1949 Maserati 4CLT

This was one of the competitors in the Pre '52 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's the 1949 Maserati 4CLT of Dan Margulies which was a development of the pre-War 4CL and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,491cc supercharged engine. The first 4CLT was produced in 1947 and the 1948 variant made its debut at the San Remo Grand Prix, winning the race in the hands of Alberto Ascari. The 4CLT has ever since been known as the 'San Remo'. Dan Margulies' car may be chassis #1604.

1916 American LaFrance

This is one of the cars that turned up at a small motoring meet at the top of Werneth Low in Hyde in July 1991.

It's a 1916 American LaFrance that was owned by local businessman Clive Williams and has a 6-cylinder inline 15 litre engine. Just the month before I had taken a photograph of the car before the start of the Lancashire Automobile club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run.

1928 Bentley 3/4½ litre

This car competed in the Pre-War Team Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017.

It's Clive Morley's 1928 3/4½ litre Bentley, a 3 litre chassis with a 4½ litre (actually 4,398cc) engine.

Here's Clive Morley at Druids Corner during the morning qualifying session.....

.....and at the Britten's chicane during the race. The car behind him is Richard Iliffe's 1934 Riley Kestrel Sports.

McLarens at the Donington Park Museum

The Donington Park Museum which closed three years ago this month had the largest number of exhibits of any motor sport museum including a comprehensive collection of McLarens, and this is a photograph of a few of these cars that I took on a visit there in March 1996.

The nearest car is the McLaren M7A that was used by the team in the 1968 and 1969 seasons, giving McLaren its first Grand Prix win when Bruce McLaren drove it to victory in the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix. Denny Hulme went on to win two further races that season, in Italy and Canada. In 1969 McLaren together with several other teams built 4-wheel drive cars in an attempt to harness the power of the 3 litre Cosworth engine and the next car is the 1969 McLaren M9A 4-wheel drive car. This car appeared in only one race, the British Grand Prix where it was driven by Derek Bell but retired after 5 laps, after which McLaren abandoned the 4-wheel drive experiment as did all the other teams. The third car is the McLaren M14A that the team raced in the 1970 season, a development of the M7A/C, Denny Hulme having 3 third place and 3 fourth place finishes to end up in fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship. The fourth car in the line is a McLaren M8D which was built to contest the 1970 Can-Am season and has a 7.6 litre Chevrolet V8 engine. Denny Hulme won the 1970 Can-Am Series in one of these cars, winning six of the ten races. It was also in one of these cars that Bruce McLaren died in a test session at Goodwood in 1970 when a part of the rear bodywork came adrift causing him to crash.

Friday's Ferrari

This car was in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010, but it didn't take part in any of the races at the meeting.

It appears to be a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, but started off life as a 1961 Ferrari 250 GTE 2+2, chassis #2349 with the same Gioacchino Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine. It spent its early years in Sweden where it was badly damaged by a fire and was rebuilt in its current form by Neil Twyman. I've seen more recent photographs of the car with a hardtop.

NG Road Racing at Oulton Park

I took these photographs on the finishing straight during the qualifying for the Prostocks Race at the NG Road Racing meeting at Oulton Park in April 2017.

Phil Webber, Suzuki GSXR (no.34) and James McHardy, Suzuki Bandit GSF 600

Andreas Jelden, Yamaha FZ 750

Matthew Baker, Suzuki Bandit 600

John Ward, Suzuki Bandit 600

Matt Orford, Suzuki Bandit 600

Michael Hughes, Suzuki Bandit 599

Sam Woodcock, Suzuki Bandit 600

Glynn Nicholls, Suzuki Bandit 600

Keith Chambers, Suzuki Bandit

William Harrison, Suzuki Bandit 600

Scott Holmes, Suzuki Bandit GSF 600

1951 Guy Arab III

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 1951 Guy Arab III with a Roe C35F body, and was part of the Lancashire United Transport fleet from new until it was withdrawn from service in 1965. It's not listed in the programme of the event, but was at the 1996 Rally when a note in the programme read as follows:

Guy Arab Mk III, Roe Body, 1951                                                                     MTJ 84

Entered by      S.M.Torres, c/o Ebor Trucks, Acaster Malbis, York

Former Operator - L.U.T.  Ex. Lancashire United 440, this vehicle was repainted over the winter and appeared at The Museum of Transport's L.U.T. weekend in May this year.

1957 Vanwall

This car is in the pit lane at Silverstone prior to going out for the qualifying session for the Chopard HGPCA Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting in July 1994.

It's the 1958 Vanwall of Vijay Mallya and was driven in the race by John Harper. The engine for the first Vanwall in 1954 was designed by a Norton engineer, Leo Kuzmicki, and was basically four 498cc Norton motorcycle engines with a common waterjacket and cylinder head. This 2 litre engine was enlarged, first to 2,237cc and then to 2,489cc by 1955. Vijay Mallya's car is chassis VW10, the car with which Stirling Moss won the Dutch Grand Prix and Portugese Grand Prix in the 1958 season when he narrowly lost out to Mike Hawthorn in the race for the World Drivers' Championship title.

 

1908/19 GN/JAP

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the Boulogne Trophy Race for Vintage Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.

It's Richard Scaldwell in the GN/JAP that he had built only some 15 years earlier using a 1919 GN and a 1908 JAP 5,112cc V8 aero engine.

1936 Ford CX

This car was on the stand of the Ford Y & C Model Register at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1993.

It's a 1936 Ford Model CX, a de-luxe version of the Model C, identifiable by the chrome strips across the radiator. It has the 4-cylinder inline 1,172cc Ford side valve engine that was used by many builders of 1950s 'specials' including the early Lotus cars.

1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser

This car took part in the Flockhart Trophy Race for Pre-1961 Front-Engined Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1957 Kurtis KK500G Offenhauser of Stuart Harper, driven in the race by Frederick 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.

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 2014 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. 3,000 of the cars were built between 2013 and 2015.

Mainly Jaguars

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane on the first lap of the AMOC 50s Sports Cars and Verdenstein JEC XK Challenge Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015.

The leaders have already gone past, but at the head of this group is the Jaguar XK120 of Chris Keith-Lucas followed by the Jaguar XK120 of Darren McWhirter and the Austin Healey 100/4 of Martyn Corfield. The white car is the Jaguar XK120 of Andrew Wenman then the Jaguar XK150 of Andrew Moore and the Jaguar XK140 of Alexis De Beaumont.

Lotus 15

I took this photograph on practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1959, and it's one of the cars that competed in the Sports Car support race.

It's the Lotus 15 of David Buxton, and is one of 27 cars that were produced between 1958 and 1960. The car was a successor to the Lotus Mk X, developed from the Lotus Eleven but designed to accommodate engines from 1½ to 2½ litres. It was intended for International Sports Car racing, but though cars were entered in the 1958 and 1959 Le Mans 24 Hour race none of them managed to finish.

1956 Aston Martin DB3S

This car was part of a display at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1956 Aston Martin DB3S with a 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc Lagonda engine, and although it bears the number 8 it did not take part in any of the races at that meeting. It looks identical to the car that finished second in the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hour Race driven by Stirling Moss and Peter Collins (even having the same racing number), but I've not been able to confirm that it's that actual car.

1953 Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM

My brother took this photograph at the Daily Herald International Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in August 1955.

It's Joakim Bonnier's 1953 Alfa Romeo 6C 3000 CM, chassis #0125, with a 6-cylinder inline 3,495cc engine. The number 36 next to it is Gunnar Carlsson's 1954 Ferrari 750 Monza chassis #0470MD. The cars with numbers 20 and 18 in the background are the Lister Bristols of Ken Wharton and Archie Scott Brown, and immediately behind the Alfa Romeo is what looks like Mike Anthony's Lotus Mk X.

1917 Ford Model T Indianapolis Roadster

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's a 1917 Ford Model T Indianapolis Roadster and seems to be the car listed in the programme of the event as an entrant in the Cheshire Concours D'Elegance as Jonathon Bradshaw's 1917 Ford Model T Speedway with a 2,998cc engine.

1955 Cooper T39 Bobtail

This was one of the competitors in the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of Michael Thorne, 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 1,460cc 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.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed in the Shell Ferrari Historical Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's Bart Rosman's 1960 Ferrari 250GT with the Gioacchino Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine and is chassis #2179GT, originally an Ecurie Francorchamps car.

1937 Lanchester Eleven

This is one of the cars I photographed at a car display arranged by the Saddleworth Museum in June 1987.

It's a 1937 Lanchester Eleven, about 2,000 of which were produced between 1937 and 1940 was developed from the Lanchester Ten with a 1,444cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

1971 March 712M

I took this photograph at the Britten's chicane during the Historic Formula 2 Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008, the race being open to cars from the 1,600cc cars of the 1967-71 era and the 2,000cc cars of the 1972-80 era                                                                                        .

It's Martin Stretton's 1971 March 712M followed by the 1978 March 782 of Peter Meyrick. The 1971 European Formula 2 title was won by Ronnie Peterson in a Ford-engined March 712M, and the 1978 title by Bruno Giacomelli in a BMW-engined March 782. In this race at Oulton Park the 2,000cc car of Peter Meyrick finished in first place with Martin Stretton's 1,600cc car ending up in second place.

1973 Abarth Osella PA2

I took this photograph at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's a 1973 Abarth Osella PA2, but isn't listed in the progamme of the event. There were two Abarth races at the meeting, but both of them were for Abarth Fiat 500 cars. The PA2 was designed for the European 2 litre Sports Car Championship, and this car has a 1,981cc Abarth engine.

1927 Austin Chummy

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car run in May 1987 and is pictured in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester just about to start the Run.

It's the 1917 Austin Chummy of David Blackburn, and the note about the car in the programme of the event reads as follows:

'1927 Austin Chummy

Reg:  UX 1337   4 cylinder   7 hp

(David Blackburn, Trawden, Colne)

Believed to have been owned for many years by a district nurse in Wales. Made its Manchester to Blackpool debut last year.'

Some 290,000 Austin Sevens were produced between 1923 and 1939 and they had a 4-cylinder inline 747cc engine. It gained the name 'Chummy' as the four seater body on a car with a wheelbase of only 6ft 3in and a track of 3ft 4 in meant that the passengers sat very close to each other.

1935 Riley Imp

I took this photograph in part of the parking area set aside for various owners clubs at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Amongst several other Rileys, this is a 1935 Riley Imp built on the Riley Nine chassis and using its 4-cylinder inline 1,087cc engine. The Riley Imp was produced from 1933 to 1935 but production figure records were destroyed during WW2 and it is estimated that about 120-150 cars were produced in those three years.

1984 Renault RE50

I took this photograph on a visit to the Donington Park Museum in 2014.

It's the 1984 Renault RE50 that was driven for the Renault team that season by Patrick Tambay. The car was designed by Bernard Dudot, Michel Tétu and Jean-Claude Migeot and was powered by the 1,492cc Renault EF4 turbocharged V6 engine. Patrick Tambay's best finish was a second place in the French Grand Prix and he finished in eleventh place in the World Drivers' Championship. His team mate Derek Warwick fared slightly better with two second places in the Belgian and British Grands Prix and he ended up in seventh place in the Championship. The Renault team was fifth in the World Constructors' Championship.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the competitors in the Italy v Rest of the World race for Pre 1959 Drum Brake Sports Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It’s Carlos Monteverde’s 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza, chassis 0568M, with the Aurelio Lampredi designed 3,000cc 4-cylinder inline engine and was driven in the race by David Franklin. This car had a very chequered history about which the programme of the event says this:

'Built in 1955, with the three-litre four-cylinder engine - following the rule of thumb that the type number multiplied by the number of pots gives the capacity - this sleek sports-racer has an extraordinary competition history, if not with star drivers.

Originally supplied to French racer François Picard, it finished third in the '56 Agadir Grand Prix in Morocco, and third back on home soil on the speedbowl at Montlhéry, just outside Paris. Thereafter the Italian stallion spent much of its life in Scandinavia, where initially Swedish owner Tore Bjurström used it for the popular local pursuit of ice racing!

From there a short hop to Finland to its next custodian, Carl-Otto Bremer, who returned it to more conventional pastures. After finishing sixth in the '57 Swedish Grand Prix at Kristianstad, won by Jean Behra/Stirling Moss in a Maserati 450S, Bremer confined his major outings to the Helsinki GP thereafter, and the combination won in '59 having finished third the previous year.

Carlos Monteverde acquired  'The Ice Racer' two years ago, and commissioned Tony Merrick to undertake a full mechanical restoration, while leaving the body original. David Franklin has tested the car extensively and says it is beautifully balanced with its five-speed transaxle, but races it for the first time here.'

1976 Hesketh 308C

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the HSCC Derek Bell Trophy race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's the 1975 Hesketh308C  of Steve Hartley and has a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. James Hunt drove the 308C in the latter part of the 1975 season and won his first World Championship race, the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, in the earlier Hesketh 308B.

1981 Lotus 88B

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in 2000 celebrated 50 years of Formula 1 racing and this is one of the array of cars on display in the paddock covering those 50 years.

It's the controversial 1981 Lotus 88B that never actually started a Grand Prix race. It was created by Colin Chapman and his design team of Tony Rudd, Peter Wright and Martin Ogilvie and effectively had two chassis to take advantage of the downforce produced by ground effects cars, and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine. The other F1 teams queried the legality of this twin chassis layout and for the first three Grands Prix of the 1981 season the original Lotus 88 passed scrutineering but was then not allowed to take part in the races. Minor changes were made to the car before the British Grand Prix to create the Lotus 88B, but the car was not even allowed to be presented for scrutineering.

1931 Chevrolet Truck

During our holiday in Jersey in May 2013 we visited the Pallot Steam, Motor & General Museum which the advertising brochure says is "An absorbing evocation of times past. There is something to excite the interest of everyone in this fascinating collection of Steam, Motor, Farm and other machinery." Inside you'll find cars, commercial vehicles, bicycles (unicycles, tricycles etc), assorted agricultural implements, steam locomotives, a variety of tractors, and there's even a church organ. This was one of the commercial vehicles on show.

It's a 1931 Chevrolet truck and the wording on the door says that it belonged to A.E Du Feu of St Helier.

1961 Maserati Tipo 63

This car took part in a Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999, and is here seen leaving the pit lane during a morning qualifying session.

It's Belgian Edmond Pery's 1961 Maserati Tipo 63 and has a rear mounted 3 litre V12 engine. The history of the car is confusing (as with many Maseratis) but appears to have been reconstructed by Edmond Pery from chassis 63002 LWB which was originally one of the two Tipo 63s acquired by American Briggs Cunningham.