1956 Cooper T39

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Race for pre 1959 Drum Brake Sports Cars at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004. 

It's a 1956 Cooper T39 of George Cooper (no relation as far as I know), more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,450cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1971 McLaren M19A

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

It's the Otford Group's 1971 McLaren M19A, and was driven in the race by James Wallis. The car was designed by Ralph Bellamy with a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine and was campaigned by the McLaren team in the 1971 and the first three races of the 1972 season. In the 1971 season the car was plagued with reliability problems and finished in sixth place in the World Constructors' Championship with Denny Hulme the most successful driver, finishing in thirteenth place in the World Drivers' Championship with two fourth places, a fifth and a sixth. In 1972 Denny Hulme was again the leading McLaren driver with a second place in Argentina then a win in South Africa in the first two races before driving the McLaren M19C at Monaco and for the rest of that season. He finished in third place in the World Drivers' Championship that season behind Emerson Fittipaldi and Jackie Stewart.

1938 Auto Union D-Type

 I took this photograph of a 1938 Auto Union D-Type at the Donington Park Museum in March 1996.

It was one of a group of Auto Union racing cars that disappeared after the Second World War when the part of Germany where they had been produced and were stored was occupied by Soviet Russia when the war ended, and all the remaining cars were transported to Russia. It was generally assumed that after the Russians had gleaned what information they could from the cars they had all been destroyed. With the breakdown of the USSR, however, several of these cars came to light and one by one the remains were resuscitated by the engineers at Crosthwaite and Gardiner in Buxted, East Sussex. This is one of those cars and was on display at the Donington Park Museum for a period after its restoration.

The Auto Union D-type had a supercharged 3 litre V12 engine and was driven in 1938 by Hermann Müller, Rudolf Hasse, Christian Kautz, Hans Stuck, Tazio Nuvolari and Ulrich Bigalke and in the curtailed 1939 season by Herman Müller, Tazio Nuvolari. Rudolf Hasse, Georg Meier and Hans Stuck.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the one hour long Italian Historic Car Cup at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1966 Ferrari Dino 206S of Harry Leventis, chassis #0834 and he shared the driving in the race with Richard Attwood. The car started off in 1965 as a Dino 166S, with a 1,593cc V6 engine, but later that year was fitted with a 1,987cc V6 engine, and that and further alterations gave it the same configuration as the Dino 206S. 

1952 Jowett Jupiter

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

It's a 1952 Jowett Jupiter, one of around 900 that were produced between 1950 and 1953. The car had a more highly tuned version of the Jowett Javelin's 1,496cc flat-4 engine that produced 60 bhp and was capable of a maximum speed of around 85 mph. The DVLA record says that the car was last re-taxed earlier this year and its colour is now shown as red.

1954/7 Cooper Heyward Special

This was one of the competitors in the Scratch Race for 500cc Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1953/7 Cooper Heyward Special of David Docherty and has a 500cc Triumph vertical twin engine. Like so many of the cars that took part in this inexpensive form of racing soon after the Second World War it was largely built by its first owner, Charles Heyward, using parts from older Cooper Mk IV and MkVI cars.

1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser

This car competed in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser of Stuart Harper which was shown in the programme of the event as a 4.2 litre Kurtis Indy Roadster. This is the car that Ray Crawford took to the Indianapolis 500 race in 1957 and 1958 as the Meguiar Mirror Glaze Special, but failed both times to qualify for the race. Ray Crawford took part in the Race of Two Worlds round the banked oval at Monza with the car in both 1957 and 1958, one-sided exhibition events that pitted American Indianapolis cars against a motley collection of European cars. The race in both years consisted of three heats with the winner being the best car over the three races. In 1957 Ray Crawford's results in the heats were seventh, fourth and retired, and in 1958 tenth, eighth and fourth.

1963 ATS Tipo 100

This car took part in the John Cooper Trophy Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix and Tasman Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting of August 2001.

It's the 1963 ATS 100 GP, entered for the race by Philip Walker and driven by Andrew Wolfe. The car and its 1,495cc V8 engine were designed by former Ferrari chief engineer Carlo Chiti and was the only F1 car produced by ATS. Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti were the drivers, and the cars only started in five Grand Prix races (all in 1963), both cars retiring in the Belgian, Netherlands, USA and Mexican races, and finishing in eleventh and fifteenth places respectively in the Italian Grand Prix. Carlo Chiti was involved is designing the 1961 Ferrari Dino 156 that had won the World Championship for Phil Hill that year, but he and several other personnel had walked out of Ferrari in October 1961 due to a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari and later formed the ATS racing team.

1953 Cooper Bristol MkII

This was one of the competitors in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's the 1953 Cooper Bristol MkII of H S Clifford and the photograph was taken at the exit of Foster's Corner on the short circuit at Oulton Park, which is just before Knickerbrook. The car has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971 Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol MkI (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the MkI, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

Coppice Corner, Donington Park

I took this photograph from McLean's Corner looking toward Coppice Corner during an 'Equipe' GTS Series race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Just about to round Coppice Corner is the 1964 MGB of Peter Bolderson and the red car at the bottom of the rise is the 1965 TVR 1800S of Mark Ashworth. The number 33 car is the 1961 Sunbeam Alpine of Keith Hampson with the 1954 Austin Healey 100M of James Wilmot-Smith slightly behind and to his right. Bringing up the rear is the 1965 MGB of Graeme Forrester.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997 featured a Ferrari display in the paddock which included the car pictured below.

It's a 1952 Ferrari 340 Mexico which at that time was owned by Carlos Monteverde and is chassis #0226AT. The car is powered by a 4,102cc V12 engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi and the body designed by Giovanni Michelotti for Carrozzeria Vignale. Only four of these cars were produced, three Berlinattas and one Spyder, and they were built specifically to take part in the Carrera Panamericana race from the south of Mexico near the border with Guatemala to the north of the country near the border with Texas. In the end the Spyder which was entered for the American Bill Spear did not start in the race but the three Berlinettas did. The car above was driven by Alberto Ascari and Giuseppe Scotuzzi and retired after an accident in the early stages of the race. One of the other cars, driven by Luigi Villoresi and Franco Cornacchia, also failed to  finish, but the third Berlinetta, driven by Luigi Chinetti and Jean Lucas, finished the race in third place.

1928 Austin Seven

This was one of the entrants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1986.

It's the 1928 Austin Seven of L N Gabbott and is pictured just after the start of the run turning from Victoria Street onto Chapel Street, the A56, to start its journey. The car is listed on the Austin Seven Club's Register and this tells me that it was first registered on 13 June 1928, the chassis number is 63103, the engine number is 50997 and it is an AD Tourer. The programme of the event said this about it:

1928  Austin Seven                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Reg: YW 6916  4 cylinder  747 cc                                                                                                                                                                                    (L.N.Gabbott, Sale, Cheshire)

Rebuilt from bits 15 years ago, has covered 15,000 miles since then, and won the Cheshire Vintage Enthusiasts' Club mileage award for completing 7,500 trouble-free miles in six months. This is its second Manchester to Blackpool Run. Since last year it has also joined the ranks of television car-stars, having appeared in the recent BBC series on the life of Miss Bluebell.

1926 Bugatti Type 37

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's the 1926 Bugatti Type 37 of Wolf Zeuner, one of 290 cars built between 1926 and 1930. The Type 37 has a 4-cylinder inline 1,496cc engine and Wolf Zeuner's car has the unsupercharged version of that engine, as do about about three-quarters of the Type 37s built. The photograph was taken at Foster's corner, just before Knickerbrook on the Oulton Park short circuit.

Northern Wheatear?

During the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005 I trekked round from the paddock to watch some of the racing on the furthermost part of the circuit at McLean's Corner. During a break in the racing I took this photograph of a little bird that landed on the wall behind me which separates the Donington Park circuit from East Midlands airport, the end of the runway being about ½ mile away.

I couldn't identify it at the time, but it seems to me to be a Northern Wheatear. No doubt someone with better ornithological knowledge than me could verify that or correct me.

1971 Porsche 917/10

This was one of the entrants in the Pre 1974 Le Mans Cars race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the 1971 Porsche 917 of Ottokar von Jacobs with the 4,999cc version of the Porsche Type 912 Flat-12 engine. It's described in the programme of the event as a Porsche 917PA, but it is in fact a Porsche 917/10 that was derived from the 917PA, and which competed in the 1971 Can-Am Series driven by Jo Siffert. Ottokar von Jacobs' car is chassis 917/10-016.

1950 Frazer Nash Mille Miglia

This is a photograph I took at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1975.

It's a 1950 Frazer Nash Mille Miglia, one of eleven cars that were built, all with the 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc Bristol engine - although the DVLA record says that the engine of OPL 2 is 1,998cc. The car is chassis 421/100/118 and an article in Frazer Nash's Chain Gang Gazette in August 2004 says this about the car:

'The third MM (chassis 118) was completed for the Earls Court Show in October 1950 and the following month sold via Tony Crook to a Philip Strutton. Painted maroon (a popular colour for MMs) it changed hands each year but was used in only a few minor competitive events until purchased by Gerry Burgess in 1954 for use in rallies including the Alpine and Tulip, when it was painted white. It was then raced in different colours by various owners up to the 1970s and is now owned and kept in beautiful condition by Frank Sytner.'

The Frazer Nash chassis record says that the colour of the car in 2009 was 'now metallic Jaguar grey' which is the colour the car was when I photographed it at Donington Park in 2003 and is the same colour I've seen it in more recent photographs, although the DVLA seems to consider it to be silver.

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500 Sport Tourer

 This car was on loan at the Donington Park museum when I paid my last visit there in September 2014.

It's a 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C Sport Tourer, and the board at the side gives a brief history of the car as shown below:

Following the closure of the museum and the return of the car to the family it seems that it was put up for auction with Bonhams who gave a much fuller history of the car.

Friday's Ferrari

 I photographed this car at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 1989 Ferrari 328 GTS and has the F105CB 3,186cc 32 valve V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts per bank. The Ferrari 328 was produced between 1985 and 1989 replacing the 308 model and was superseded by the Ferrari 348.

1959 Lotus 16

This car took part in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1959 Lotus 16 of John Roberts, a car previously campaigned in historic racing by Bill Wilks. The first Grand Prix race for the Lotus 16 was the 1958 French Grand Prix where the car's 1,964cc Coventry Climax engine proved to be severely underpowered for the very fast Reims circuit and Graham Hill retired the car on lap 19 with an overheating engine. By 1959 the car was fitted with the 2,467cc Coventry Climax FPF engine, but the front-engined cars were now outclassed by the rear-engined ones and the Lotus 16 never achieved great success, the best efforts being Innes Ireland's fourth place in the Dutch Grand Prix and fifth place in the USA Grand Prix. Eight of the cars were built and John Roberts' car is Chassis 365,

 

MG C-type Montlhery

These cars took part in the 2 hour long VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-War Sports Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

They are three 1931 MG C Type Montlhery Midgets, part of a four car team competing in the race. The MG C Type was developed from a car designed for International speed record attempts which was based on the 847cc MG M Type with a supercharged engine reduced to 743cc to try to capture speed records in the under 750cc class H. In January 1931 Captain George Eyston succeeded in setting speed records for this class with several runs at the Montlhery race track in France at over 100mph and the subsequent production MG C Type was given the tag 'Montlhery'. The silver car on the left, number 92 in the race, is that of Hamish McNinch and the programme of the event says it has a 847cc engine. In the middle, race number 91, is the 746cc car of Barry Foster, and on the right, race number 93, is Oliver Richardson's 750cc car.

Innes Ireland

This is a photograph I took with my Kodak Brownie 127 camera at Aintree in the late 1950s, but I don't remember at which meeting this was.

It's Innes Ireland, and he's standing in front of the transporter of Ecurie Ecosse, a team for which he had several drives in 1958 and 1959, sharing a drive in a Jaguar D-Type with Masten Gregory for fifth place in the 1958 Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood. He started his driving career in 1954 with a Riley 9, moving on to a Lotus Eleven the following year. By 1957 in addition to his own car he was driving a Lotus Eleven for Team Lotus, and in 1959 as well as the Lotus 15 in Sports Car racing he drove a Lotus 16 for the team in several of that year's Grand Prix races. He continued driving for Team Lotus in 1960 and 1961, but at the end of the 1961 season he lost his place in the team, despite having won the last race of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. In 1961 he had also driven Aston Martins for the Essex Racing team in both Sports Car and GT racing. In 1962 Innes Ireland drove a Lotus 24 for the UDT Laystall team in Grand Prix races and also a Lotus 19 for the same team in Sports Car races, but his most notable race that season was his winning drive in the Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood which he won in UDT Laystall's Ferrari 250 GTO. In 1963 the UDT Laystall team had become the British Racing Partnership and he drove a Lotus BRM then a BRP BRM for that team in Grand Prix races in 1963 and 1964. In Sports Car racing in those two years he showed his versatility by driving Ferraris (250 GTO & 275 P), Aston Martins (DP214 & DP215), Lotus 19, Shelby Cobra, Porsche 904 and Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe. In 1965 and 1966 Grand Prix races he drove a Lotus for Reg Parnell Racing and then a BRM for Bernard White Racing, but continued to drive a varied selection of cars in Sports Car racing. He was always a very popular driver and in his later years became president of the British Racing Drivers' Club, but sadly died from cancer in 1993 at the age of 63.

1953 Bristol 404 Drophead Coupé

This was one of the cars displayed in the paddock by the Bristol Owners Club at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

I've seen photographs describing it as a 1953 Bristol 404 Drophead Coupé with body by Abbott of Farnham. The Bristol 404 was produced from 1953 to 1958 alongside (from 1955 to 1958) the Bristol 405, 52 examples of the 404 being made, all of them supposedly two-door fastback coupé models. The 405 had a longer wheelbase than the 404 and 308 of these were produced, mostly as a four-door saloon, but 43 were two-door drophead coupés with bodies by Abbott of Farnham. Both the Bristol 404 and 405 had the 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine, though some of the later 405s had a larger 2,216cc unit.

1937 Maserati 6CM

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1971.

It's the 1937 Maserati 6CM of Ray Fielding with a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 1,493cc engine. It is chassis 1540 and was at one time part of the Doune Motor Museum collection.

De Havilland Mosquito

Conditions weren't ideal at the Woodford Air Show in June 1995, the largely overcast day not being ideal for photographing the air displays, but not too bad for the static displays.

The De Havilland Mosquito during the air display (above) and landing after the display (below).

Friday's Ferrari

These cars are coming through the Craner Curves towards the Old Hairpin during the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

Just going out of the picture is the 1957 Connaught C-Type of Michael Steele and he is being followed by the 1952 Ferrari 625A of Alexander Boswell. The Ferrari, chassis #0482, also competed in two rounds of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge Series at this meeting. It was originally a 2-litre Formula 2 Ferrari 500 and competed in World Championship races in the 1952 and 1953 seasons when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. When the 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into effect in 1954 a four cylinder inline 2,498cc engine was fitted to the lengthened Ferrari 500 chassis and the car was redesignated a Ferrari 625. Later in 1954 a 2,942cc 4-cylinder inline engine from a Ferrari 735 sports car was installed and the car was raced in Australia by Peter Whitehead. Immediately behind the Ferrari is the 1954 Connaught B-Type of Nick Wigley, chassis #B4, and then the 1952 Cooper Bristol Mk1, later known as the T20, of Neil Davies.

Three Jaguars

There was a collection of Jaguars in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998, and here are three of the cars that I photographed.

On the left is a 1988 Jaguar XJR-9LM which appears to be the car that won the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hour race driven by Jan Lammers, Johnny Dumfries and Andy Wallace. The car is powered by a 6,995cc version of the Jaguar V12 engine. Next to that is the Martini Jaguar XJ220 that was driven by private entrants in the 1993 Italian GT Championship series. This car has a 3,498cc twin-turbocharged V6 engine. The car on the right is the first of the XJR series of cars and was built, with the support of Jaguar, by American Bob Tullius and his Group 44 Racing team to compete in the IMSA Camel GTP Championship. It's the 1983 Jaguar XJR-5 and is powered by a 5,955cc V12 engine.

Frazer Nash BMW 319

For 12 years from 1922 Frazer Nash Limited, and from 1927 AFN Limited, produced only chain driven cars. In 1934 AFN Limited became the British agents for BMW, importing and assembling the cars at their Falcon Works in Isleworth, badging the cars as 'Frazer Nash BMW'. Here are photographs of three Frazer Nash BMW 319s that took part in the AutoSolo Driving Tests in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

This is the 1935 Frazer Nash BMW 319 Type 45 Saloon of Richard Gatley and has a 6-cylinder inline 1,911cc engine. 

Brooke Saunders' 1936 Frazer Nash BMW 319 Type 55 has a 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine.

The 1937 Frazer Nash BMW of Mark Garfitt has the 6-cylinder inline 1,911cc engine.

1952 AEC Regent III

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

It's a 1952 AEC Regent III, formerly fleet number 82 with Bradford City Transport, and the programme of the event said this about it:

AEC Regent III, East Lancs Body, 1952                                                                      HKW 82                                                                                                                          Mersey and Calder Bus Preservation Society                                                                                                                                                                                                            Entered by    D J Hunt, Boothstown, Halifax

Former Operator - Bradford City Transport. New to Bradford 1952 and one of a batch of 40 similar buses. Withdrawn 1971 and purchased by the owner in 1992.

1956 Maserati 250F

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre '60 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 1956 Maserati 250F of Burkhard von Schenk, chassis #2521, new for the 1956 season and driven that year by Jean Behra, and the following season was acquired by Bruce Halford. The 6-cylinder inline 2,490cc engine was designed by Gioacchino Colombo and Vittorio Bellentani, and the tubular frame chassis by Valerio Colotti. 

Formula Junior

I took this photograph at Redgate Corner on the first lap of the Formula Junior race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

Number 12 leading this group is the 1960 Alexis Mk 2 of Stuart Roach and closely behind him is the 1960 Lola Mk 2 of Robin Longdon. There's another car behind the Lola that I can't identify, and following that is the red 1960 Terrier Mk IV of Derek Walker. On the outside is the 1959 Elva 100 of Mark Woodhouse ahead of the 1960 Elva 100 of Crispian Besley. Bringing up the rear are the red car, the 1960 Lola Mk 2 of Brendan Roberts, and two cars I can't positively identify but may be the 1959 Moorland Mk 1 of Bill Grimshaw and the 1959 Lola Mk 2 of John Truslove.