1915 Overland Tourer

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1992 and is pictured here in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the Run.

The only information about it in the programme of the event is that it's a 1915 Overland Tourer entered by Robert S Kemp of Aughton near Ormskirk. The car was entered in the previous year's run, however, and the 1991 programme gave the following information:

1915 Overland Tourer

Reg: AD 4296  4 cylinder 15/20 hp

(Robert S. Kemp, Aughton)

This Overland was a one-family car for

more than 40 years from new. It is still in

totally original condition, and has only

covered minimal mileage in its lifetime.

Overland Motors was purchased by John North Willys in 1908, and the company was renamed Willys-Overland in 1912 so I suppose this 1915 car should be known as a Willys-Overland. It appears to be a model 83.

1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750

This car competed in two handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's race meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's Robin Toone's 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 with a 6-cylinder inline supercharged 1,752cc engine (though the DVLA shows the engine capacity as 2,056cc), and the chassis number is 0312.956. The 6C 1750 was produced from 1929 to 1933 and had a successful racing history, winning the 1929 Mille Miglia in the hands of Giuseppe Campari and Giulio Ramponi, a feat that was repeated by Tazio Nuvolari and Battista Guidotti in 1930.

1960 Maserati 3500GT

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

It's a 1960 Maserati 3500GT, a model that was produced between 1959 and 1964, and was powered by the 6-cylinder inline 3,485cc Tipo 101 engine developed from that of the Maserati 350S racing car of 1956. The coachwork was designed by Carrozzeria Touring and the car had an aluminium body attached to a tubular steel frame.

Auto Union Typ 650 Sokol

This was one of several vehicles - including a 1937 Auto Union C-Type and 1938 D-Type - that Audi brought to Donington Park to take part in a display and track demonstrations at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting in May 2001.

It's a car that was at one time in the Donington Park museum where it was displayed as an Auto Union E-Type that was designed in 1939 to challenge the Mercedes Benz W165 1½ litre voiurette that had won the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix, but the completion of which had been halted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Tom Wheatcroft was said to have acquired it as a chassis with engine, and a body was designed and built to show how the car would probably have looked had it been completed in 1940.

The Auto Union factory ended up in East Germany after the war and all the racing cars and equipment were removed to Russia. There are suggestions that this car is of post-war East German or Russian manufacture, possibly with the help of pre-war Auto Union design technology, but Audi seemed to be sure enough of its Auto Union origins to have included it in this display at Donington Park in 2001, though I can't find any mention of it in the commemorative 'The Return of Auto Union' brochure or the programme of the event.

1963 Brabham BT6

This car competed in the Historic Formula Racing Cars Pre '65 Single Seater Championship Race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1995.

It's the 1963 Brabham BT6 of Chris Alford, originally built as a Formula Junior car with an engine with a maximum capacity of 1 litre, but according to the programme of the event had a 1,500cc engine. A total of 20 Brabham BT6 Formula Junior cars were built and they are listed on this website, but it doesn't indicate which of these cars was the one owned by Chris Alford.

1949 Veritas Meteor Streamliner

This car was driven by Gerry Porter in the Champagne Charles Heidsieck Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993, although it was originally built and raced as a Formula 2 car.

Ernst Loof, Georg Meier and Lorenz Dietrich formed the Veritas company in 1949 and produced racing cars based on the BMW 328. This car is a 1949 Veritas that Karl Kling had rebodied with a streamlined body by the coachbuilding company Herbmüller, and was powered by a 6-cylinder 1,998cc Meteor engine made by Heinkel. Karl Kling had a considerable amount of success with this car in 1950.

Friday's Ferrari

This car, seen here in the pit lane during a practice session, took part in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series of races at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's the 1954 Ferrari 250 Europa GT of Erich Traber, chassis #0357GT, the first road car to use Gioacchino Colombo's 2,953cc V12 engine, and the first to use the Gran Turismo designation. It has a body by Pinin Farina, and one of its earliest outings was in the 1956 Tour de France race in the hands of Olivier Gendebien and Michel Ringoir.

1955 Jaguar D-Type

This car competed in the Historic Car Championship Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1993.

It's the 1955 Jaguar D-Type of David Pennell, and has the later 3,781cc 6-cylinder inline XK6 engine. The DVLA show it as a 1955 car that was first registered in 1978 but I've not been able to ascertain the chassis number of this car after going through chassis details of all the Jaguar D-Types on the coventryracers.com website.

1986 Brabham BT55

I took this photograph at the Donington Park museum in May 1989.

It's the 1986 Brabham BT55 designed by Gordon Murray and had a 1,499cc 4-cylinder inline BMW M12/13 engine with a single turbocharger. Much of the downforce was created by the rear wing of the car, and as the 4-cylinder BMW engine was taller than the V6 and V8 engines of it's rivals BMW re-designed the engine so that it could be tilted at an angle and therefore allow a better airflow to the rear wing. This created an extremely low car with the driver lying almost flat, but the tilt in the engine also created oil starvation and surge issues when cornering. Brabham's drivers at the start of the season were Riccardo Patrese and Elio de Angelis, but in the first four races of the season there were six retirements with just an eighth place in Brazil for de Angelis and a sixth place in San Marino for Patrese. During the testing of a new wing at the Paul Ricard circuit in France Elio de Angelis left the track after the wing broke and the car flipped several times then landed upside down with the driver trapped in the cockpit. The car caught fire and it took so long to get him out of the car that he suffered from too much smoke inhalation and died in hospital the next day. Derek Warwick joined the team for the rest of the season, but the car performed no better, Patrese managing just a sixth, a seventh and a thirteenth place finish in the remaining races with Warwick having consecutive tenth, ninth, eighth then seventh place finishes followed by a string of retirements.

1969 Lola T70 Chevrolet

I took this photograph on the straight between Priory and Brooklands 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 John Starkey's 1969 Lola T70 Chevrolet, with a 5 litre V8 engine, and appears to be chassis SL76/1138, a car that was rebuilt from the damaged tub of SL76/138 when that car was given a new tub. It appears that at some time since 2010 SL76/138 has been restored using the original tub from SL76/1138, but I don't know what's happened to the car that had been using the new tub.

1956 Aston Martin DB3S

This car took part in the Twelve Lap 1950's Sports Car Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993.

It's the 1956 Aston Martin DB3S of Tony Smith and is chassis #DB3S/10, the last of the team cars to be built and has the 2,992cc 6-cylinder inline Lagonda engine. In 1956 it was driven to fifth place in the GP de Rouen by Roy Salvadori and driven by Peter Walker and Roy Salvadori in the Le Mans 24 Hour race but failed to finish. In 1957 the car finished in third place in the British Empire Trophy race at Oulton Park driven by Noël Cunningham-Reid, and that was its final outing for the Aston Martin team. Peter Whitehead entered the car in the 1957 1000km race at the Nürburgring and finished in ninth place, and the following season the car was acquired by John Dalton.

Jim Clark

I took this photograph in the paddock at Aintree during practice for the 1962 British Grand Prix in July 1962, taking advantage of a pose for a press photographer.

It's Jim Clark, who qualified his Lotus 25 in pole position, led the race from start to finish and also set the fastest lap. He was not so successful in that year's World Championship though, winning only three races because of the fragility of the Lotus, and Graham Hill won the Championship in his BRM P578. The problems with the Lotus 25 were resolved the following season when Jim Clark won the World Championship from Graham Hill by a large margin.

1933 MG J2 Sports

This car competed in a 2 hour long VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-War Sports Cars at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1933 MG J2 Sports of David Downes and has a 4-cylinder inline supercharged 847cc engine. 2083 examples of the J2 were built between 1932 and 1934.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars I photographed at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 2016 Ferrari 458 Speciale, a high performance variant of the 458 Italia. It has the 4,497cc version of the F136 V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

1956 Lotus Eleven

This car took part in the Historic Car Championship Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1956 Lotus Eleven of Roger Biss pictured here in the paddock at what was possibly the wettest meeting I've ever attended. The Lotus Eleven was a completely new car, unlike the previous production Lotuses, the Mk VIII, Mk IX and Mk X which were all based on the Lotus Mk VI. The Eleven had a steel tubular space-frame with stressed aluminium panels, and the aerodynamic body was designed by Frank Costin and was hinged at both ends to give complete access to the engine and other mechanical parts. The car was mainly designed to run in the 1,100cc class of racing, but other engines of up to 2½ litres were also used. Roger Biss's car had a 1,098cc Coventry Climax FWA engine.

1913/18 Vauxhall A/D Type Viper Special

This car competed in the 5 lap race for Edwardian Racing Cars at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's a Vauxhall A/D Type Viper Special, entered for the race by Mrs A Crehan and driven by Michael Crehan. The car was built by David Biggins on a 1913 Vauxhall A Type chassis and has a 1918 11,778cc Hispano Suiza HS-8 V8 aero engine that was built under licence as a Wolseley Viper engine by Wolseley Motors during World War 1.

Bugatti v. Bentley

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the VSCC Bill Phillips Trophy Race at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

On the left is the 1931 Bugatti Type 50 Le Mans of Mike Preston, chassis 50143. The Type 50 had a smaller version of the 5,349cc straight-8 engine of the Type 46, the capacity being reduced to 4,972cc, and was the first Bugatti to race at the Le Mans 24 Hour race, competing there in 1931, 1933, 1934 and 1935. The car on the right is the 1927 Bentley 'Syd Lawrence' Special of Brian Cook. This car was built on a Bentley 3 litre chassis with a 4,398cc straight-4 engine.

1913 Monarch

The Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992 included a short handicap race for Edwardian Cars - only 4 laps long in deference to the age of the cars. This is one of the cars that took part.

It's Mark Walker's 8,237cc 1913 Monarch, and the programme of the event had this note about the car:

'The 4-lap Handicap for Edwardian Cars features Mark Walker's 1913 Monarch which caused a sensation at Mallory Park last month! Having built the car, Walker made a winning debut but had to battle wheel to wheel with Roger Firth in the 1913 Theophile Schneider.

Monarch was a short-lived marque which built cars designed by Robert Hupp (late of Hupmobile) in Detroit from 1913 to 1916. Into the chassis, which Mark bought in the US, he put an OX5 Curtiss V8 aero-engine of 8.2 litre capacity. This was also acquired in the US and was originally fitted to Curtiss JN4 or 'Jenny' training aircraft, as well as to the British DH6, during the First World War. Plain to see are the exposed rockers, each operating both an exhaust and an inlet valve per cylinder, as on the four-pushrod Salmsons and the Fiat with which Nazzaro won the 1907 French Grand Prix. Walker completed the car with a Panhard-Levassor gearbox and other parts, such as the radiator, sourced from the Beaulieu Autojumble.'

1934 Maserati 8CM

This car took part in a Celebration Maserati Invitation Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005 where Maserati was the featured marque.

It's the 1934 Maserati 8CM, chassis #3009, of Sean Danaher which was originally one of two cars purchased by Nelly Braillard of Paris for her Ecurie Braillard where it was driven by Benoit Falchetto and Robert Brunet. It was acquired in the 1990s by Sean Danaher whose company specialised in the restoration of Maseratis, and the restoration was completed by 1999. The car has a 2,992cc straight-8 engine with twin overhead camshafts and a Roots-type supercharger.

1947 Leyland Titan PD1

This was one of the vehicles taking part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in September 1996 in Heaton Park, Manchester.

It's a former Warrington Corporation 1947 Leyland Titan PD1, and the programme of the event said this about it:

Leyland PD1, Leyland Body, 1947                                                                        EED 8

Entered by           R Hughes, Birchwood, Warrington

Former Operator - Warrington. New to Warrington Corporation in 1947, EED 8 later became the Driving vehicle. The current owner received this vehicle in 1976 and very slowly restored it to present condition.

I understand that in 2018 a fire destroyed all but the chassis, running gear and cab, but the owner was determined to set about restoring EED 8 once again.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB of Peter Neumark and is chassis #1917GT. The car has the Gioacchino Columbo 2,953cc V12 engine with a single overhead camshaft per bank, and three twin choke Weber carburettors.

On 29 December 2017 I showed a photograph of this car in the pit lane at Donington Park in 2004.

1963 Marcos Fastback

This was one of the competitors in the Barley Construction Improved Road Sports Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Par in July 1992.

It's the 1963 Marcos Fastback of Bruce Orton and eighteen of these cars were produced in 1963, but the only information about the car in the programme of the event is that it has a 1,650cc engine.

1958 Cooper T43

This car competed in the HGPCA race for Pre-1966 Rear-Engined Grand Prix Cars at the VSCCs meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's the 1958 Cooper T43 of Tania Pilkington and has a 1,960cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. The car was designed for the 1957 Formula One season, but also competed in Formula Two races with the smaller 1,475cc engine. The T43 gave the Cooper Car Company its first Grand Prix victory when Stirling Moss won the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix in Rob Walker's car. Tania Pilkington's car is chassis #F2-24-57, which was originally supplied to Tommy Sopwith.

1989 Jaguar XJR-10

This car took part in the British Empire Trophy Race for IMSA GTP and Group C Endurance cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's the 1989 Jaguar XJR-10 of Don Law Racing that was driven in the race by Justin Law. The car is powered by the V6 3,000cc turbocharged version of the Jaguar JRV-6 engine and was intended for racing in the American IMSA Series - a 3,498cc version of the engine was used in the Jaguar XJR-11 that competed in the Group C World Sports-Prototype Championship. The engine was based on that used in the MG Rover 6R4 Group C racing car and had twin overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, and two Garrett turbochargers.

1977 Triumph TR7 V8

This was one of the exhibits at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Exhibition Centre in Manchester in August 1993, and was probably on the stand of one of the five Triumph car clubs that took part.

It's a 1977 Triumph TR7 V8 in the colours of the British Leyland rally cars from that period. The Triumph TR7 was introduced in 1975 with a 4-cylinder inline engine of 1,998cc that was based on the Triumph Dolomite 1850 engine. British Leyland used this as a rally car in 1976 with a 16-valve engine from a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, and later switched to the 3,528cc Rover V8 engine that was derived from the Buick/Oldsmobile General Motors unit. The road-going version of the rally car was brought into production in 1978 as the Triumph TR8.

1968 Lotus 49

This is one of the cars that took part in a paddock display and track demonstrations to celebrate 50 years of the Formula One World Championship at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the ex-Rob Walker 1968 Lotus 49, chassis R7, and it was driven in the track demonstrations by Jackie Oliver. The Lotus 49 was designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season and, like many of the other teams, the car was powered by the 2,998cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. The Lotus 49 continued to compete in World Championship races until 1970, twice being updated as the 49B and then the 49C. Jackie Oliver never drove for Rob Walker, but was a Team Lotus driver with the Lotus 49 in 1968, finishing in 15th place in the World Championship with his best finish being third place in the Mexican Grand Prix. The Rob Walker car was driven in 1968 and 1969 by Jo Siffert who finished in seventh place in 1968, winning the British Grand Prix, and in ninth place in 1969 with his best effort being second place at Zandvoort in the Dutch Grand Prix. In 1970 the car was driven by Graham Hill, but he didn't manage a podium finish and was thirteenth in the Drivers' World Championship.

1934 Alfa Romeo P3

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It's the 1934 Alfa Romeo P3 of Rodney Felton, chassis #50009, with a 3,165cc twin-supercharged straight-8 engine designed by Vittorio Jano. The P3 was introduced in 1932, and Tazio Nuvolari won two of the three races in the European Championship that season with his team mate Rudolf Caracciola winning the third race. The Alfa Romeo team was suffering financial problems and missed the early part of the 1933 season, but later in the year the cars were handed over to Scuderia Ferrari and won the last two European Championship races of the season. The first two races of the 1934 season were won by Alfa Romeo but the second race, the French Grand Prix, marked the entry of the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars into the fray, and these cars went on to dominate Grand Prix racing until the start of World War 2. The Alfa Romeo P3, however, had its swan song in the 1935 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Tazio Nuvolari beating the 5-car Mercedes Benz and 4-car Auto Union teams.

Friday's Ferrari

This car leaving the pit lane is one of the F1 Ferraris that took part in a series of demonstration runs at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003.

It's a Ferrari 412 T2, one of the cars that contested the 1995 Grand Prix season in the hands of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger. The World Championship was won that season by Michael Schumacher in a Renault powered Benetton B195 with Jean Alesi in fifth place and Gerhard Berger sixth. The only Grand Prix victory for Ferrari that season was Jean Alesi's win in the Canadian Grand Prix, and he also had four second place finishes. Gerhard Berger's best results were six third place finishes.

The programme of the Donington Park meeting doesn't record the names of any of the drivers taking part in the demonstration runs.

Lancia Stratos

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

It's a Lancia Stratos HF, and with a registration number ending with an 'N' it appears to have been first registered between 1 August 1974 and 31 July 1975. The Lancia Stratos HF was an extremely successful rally car in the 1970s, winning the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976, and was powered by a 2,418cc Ferrari Dino V6 engine. The blue and yellow colours of Sweden seem to indicate a link to rally driver Björn Waldegård who drove the Lancia Stratos during that period.

1929 Bentley 4½ Litre

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 the 1929 Bentley 4½ Litre of Russell Squires of Stalybridge and is chassis FB3315. It originally had a Weymann saloon body by Gurney Nutting, but was later rebuilt in the form shown above by Hoffman & Burton. A note in the programme of the event said this about the car:

162   1929 Bentley Tourer

         Reg: UL 4357   4 cylinder   24.9 hp

         (Russell Squires, Stalybridge)

Totally rebuilt in the 1970s by Bentley specialists

Hoffman & Burton, this car won the Daily Mirror

Trophy in 1984, and its class for the past six years.