

1966 RBN Climax

I photographed this car in the paddock at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It looks like a 1950's 'special' based on an Austin or Ford, but the badge says RBN Climax and the 'D' in the registration number indicates that it was registered in 1966. The current DVLA record has scant information but says that FOG 47D is a green car and was registered in 1966, so it appears to be the car I photographed in 2011, and it shows the vehicle to be a Triumph of 1,000cc. It looks therefore that it may be based on a Triumph chassis, and though the 'Climax' part of the name suggests a Coventry Climax engine I believe that it's actually from a Hillman Imp.

1968 Lola T142

This car competed in the Derek Bell Trophy Race at the Historic Sports Car Club's race meeting at Oulton Park in June 2001.

It's the 1968 Formula 5000 Lola T142 of Roger Stones, chassis SL142/21, and was originally sold to Carl Haas. Formula 5000 was for single seater cars with a maximum capacity of 5,000cc, and most cars had American V8 engines of that size with Chevrolet being the most favoured unit. The only information about this car in the programme of this event is that it had a 5 litre engine.

1972 Lotus 72

The Silverstone circuit first opened for racing in 1948, and the Coys International Historic Meeting there in July 1998 commemorated 50 years of racing with, amongst other things, a display of 50 cars, each one representing one of those years.

This is the car that represented 1973, the Lotus 72 that competed in Grand Prix races for six seasons, from 1970 to 1975, winning the World Constructors' Championship three times, in 1970, 1972 and 1973. Lotus Team drivers Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson won 20 Grand Prix races between them in that time, Jochen Rindt winning the 1970 World Drivers' Championship in 1970 despite losing his life in an accident during practice for the Italian Grand Prix late in the season. Emerson Fittipaldi won the 1972 World Drivers' Championship in the car, but it became increasingly less competitive over the next three seasons and was replaced in 1976 by the Lotus 77.

1955 Aston Martin DB3S

This car competed in the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008.

It's the 1955 Aston Martin DB3S of Hubert Fabri with the 6-cylinder inline 2,922cc Lagonda engine and body designed by Frank Feely. It's one of the DB3S customer cars, chassis DB3S/102, and was originally one of three cars provided for Australian Tony Gaze's Kangaroo Stable. Behind the Aston Martin is Benjamin Eastick's Jaguar D-Type, looking like a 1955 car but apparently created from D-Type parts in the 1970s and has chassis number XKD 133.

1931/36 Alvis Silver Eagle

This car competed in a Four Lap Handicap Race and a Ten Lap Scratch Race for Pre-War Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's James Broomfield's 1931/36 Alvis Special which seems to be a 1931 Alvis Speed 20 SA with the 3,571cc engine from a 1936 Alvis Speed 25. There's a short note in the programme of the event that says:

'James Broomfield has the single-seater Silver Eagle Alvis with a Speed 25 engine converted by Tony Bianchi.'

Lotus Mk X

This car took part in he Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1955 Lotus Mk X of Adrian Hall, which is very similar to the Lotus Mk VIII but modified to take the 1,971cc 6-cylinder Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328. The body of the car was designed by Frank Costin, brother of Mike Costin, who together with Keith Duckworth founded Cosworth Engineering.

Friday's Ferrari

This car was a long time resident at the Donington Park Museum which closed just over a year ago, and I took this photograph in March 1996.

It's a 1970 Ferrari 312B which was driven in that season by Jackie Ickx and Clay Regazzoni, Ferrari ending in second place (to Lotus) in the World Constructors Championship. Jackie Ickx finished second in the World Drivers Championship, winning  in Austria, Canada and Mexico, with a second place in Germany, third place in the Netherlands and fourth place in the USA Grand Prix. Clay Regazzoni won in Italy, finished second in Austria, Canada and Mexico, and in fourth place in the Netherlands and in the British Grand Prix. He was third in the Drivers World Championship which was won posthumously by Jochen Rindt, who died following an accident in practice for the Italian Grand Prix.

1973 Chevron B26

This was one of the competitors in the RJB Mining Championship race at the HSCC Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1995 where it competed in the '2 Litre Group 6 cars with Cosworth BD derived engines' class.

It's the 1973 Chevron B26 of Richard Evans, seen here at Lodge Corner during the race. The B26 was a replacement for the B23, and as well as revised suspension and a rear wing it had an aluminium monocoque tub instead of the spaceframe chassis of all the earlier Chevron sports racing cars. It had a 4-cylinder inline 2 litre Ford engine with an aluminium block, which had been designed by Brian Hart and re-engineered by Cosworth. Only 9 of these cars were made, mainly due to lack of demand because of the 1973 oil crisis in the UK.

1990 Nissan R90CK

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

It's the 1990 Nissan R90CK of Nick Randall and it's seen here at McLean's Corner during a practice session. The R90CK was built for Group C racing in Europe and the similar IMSA Grand Touring Prototype (or GTP) racing series in North America. It has a 3,496cc twin turbocharged V8 engine, and Nick Randall's car is chassis NPT90-14.

Nardi Danese

I photographed this car at the Doune Motor Museum near Stirling on a holiday in Scotland in August 1996.

It's a 1947 Nardi Danese, the result of a collaboration between Enrico Nardi and Renato Danese and has a 1,089cc Fiat engine. The car was designed to be fitted with cycle wings so it could be used in sports car races as well as in single seater racing.

Koenig C62

This car was one of the cars being offered in the weekend auction at the Coys International Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's a Koenig C62, built in the early 1990s. Willy Koenig was a wealthy publisher who raced with some success in the 1960s, winning the German Hillclimbing Championship with a Ferrari 250 GT SWB in 1962. In 1974 he modified a Ferrari 365 GT4 BB to make it perform more like the sports racing cars with which he was familiar and this became a hobby, culminating in a business in 1977 offering these modifications to other people. When the FIA Group C and the IMSA GTP Series ended in the early 1990s a large number of cars, many of them Porsche 956 and 962, were left without any races in which to compete. Efforts were made to turn some of these into road legal cars and Koenig created the Koenig C62 using the Porsche 962 as the basis and increasing the size of the flat-6 engine to 3.4 litres. Only three cars were built, one yellow, one red and one black.

1961 Jaguar E-Type

This car competed in the HSCC Classic Sports Car Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1993.

It's Allen Lloyd's 1961 Jaguar E-Type with the 3.8 litre straight-6 Jaguar engine. The car is chassis 850009 and was at one time campaigned by Peter Sargent and Peter Lumsden, finishing in 5th place in the Le Mans 24 Hour race in 1962. Allen Lloyd was at one time President of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust.

Here's the car at Foulstons chicane during the race.

Lister Jaguar Monza

This car competed in the VSCC Flockhart Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's the 1958 Lister Jaguar Monza of Rod Jolley, a car that was created to run in the second Race of Two Worlds in 1958 which was contested by a team of American Indianapolis cars against a motley collection of European cars on the banked oval track at Monza. At the 1957 event Ecurie Ecosse had entered a team of D-Type Jaguars for the race but they fared no better than the other European cars, so for the 1958 race the team built a single seater car with a Lister chassis and a 3.8 litre Jaguar engine. It was built at such short notice that the work was actually completed in the paddock at Monza, leaving no time for it to be painted so it ran in the race with the bare metal finish as seen above, but proved to be slower than the Ecurie Ecosse D-Type Jaguars that also ran in the race. The car ran for a time in historic races in the 1990s painted in the Ecurie Ecosse blue livery, but is now back in its original bare metal finish. Incidentally, to suit the American Indianapolis cars both the 1957 and 1958 races were run anti-clockwise round the Monza track instead of the clockwise direction in which races there were usually run.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the rarer Ferraris I found at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 2009 Ferrari Scuderia Spider 16M with an uprated version of the Ferrari 430's 4,244cc V8 F136 engine. This convertible version of the Ferrari Scuderia was built to commemorate Ferrari's 16th victory in the Formula 1 Constructors' World Championship in 2008 and 499 of the cars were produced.

1966 Atkinson

This was one of the entrants in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1966 Atkinson 'Black Knight' and the Gardner 100 script on the grille indicates that it has a Gardner diesel engine. A note in the programme of the event gave this information about the vehicle:

Atkinson, 1966                                                                NWX466E

Entered by       J.Longson, Preston

New to John Smith's brewery, this vehicle has been completely dismantled and restored by its present owner since purchase in 1988.

1933 Rileys

I photographed these two cars in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993.

They're two of the four Rileys entered by Barrie Gillies for the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy race and the programme of the event gave this information:

'Barrie Gillies has two alternative Riley Six entries, either his 1933 Dixon Riley of 1,991 cc or his Treen Riley with tubular chassis of the same capacity, while his son Mark has to choose between  the 1936 Brooke Special Riley of 1,991 cc or the famous supercharged White Riley, forerunner of the ERAs, of 1,488 cc.'

The car on the left is the Dixon Riley, and on the right is the White Riley.

1955 Lancia D50

This car took part in 'A Demonstration of Italian Racing Cars' at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's a 1955 2½ litre V8 Lancia D50 recreation, at that time owned by Tom Wheatcroft and kept in his museum at Donington Park. Following the withdrawal of the Lancia team from racing at the end of the 1955 season all the D50 cars and spares were handed over to Ferrari with the exception of one car which went to the Fiat Museum and one which went to the Biscaretti Museum. Ferrari raced the cars as Lancia-Ferraris in the 1956 season with some modifications and Juan Fangio won the World Championship that season. For the 1957 season the cars were modified to such an extent that it was redesignated as a Ferrari 801, but didn't enjoy any great success. At the end of the 1957 season with the introduction of the Ferrari 246 F1 car (with which Mike Hawthorn won the 1958 World Championship title) the cars were broken up and the parts stored at the Ferrari factory. From the 1990s these parts have been used to recreate, I understand, seven examples of the car, including one to the specification of the 1956 Lancia-Ferrari. In this photograph the car is being driven in one of the demonstration runs by Kevin Wheatcroft, Tom Wheatcroft's son.

1961 Rochdale Olympic

This was on the stand of the Rochdale Owners Club at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1990.

It's a 1961 Rochdale Olympic Phase 1 which has a glass fibre monocoque body and was sold in kit form with a choice of various engines, this car having a 1,380cc BMC A Series engine.

On 28 January 2019 I showed a photograph of this car, and other Rochdale models, that I had taken at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester in 2018.

1926 Bugatti Type 35T

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silvestone in July 1995.

It's a 1926 Bugatti Type 35T and there's no racing number on it so I don't know if it took part in the meeting. The programme of the event shows German driver Joachim Jantzen taking part in the Pre '52 Grand Prix Car Race in a 1926 Bugatti Type 35T, but this car is painted in the yellow racing colours of Belgium. The Type 35T has a 2,262cc straight-8 engine and this version of the Type 35 was created specifically for the Targa Florio race, which it won in 1926. This was the second of five consecutive victories in that race by Bugatti.

1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkII

This car took part in the Pre War Sports Cars with Feltham Aston Martin race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1956 Aston Martin DB2/4 MkII of Adrian Johnson, and it competed in the Modified Post War Aston Martins Class. This car has the 2,922cc version of the straight-6 Lagonda engine instead of the 2,580cc version used by earlier versions of the MkI model.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed in a round of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series of races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004 and is seen here leaving the pit lane during a practice session.

It's Swiss driver Conrad Ulrich's 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB Berlinetta, better known as the Tour de France, or TdF. Four different versions of the TdF were built between 1955 and 1959 and are identified by the number of louvres in the sail panel behind the side windows. Fourteen examples of the earliest model were produced, and these cars didn't have any louvres. The second version had fourteen louvres and nine of these were built, then seventeen cars were built with three louvres and lastly thirty-seven with one louvre. Conrad Ulrich's car, which is chassis #1141GT, is one of the one louvre models. All the cars have the Giaocchino Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine, and have Scaglietti designed bodies except for five of the Series One model where the bodies were designed by Zagato.

On 25 January 2019 I showed a photograph of the car stationary in the pit lane at this meeting.

Silverstone Pit Lane

This is a photograph I took from the pit wall at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994. It shows the competitors for the Chopard HGPCA 100-Mile GP car race going out for a practice session.

Leading the pack are three red Maserati 250Fs, from left to right Jeffrey Pattinson (no. 8) Burkhard von Schenk (no. 10) and Nigel Corner (no. 5). Number 23 just poking out of the pit garage on the left is the Cooper Bristol of Oliver Robinson  and the light green car in front of him is also a Cooper Bristol, that of Graham Burrows (no. 22). Coming out of the next pit garage is the Cooper T41 of Alan Miles (no. 14) and beyond that Paul Jaye's Alta (no. 18) has just left the garage. In front of Peter Jaye's car is another Alta, that of Ian Nuthall (no. 26), and behind that the Cooper Bristol of Paul Alexander (no. 19). The red car behind that Cooper is another Maserati 250F and it appears to have a number 7 which is shown in the programme as Robin Lodge's car, but he actually drove his Maserati 4CM in the  race (also number 7) and that is the red car at the end of the pit garages. The green car behind the three Maserati 250Fs is the Vanwall of John Harper (no. 1), and on the right behind that is another Maserati 250F which I can't identify as there were another five of these cars in the race. In the far distance is what appears to be ERA R1A or R3A, but there were three ERAs in the race, driven by Tony Merrick, Duncan Ricketts and Tony Stephens and the programme doesn't identify which ERAs those were.

1921 Vauxhall 30/98 E-Type Velox

This car has just left the start point in the Exchange Station car park at the beginning of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1986. That's Manchester Cathedral in the background.

It's the 1921 Vauxhall 30/8 E-Type Velox of Stuart L Baxter of Linthwaite, Huddersfield, and following it is another 1921 30/98, that of John Warburton of Atherton. The Vauxhall 30/98 was produced from 1913 to 1927 and the E-Type had a 4,525cc 4-cylinder inline engine - although the DVLA record says that this particular car's is 3,445cc. The entry for this car in the programme of the event reads as follows:

1921 Vauxhall 30/98 E-Type Velox Tourer,

Reg: TB 3119  4 cylinder  23.8 hp

(Stuart L. Baxter, Linthwaite, Huddersfield)

First registered in Rawtenstall, and still in very

original condition, this Velox competed

regularly at Shelsley Walsh hillclimbs in the

1920's and as a course car at Silverstone as late

as 1960. Mr Baxter also has the original

log-book.

1912 Abbott -Detroit

This was one of the competitors in the 4-Lap Handicap Race for Edwardian Cars  at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

It's the 1912 Abbott-Detroit of David White which the programme of the event says has a 4.7 litre engine. A note in the programme describing the cars in the race says this:

'Another American car is David White's racing-bodied 1912 Abbott-Detroit. These cars were built in Detroit from 1909 to 1916, and then in Cleveland for a further year. Using stock chassis, Abbott-Detroit had some racing successes, winning the Philadelphia Trophy race at Fairmount Park, Pennsylvania, in 1910, and in 1911, the 135-mile Aurora Trophy race at the second Elgin Road Races in Illinois. That year, Abbott-Detroit was also successful in the Algonquin Hillclimb.'

The car is road-registered and the registration number is DS 9104.

Maserati 300S

This car is being refuelled before the start of practice at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's the 1956 Maserati 300S of German driver Hartmut Ibing, which was originally supplied to Spanish driver Francisco Godia-Sales with chassis number 3066 but was renumbered to 3056 when it was modified by the factory and given engine number 3056 in 1958. The Maserati 300S was produced from 1955 to 1959 to challenge for the World Sportscar Championship, and had a 2,993cc straight-6 engine that was derived from the 2½ litre Grand Prix engine used in the Maserati 250F but with a longer stroke.

1959 Maserati T61

This car was listed in the programme as a Reserve entry in the 10 Lap Scratch Race for 1950s Sports Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's Nick Mason's 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2457, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2457 started off life in the USA. After passing through various hands it was acquired by Nick Mason in the 1980s. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.