1929 Rolls Royce Phantom Sedanca de Ville

This was one of the entrants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1993 starting at the Village Hotel in Cheadle, Stockport.

I couldn't get a programme at this event, but this is a 1929 Rolls Royce Phantom Sedanca de Ville with bodywork by Hooper & Co coachbuilders. The registration number is GJ 7791 and it should have a 7,668cc 6-cylinder inline engine. The Phantom (or Phantom 1 as it is sometimes called to distinguish it from the later Phantom models) was produced between 1925 and 1931 at the Rolls Royce factories in Derby, England, and in Springfield Massachusetts in the USA. The wheels and tyres would lead one to imagine that this is one of the American models. The 20 Ghost Club was inaugurated in 1949 to ensure the preservation of pre-1940 Rolls Royce cars and their website has details of all the Rolls Royce models of that period.

1976 Brabham BT45

I took this photograph at the Donington Park museum in March 1996.

Car number 7 is the 1976 Brabham BT45 that was driven mainly by Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann in the 1976 season. The car was designed by Gordon Murray and had a longitudinally mounted 2,995cc flat-12 Alfa Romeo 115-12 engine. Neither driver managed a podium finish with Carlos Pace having three points scoring places - two fourths and a sixth with seven retirements in the sixteen races. Carlos Reutemann's only points scoring finish was a fourth place, and nine retirements in the twelve races in which he competed.
The number 8 car on the left is the 1975 Brabham BT44, also designed by Gordon Murray, and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Carlos Reutemann and Carlos Pace drove the car in the 1975 season, Reutemann winning the German Grand Prix  and Pace the Brazilian Grand Prix.
On the right is the 1979 Brabham BT48, another Gordon Murray car, with a 2,991cc Alfa Romeo 1260 V12 engine designed by Carlo Chiti. The car was driven by Niki Lauda and Nelson Piquet in the 1979 season, but out of the 25 starts between them there were 19 retirements, mainly caused by engine failure. Lauda managed a fourth and a sixth place finish while Piquet had fourth, seventh, eighth and twelfth place finishes.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car in the paddock taking part in a Ferrari Owners' Club Concours d'Elegance event at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione of Stuart Passey, chassis #2209GT. This is the competition version of the Ferrari 250 GT, one of 74 built by Scaglietti, with an aluminium alloy body and the Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine. The car was originally sold to Ardilio Tavoni, apparently an agent for Jo Schlesser who a few days after the purchase drove the car to third place in the 1,000km of Montlhery partnered by André Simon. 

1934 Austin Seven Replica Racer

This car took part in one of the races at the VSCC's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's Peter Relph's 1934 Austin Seven Replica Side Valve Racer and has a supercharged 748cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

1970 Brabham BT33

This car competed in the Silverstone International Trophy Race for Pre 1978 Grand Prix Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's the 1970 Brabham BT33 of Duncan Dayton designed by Ron Tauranac and has a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. The BT33 was driven by Jack Brabham and Rolf Stommelen in the 1970 season, Jack Brabham winning the South African Grand Prix, and with two second places and a third place he finished in sixth place in the World Drivers' Championship. Rolf Stommelen had a third place and three fifth place finishes to end up in eleventh place in the Championship. Duncan Dayton's car is chassis is BT33/1 and was driven by Rolf Stommelen that season.

1987 Mazda 757

I took this photograph at the Old Hairpin during practice for 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 1987 Mazda 757 of Jim Loftis, and the programme of the event had this note about the car;

'Highly experienced racer Jim Loftis – from Arlington, Virginia, USA – will be at the wheel of the Mazdaspeed GTP Prototype 757 that was 15th overall and a class winner at the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours. Loftis started racing in 1984 and has competed in the Daytona 24 Hours, Sebring 12 Hours and at Watkins Glen. He also owns a 1991 Ford Cosworth Spice and a 1985 Porsche 944 GTR. Designed by Nigel Stroud, the 757 has a Mazda triple-rotor engine displacing 654cc per rotor and is good for 480bhp at 8500rpm.'

1937 Maserati 6C

This is one of the cars I photographed during a visit to the Doune Motor Museum when on a family holiday in Scotland in August 1996.

I have the brochure from the museum and that has photographs and details of several of the cars in the collection, but the only mention of this Maserati is in a list of all the vehicles in the collection. I've not been able to ascertain the chassis number of the car, but the board in front of it gives the following information:

'Maserati 6C 1937

In the mid 1930’s the Maserati brothers were
among the first to build single seater racing
cars on a semi-production basis. The 6C was
one of these of which 24 were built between
1936 and 1939. They were usually in direct
competition with the ERA and achieved
numerous successes mainly on the continent.
The engine is six cylinders, 1493 cc and
super-charged, giving 195 bhp at 8700 rpm.
Though not outstandingly fast they proved to
be quick and reliable.'

The museum closed in November 1998.

HSCC Classic Racing Cars

I took these photographs at Britten's chicane at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005 during a race billed as 'Classic Battles of the 1960s' and entitled the 'HSCC Classic Racing Cars for the Retro Track and Air Trophy' race. It was for single seat racing cars from various Formulas of the 1960s, although a few of the cars were from the early 1970s.

This is the 1965 F2 Brabham BT16 of Matthew Watts leading the 1969 F2 Brabham BT30 of Ian Gray.

John Bladon in his 1964 F2 Merlyn Mk9 is leading the 1972 FF Lola T200 of David Wild and the 1967 Formula Libre Brabham BT21A of Roger Bevan. I can't identify the fourth car.

Leading here is the 1970 F3 Brabham BT28 of Richard Unwin with the 1965 Formula Libre Brabham BT14 of Rodger Newman close behind. The third car is the 1963 FJ Cooper T59 of Tony Bailey followed by two cars that I can't identify.

This is the 1966 F2 Cooper T82 BRM of Paul Busby followed by a car I can't identify, then the 1970 FF Nike Mk 6 of William l'Anson and the 1966 F2 Brabham BT18 of David Crowther.

1957 Tojeiro Jaguar

This car competed in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys Internationsl Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's The 1957 Tojeiro Jaguar of Tom McWhirter and has the 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc version of the Jaguar XK6 engine. John Tojeiro started building cars in the early 1950s, the first car being based on an MG TA. Other cars followed and when Cliff Davis decided he wanted a car with more power to replace his Cooper MG John Tojeiro was commissioned to build a car with a Bristol engine with similar bodywork to the Cooper. This car was very successful and attracted the attention of Ernie Bailey who had connections with AC Cars and knew they were looking for a replacement for the AC 2 litre so suggested that they should use the Tojeiro Bristol as a basis for the new car. That car became the AC Ace which in turn attracted the attention of Carroll Shelby who transformed it into the AC Cobra. John Tojeiro in the meantime built four Jaguar engined cars, the first in 1956 for John Ogier and has the registration 7 GNO. The car pictured above is a rebuild of the second car which was also owned by John Ogier who wrecked the car at a hill climb at Stapleford at the end of 1957, the rebuild being completed in 1990. The third car was built in 1958 and was loaned to Ecurie Ecosse but did not have any notable success - as far as I know it is now in New Zealand. The fourth car was built for Ecurie Ecosse in 1959 and competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year but failed to finish, then was wrecked in a crash during the 1959 Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood. It has since been completely restored.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's the 1997 Ferrari F310B of Uwe Meissner, a car that was driven by Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine in the 1997 season, and is pictured here at McLeans Corner during one of the demonstration runs. The 310B was developed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn from the 1996 Ferrari 310 which was designed by John Barnard and has a 2,998cc V10 engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. In the 1997 season Ferrari finished second to Williams in the Constructors' Championship and Schumacher finished second in the Drivers' Championship, but his record for the season was expunged because he deliberately drove into Jacques Villeneuve's car as the Williams driver was overtaking him in the final race of the season, the European Grand Prix in Jerez. Eddie Irvine finished in seventh place in the Drivers' Championship which was won by Jacques Villeneuve. Uwe Meissner's car is chassis number 172.

1933 MG L Type

This car competed in one of the races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's shown in the programme of the event as the 1933 MG L Type of Rob Stansfield and was driven in the race by Wayne Stansfield. Originally built as an MG Magna L1, chassis L0472, with a 1,087cc straight-6 engine it was converted to K3 Magnette specifications by Peter Gregory in the 1990s and has a Marshall supercharger.

1963 Lotus 23B

This car took part in the 2¼ hour long 'Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers' race at the VSCC's meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's the 1963 Lotus 23B that was driven in the race by Fred Boothby and Barry Foster. The Lotus 23 was introduced in 1962 to compete in the smaller classes of sports car  racing and was used with engines with capacities ranging from from 750cc up to 1600cc. The programme of the event shows this car as having a 1,098cc engine, presumably the Ford Kent derived 4-cylinder inline Cosworth MkIV unit. It proved to be an extremely successful car and about 130 examples of the Lotus 23, 23B and 23C were produced between 1962 and 1963.

1961 Lotus 18/21

This is a photograph I took during practice for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1961.

It's the UDT Laystall Racing Team's 1961 Lotus 18/21 that was driven in the race by Lucien Bianchi and is chassis #917. The Lotus 18/21 was a development of the Lotus 18 with which many parts were interchangeable, and had a more streamlined body compared to the rather angular Lotus 18. The car had a 1,500cc 4-cylinder inline Coventry Climax FPF engine, and Lucien Bianchi qualified in 30th and last position on the grid, retiring after 45 laps of the 75 lap race with a broken gearbox.

1991 Chrysler 300 Concept Car

Chrysler Jeep Automotive was the official presenter of the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999 to mark Chrysler's 75th anniversary, and there was a display of Chrysler vehicles in the paddock including the one below.

This is the 1991 Chrysler 300 Concept car, which used the 450hp V10 engine of 488 cu in (or 8 litres) that was under development for the Dodge Viper. It was apparently inspired by the Monteverdi High Speed of the 1970s, but never made it into production. behind it on the left is a Chrysler 300C and on the right a 300G.

This is another Chrysler 300C that was in the display.

1951 Jaguar XK120

This car took part in the HSCC Historic Road Sports Championship race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

It's the 1951 Jaguar XK120 of Melvyn Floyd, originally built with a 6-cylinder inline 3,441cc engine, but having a 3.8 litre engine according to the programme of the event.

Here's the car at Foulstons chicane during the race leading the 1967 Ford Mustang of Adam Simmonds. He is followed by the 1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV of Jonathan Hartop and (I think) the 1971 Lotus Elan of Richard Lawson.

1985 Beatrice Lola_Haas THL1

I photographed this car at the Donington Museum in October 1989 where it wasn't in a proper display, but tucked away in a corner together with a fire engine and a Maserati 250F that I was told didn't belong to the museum but which had been 'left behind after the last race meeting'.

It's the 1985 Beatrice Lola-Haas THL1 that was driven in three of the last five races of the 1985 season by Alan Jones. The car was designed by Neil Oatley and Ross Brawn, and built by the Formula One Race Car Engineering (FORCE) Company - the Lola Car Company had nothing to do with the construction of the car, the name Lola merely referencing the fact that Carl Haas was Lola's North American representative. An agreement had been made for the team to use Ford's twin-turbo Cosworth V6 engine, but as the engine was not ready in time a 4-cylinder inline 1,459cc turbocharged Hart 415T engine was used. In those last five races of the season the car was not allowed to start in the Belgian Grand Prix because the race had been rescheduled from earlier in the season and the car was not in the original entry list, missed the South African Grand Prix as Alan Jones was sick with the flu, and the car retired from the other three races in Italy, Austria and the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch. The new Ford Cosworth powered THL2 car still wasn't ready for the start of the 1986 season so Alan Jones drove the 1985 car in the first two races in Brazil and Portugal, but he retired on each occasion. A second car had been built and was driven by Patrick Tambay in the first three races of the season, and he retired in Brazil and San Marino but finished in eighth place in Portugal.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Historical Challenge series of races at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1962 Ferrari 268SP of Bernie Carl and was driven in the races by Gregor Fisken. The car is chassis #0798 and was built in February 1962 as a Ferrari 248SP but by April of that year the engine had been modified to 268SP specifications, which involved increasing the 2,459cc V8 engine to 2,645cc. It was driven in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hour race by Giancarlo Baghetti and Ludovico Scarfiotti but retired with clutch problems after 18 hours.

1972 Renault Alpine A110

I photographed this car in one of the car parks set aside for various car clubs at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's a 1972 Renault Alpine A110, a car that was produced between 1961 and 1977 and was powered by several different 4-cylinder inline Renault engines in that time. The DVLA record says that this car has a capacity of 1,296cc, which seems to indicate the Renault Cléon-Fonte 804 engine.

1923 Bentley 3 litre

This car was in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's a 1923 Bentley 3 litre, a TT Replica car chassis no. 331, originally built with a 2-seater body by Rippon Brothers that was later replaced by this fabric-covered 4-seater body by Vanden Plas. It has a 4-cylinder inline 2,996cc engine, and was at one time owned by Hugh McCaig, the man who revived Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse in the 1980s after the original team had ceased operating in 1981.

1985 Lotus 97T

This car was one of the display cars in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's a Lotus 97T, a car that was driven by Ayrton Senna in the 1985 season, and was one of the cars displayed by Classic Team Lotus at this meeting. The car was a development of the previous season's Lotus 95T, designed by Gérard Ducarouge and powered by a turbocharged 1,492cc V6 Renault Gordini EF15B engine. Ayrton Senna won two races, the Portugese Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix, and with two second and two third place finishes ended the season in fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship. His team mate Elio de Angelis won the San Marino Grand Prix, and with two third places and a series of minor points-scoring finishes he was one place behind Ayrton Senna in the Championship at the end of the season.

1952 Lester MG

This car took part in the Coys Race for Pre-1959 Drum Brake Sports Cars at the Gold Cup Meeting at Oulton Park in August 2002.

It's the 1952 Lester MG of George Edney, one of about ten cars built by Harry Lester between 1949 and 1955. They were MG drivetrain and chassis components with a frame constructed from round tubing and streamlined bodywork. The Lester cars were usually powered by an MG XPAG engine which  was introduced after Morris had taken over MG and was based on the 1,250cc OHV engine of the 1938 Morris Ten. It was first used in the MG TB and subsequently in the TC, TD, TF and Y models. The one in this car was from an MG TC and was modified to give a capacity of 1,467cc.

1954 Fordson E83W

I photographed this van at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's a Fordson E83W. The DVLA record says that LBE 237 is a 1954 Ford, has a 1,500cc engine, and its colour is green. The Fordson E83W was produced between 1938 and 1957 and had a 4-cylinder inline 1,172 Ford 10hp side-valve engine with a 3-speed gearbox.

1961 MG Midget

This car took part in the 20 minute long Equipe GTS Series race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's Richard McKoen's 1961 MG Midget, one of the 25,681 that were produced between 1961 and 1964. The MG Midget was a badge-engineered version of the Austin Healey Sprite, albeit with a different front end which didn't feature the famous 'frogeye' headlights. The 1961 model had a 4-cylinder inline 948cc BMC A-Series engine, although Richard McKoen's car has the 1,098cc engine that was not introduced until 1962.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4 and has the 4-cam version of the 3,286cc Tipo 226 Gioacchino Colombo V12 engine. I've seen this car described as chassis #09999, and if this is so the first owner of the car was Alexander Onassis, son of the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

1956 AC Ace

This car took part in the race for Pre-War/Feltham Aston Martin Sports Cars + Other Pre-War/50s Sports Cars at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

It's Tony Hill's 1956 AC Ace, with what the programme of the event says is a 2,600cc engine, presumably the 2,553cc 6-cylinder inline Ford Zephyr engine that was fitted to some cars from 1961 to the end of production in 1963.

1988 Porsche 962C

This was one of the competitors 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 Andy Purdie's 1988 Porsche 962C GTi, a car formerly campaigned by the Richard Lloyd Racing team. Porsche produced 91 examples of the 962 for World Sportscar Championship and IMSA GTP racing, the World Sportscar Championship cars being marked by the 'C' suffix and powered by the Porsche Flat-6 twin turbocharged 2,869cc engine.

1968 Pontiac Catalina

This was one of the exhibits at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1968 Pontiac Catalina - apparently the only one in the UK - and has a 400 cu in (6.6 litre) V8 engine. The story of the car is told on the note in the windscreen:

1968 Pontiac Catalina
Imported in 2016 from Discovery Bay in California, around 60 miles from San Francisco, where it spent all of its life. The predominantly dry and sunny Californian weather has helped the car stay completely rust free, however the sun out there is notorious for ruining upholstery, so it has been treated to a brand new interior and vinyl roof. It has been fitted with modern sports alloy wheels, and although not in keeping withthe originality, they certainly make the car look sleek and flashy!
The car has a sweet sounding 6.6 litre V8 engine, with a 'bomb-proof' Turbo Hydra Matic THM400 auto gearbox, which copes very well with the huge performance from the powerful V8 engine. The side exhausts help enhance the 'aggressive' growl of the engine; people sure know when it's passing by.
We have named the car 'Waylon' after the awesome country singer, Waylon Jennings. We are all so excited about owning this car; we plan to keep it forever!

1963 Aston Martin DP214

This was one of the competitors in the Coys of Kensington GT Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's Simon Draper's 1963 Aston Martin DP214 in which he shared the driving in the race with Gary Pearson. This was one of two Project 214 cars built (the other being completely destroyed in an accident at the Nürburgring in 1964) and was based on DB4GT chassis 0194/R with the 3,670cc straight-6 engine bored out to 3,750cc.The car ran in the Le Mans 24 Hour race twice, retiring after 11 hours with a broken piston when in third place in 1963 driven by Bill Kimberley and Jo Schlesser, and in 1964 it was driven by Mike Salmon and Peter Sutcliffe but was disqualified after 18 hours for topping up with oil before the permitted time. It was in eleventh place at the time.

1967 Lancia Fulvia Sport

This car competed in the HSCC Historic Roadsports Championship Race at the Historic Sports Car Club's race meeting at Oulton Park in June 2001.

It's Julian Peirson's 1967 Lancia Fulvia Sport 1.3, and it's a Series I model with a 1,298cc V4 engine. The Fulvia Sport had a fastback body designed and made by Zagato - the programme of the event lists it as a Lancia Fulvia Zagato - and was mechanically based on the Fulvia Coupé.

1955 Maserati 300S

This is one of the competitors in the 1950s Drum-Braked Sports Racing Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1955 Maserati 300S of Rodney Smith, chassis #3060, and was driven in the race by Mark Gillies. The Maserati 300S has a 6-cylinder engine based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a lengthened stroke to bring the capacity up to 2,991cc. The car's first major race was the 1956 Sebring 12 Hour race where it was driven by Cesare Perdisa and Carlos Menditéguy, but Menditéguy crashed and overturned the car during the race. The car was then badly damaged when the trailer retrieving it was hit by a truck. The rebuild wasn't completed till 1957, but on its return to Sebring in 1959 the car was once again badly damaged in Edwin Lawrence's fatal accident during practice. It was rebuilt yet again with a fibreglass body, and later a 3.9 litre Chevrolet V8 engine was installed.  The car was fully restored to its current form in the early 1990s.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars that featured in a tribute to Ferrari at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997, taking part in a paddock display and track demonstration.

This particular track demonstration took place during a spell of extremely wet weather, and this is a 1949 Ferrari 166 F2 car, Ferrari's first single-seat racing car, chassis #011F. The car was driven early in his career by Juan Manuel Fangio, and also by José Froilán Gonzáles, and is powered by a Gioacchino Colombo designed 1,995cc V12 engine.