1971 Lola T300

This car competed in the HSCC Historic Formula Racing Car Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1992.

It's John Harper's 1971 Lola T300 Formula 5000 car designed by Frank Gardner and John Barnard. It has a 5 litre Chevrolet V8 engine and is chassis HU12.

1951 MG YB

This is one of the cars displayed at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1951 MG YB, the last development of the MG Y-Type, produced from 1951 to 1953 and succeeded by the MG ZA Magnette in 1954. The YB had a 4-cylinder inline 1,250cc engine.

1950 Albion FT21N

This lorry took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park in September 1995.

It's a 1950 Albion FT21N and there's a brief description in the programme of the event saying that it was entered by J. Butterworth of Littleborough, but there was a more detailed note in the 1996 programme of the Rally which reads as follows:

 

Albion FT21N, 1950                                                                           HSR 112

Entered by J Butterworth, Littleborough

Originally operated by Angus & Kincardine County Council as a Library van for delivery of new books to schools, etc. Afterwards used as a Horse Box in Wetherby, then fitted with the drop-side body now carried. Bought in a run down state by the present owner, it was re-painted in Ripponden & District livery in 1992. The owner being a Ripponden & District driver.

 

When looking for information about this vehicle I came across this rather touching tribute to Jack Butterworth, who died in 2015:

The TruckNet UK Drivers RoundTable • View topic - Jack Butterworth, "Albion Jack"

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the competitors in the GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It's the 1999 Ferrari 360 of Matthew Wilton and John Cowan at Druids Corner during the qualifying session on the morning of the meeting. The Ferrari 360 was produced from 1999 to 2004 and has a 3,586cc Tipo F131 V8 engine.

1932 Maserati 4CM

This car took part in the HGPCA Pre '52 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's a 1932 Maserati 4CM, chassis 1120, originally delivered to Giuseppe Furmanik of Rome as an 1,100cc car. He doesn't appear to have had any great success racing the car, but he did set a World Speed Record for 1,100cc cars in 1934 with a speed of 222.634 kph for the flying kilometre. The car was later acquired by Gino Rovere who replaced the 1,100cc engine with a 1.500cc unit for Voiturette racing and also commissioned the distinctive radiator grille. At the time of this Silverstone meeting the car was owned by Simon Bull and was driven in the race by Martin Stretton.

1999 Audi R8R

In May 2001 Audi brought an Auto Union C-Type and a D-Type to the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park. They also brought several other cars and motorcycles that day, including the one shown below.

It’s the Audi R8R of 1999, a prototype which competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year, the two cars finishing in third and fourth places, though the two R8C closed cockpit cars in the LMGTP class failed to finish the race. It’s pictured on the stretch between the Old Hairpin and McLean's Corner during one of the demonstration runs.

The Trice

This car is listed in the programme as taking part in three short scratch races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It's Stewart Gordon in 'The Trice', a 1932 Morgan Special with a 1934 1,100cc V-twin JAP engine.

1959 Lister Jaguar Knobbly

I took this photograph of two cars leaving the paddock for the qualifying session for the Louis Vuitton '50s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

Number 33 is the 1959 Lister Jaguar Knobbly of renowned Mexican collector Eduardo Baptista, though listed in the programme of the event as his 1955 Aston Martin DB3S. The following car is the 1955 Aston Martin DB3S of David Bennett.

1929 International Model S R 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." This is one of the vehicles in the collection.

The Museum's description of this vehicle reads as follows:

'1929 International Model S R Lorry 25 h.p. 130” wheel base, 4 cylinder side valve Lycoming engine.  Supplied by Richmond of Bath Street, St Helier, Jersey.  Body and cab built by Underhills.'

1969 Brabham BT30

This car competed 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 1987 and is seen here at Lodge Corner during the race.

It's the 1969 Brabham BT30 of Andrew Fellowes, chassis BT30/8,  with what the programme of the event says was a 1,598cc engine. The BT30 was built as a Formula 2 car when the capacity limit was set at 1,600cc and was usually powered by a 4-cylinder inline 1,599cc Ford Cosworth engine. It was originally bought by the Irish Racing Cars team of Mick Mooney where it was driven by Tommy Reid.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the competitors in the Shell Ferrari Historical Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1954 Ferrari 750 Monza of Dieter Streve-Mühlens and is chassis #0470MD with a 4-cylinder inline 3,000cc engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi and a body by Carrozzeria Scaglietti.

1961 Emeryson Mk2

This is a photograph I took in the paddock at Aintree during practice for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.

It's the Emeryson Mk2 of Tony Settember who qualified in nineteenth place on the grid and ended the race in eleventh position, four laps behind the winning Lotus 25 of Jim Clark. The car was a development of the 1960 Emeryson Formula 2 car and had a 4-cylinder inline 1,496cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. Tony Settember's team had acquired the cars from Ecurie National Belge who had raced them in 1961 with Maserati engines, but Olivier Gendebien had failed to qualify his car for the Monaco Grand Prix, the only World Championship race which the team had entered that year. Tony Settember fared little better in 1962, failing to qualify for the Italian Grand Prix, the only other Grand Prix race it was entered for. Behind the Emeryson is the Ecurie Galloise transporter of Jackie Lewis.

1959 BRM P25

I took this photograph on a visit to the Donington Park Museum in March 1996.

It's a 1959 BRM P25 and is finished in the colours of the British Racing Partnership who had one of the cars on loan in the 1959 season. BRM - British Racing Motors - was founded in the late 1940s to produce a car capable of challenging the dominant foreign racing teams, mainly Italian, in the major Grand Prix races. The first cars, the 1½ litre V16 supercharged P15 and P30, promised much but delivered little, only beginning to run well when the 1½ litre supercharged/4½ litre unsupercharged Formula was dying out through lack of competition. The P25, built for the new 2½ litre Formula fared little better and was just beginning to become competitive when the rear-engined Cooper started to dominate the sport. The engine of the P25, designed by Stuart Tresilian, was 'oversquare', with a very large bore in relation to its stroke to accommodate the massive inlet valves. These, with the large ports and carburettors, enabled very high rpm to be achieved - some 9,000 rpm - producing 248bhp. The car made its debut in 1955, but it was 1959 before it gained its first major victory, a win by Jo Bonnier in the Dutch Grand Prix. In an attempt to compete with the rear-engined Coopers, BRM quickly designed a rear-engined car, the P48, which was essentially a P25 with the engine at the back instead of the front. The P25's were cannibalised to provide parts for this new car which made its debut in late 1959 but it was unable to bring success to the team, and it was 1962 before they finally had a winner with the P578 which brought the World Drivers' Championship to Graham Hill. The Donington Park workshops rebuilt three of the 1959 P25 cars from original bits and pieces including the pale green car above, chassis 2510, which was driven for the British Racing Partnership by Stirling Moss, but is perhaps best known for its accident in the German Grand Prix at Avus when brake failure caused Hans Herrmann to crash in spectacular fashion. The large picture on the wall behind the BRM shows a 1936 Alfa Romeo 8C-35, probably the one once owned by Dennis Poore that was for a time part of the Donington Collection.

1957 Maserati A6G/54 Frua Spyder

This is one of the display cars in the paddock at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1957 Maserati A6G/54 Frua Spyder, chassis 2183, and has a 6-cylinder inline 1,985cc engine designed by Gioacchino Colombo. 

JDC Inter-Marque Championship Race, Oulton Park 1987

I took this photograph at Foulstons chicane during the Gordon Russell Furniture Inter-Marque Championship Race at the Jaguar Drivers' Club's meeting at Oulton Park in April 1987.

Leading is the Jaguar E Type of Malcom Hamilton followed by the Porsche Carrera RSR of Gideon Hudson and the Aston Martin V8 of Mike Cousins. Bringing up the rear is Richard Chilton in his CAS Motor Sport Porsche 911 Carrera.

1920 Morris Bullnose Oxford

This was one of the participants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in 1987.

It's the 1920 Morris Bullnose Oxford of Hector Kenyon and is pictured in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the run. This is the note about the car in the programme of the event:

37  1920 Morris Bullnose Oxford

Reg:  EL 5600  4 cylinder  11.9 hp

(Hector Kenyon, Wardle, Rochdale)

An early Hotchkiss engined Oxford, restored in 1979-80 by the present owner. Since then it has taken part in rallies as far apart as Cumbria and Hampshire and won many trophies.

1999 Fiat Coupé 20V

I photographed this car recently at Salford Quays.

It's a 1999 Fiat Coupé 20V with what the DVLA record says is a 1,998cc engine.

The Fiat Coupé was introduced in 1994 with a 4-cylinder inline 1,995cc engine with both turbo and non-turbo versions.

In 1996 a 4-cylinder 1,747cc version was introduced together with the 5-cylinder 1,998cc 20V model.

The 20V was available in both turbo and non-turbo versions.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the many Ferraris present at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 2015 Ferrari California T which was an updated version of the Ferrari California with an improved chassis and a 3,855cc twin-turbo V8 Ferrari F154 BB engine replacing the 4,297cc V8 Ferrari F136 I engine of the earlier car.

1959 Lotus 16

This car is at Lodge Corner during the Historic Car Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1986.

It’s Anthony Mayman in Bruce Halford’s 1959 Lotus 16 which has a 2,495cc straight-4 Coventry Climax FPF engine. Bruce Halford raced in Formula One from 1956 to 1960, firstly with a Maserati 250F, then a Lotus 16 in 1959 and with Cooper T45 and T51 in 1960. In the mid-1970s he bought this Lotus 16 and competed at Historic meetings himself for several years. The Lotus 16 was raced by Team Lotus, and private entrants, from 1958 to 1960 with little success in World Championship races. Colin Chapman had to wait until the Monaco Grand Prix of 1960 for his first Lotus victory, achieved by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's Lotus 18.

1933 Napier Railton

The VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2011 featured demonstration runs by Brooklands Museum's 24 litre Napier Railton, and here it is at Coppice Corner during one of the runs.

The car was created by Reid Railton, Chief Engineer at Thompson & Taylors Racing car works at Brooklands and intended for racing at the Brooklands banked circuit and also for world speed record attempts. A note in the programme of the event tells the story of the car:

'Commissioned by John Cobb, this car had to be equally suited to also tackle the coveted hour and 24 hour world speed records, usually on foreign soil. Named the Napier-Railton, it was a bespoke special powered by a 24 litre Napier Lion aeroplane engine whose twelve cylinders were arranged in three banks of four and drove via a three speed gearbox to a 1.66 to 1 rear axle. Railton designed all this specially and fitted it into a massive chassis frame with deep side rails passing underneath both front and rear axles. Suspension was by double cantilever springs at the rear with an identical system to the Sunbeam Tiger and Tigress he had designed earlier using semi elliptical units at the front. The only part he had derived from another car was the steering box and column from a Speed Six Bentley. The racing bodywork, similar to the Sunbeam's was made by Gurney Nutting.'

The car was successful from the start, winning races at Brooklands and setting the lap record at 143.44 mph which was still standing when the track finally closed in 1939. Between 1933 and 1936 the car took several world speed records at Montlhéry and Bonneville Salt Flats, the fastest being 100 miles at 168.59 mph. After the Second World War the car was used for a time by Sir Geoffrey Quilter for testing parachutes and later was acquired by the Hon. Patrick Lindsay who used it in VSCC races. After having several other owners it was acquired by the Brooklands Museum in 1997.

1959 Aston Martin DBR1

This car took part in the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 of Simon Draper and has the 6-cylinder inline 2,922cc engine. It is chassis DBR1/4, the car that finished in second place at the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hour race driven by Maurice Trintignant and Paul Frère - the winner being DBR1/2 driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby. DBR1/4 then finished in fourth place in the 1959 Tourist Trophy race, driven by the same two drivers - and again the race was won by DBR1/2 this time driven by Stirling Moss, Carroll Shelby and Jack Fairman.

1929 Rally Type ABC

I took this photograph at the Doune Museum in Perthshire which we visited when on a family holiday in Scotland in August 1996.

It's a 1929 Rally Type ABC, a French car that was imported to the UK by motor traders J A Driskell and L Cutbill jnr and entered in the MCC Land's End Trial in 1929, later that year appearing in the inaugural Brookland Double Twelve race. It was road registered as UL8540 and remained in the Home Counties until the mid-1950s when it was acquired by Lord Doune for his collection where it remained for some 30 years.

1954 AEC Regent III

This is one of the participants in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It's a 1954 AEC Regent III that was delivered new to the York Pullman Bus Company in 1954 and withdrawn from service in 1970. After a short period with Terry Robinson it was acquired by Tony Peart in 1971 and it was he who entered the vehicle for this Rally. It was bequeathed to the Lincolnshire Vintage Vehicle Society on Tony Peart's death in 2006 and is now at the Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum, though not currently on display. A note in the programme of the event reads as follows:

AEC Regent III, Roe H58RD, 1954                                                                               JDN668

York Pullman 64

Entered by A. Peart, Doncaster

Acquired by present owner for preservation in 1971, following severe damage to roof in gantry accident.

1966 Crosslé C9S

This car competed in the HSCC Atlantic Computers 2 Litre GT Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1986.

It's the 1966 Crosslé C9S of James Hunt (not that one!) which the programme of the event  says had a 1600cc engine. probably one of the three built in 1966 with a 1,557cc Ford Cosworth twin-cam engine.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the cars displayed in the 'Tribute to Ferrari' at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It’s the 2,992cc flat-12 1978 Ferrari 312 T3, chassis 034, that was driven by Gilles Villeneuve in the 1978 F1 season and was owned in 1997 by Nick Mason. Gilles Villeneuve won one Grand Prix that season, in Canada, and ended up in ninth place in the 1978 World Drivers’ Championship; his team mate Carlos Reutemann won four of the races and was third in the Championship, Ferrari finishing in second place in the World Constructors’ Championship.

1913 Theophile Schneider

I took this photograph at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1990.

It's a 1913 Theophile Schneider and there's no mention of it in the brochure of the event, but it appears to be on the stand of the Manchester Vintage Car Club. I have a photograph I took of the car at Oulton Park in 1992 where it was entered by Roger Firth and the programme for that meeting shows it to have a 4-cylinder inline 5,504cc engine and also says: 'The 5.5 litre Theophile Schneider of Roger Firth was built up by John Rowley and is of the type which ran in the 1913 French Grand Prix at Amiens with an L-head side-valve engine.'

VSCC Racing at Oulton Park 1984

I took this photograph during a handicap race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

The Shell Oils Corner loop wasn't used at this meeting, the cars doubling back at Island Bend, and the photograph was taken just after that on the run up Hilltop towards Knickerbrook. The programme of the event shows number 46 as the 1,089cc 1926/38 Austin Fiat of R J Campbell and he's being followed by the 4½ litre 1938/9 Lagonda V12 of A W Barker. There were four Bentleys in the race and the third car appears to be the 4,398cc 1924/6 Bentley 3/4¼ litre of S Llewellyn.

1964 Sunbeam Le Mans Tiger

This car took part in the Masters 'Gentlemen Drivers' GT & Sports Endurance Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

Rootes had raced Sunbeam Alpines in the1961, 1962 and 1963 Le Mans 24 Hour Races and after Carroll Shelby's success in putting a big Ford V8 engine into the AC Ace Rootes asked him to do the same with a Sunbeam Alpine. The resulting car with a 4,261cc V8 Ford engine was put into production and named the Sunbeam Tiger. When it was decided to enter the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hour Race three highly modified cars were built, one a prototype and two that actually took part in the race driven by Claude Dubois & Keith Ballisat and Peter Procter & Jimmy Blumer. Both cars failed to finish, and if the car pictured above has retained its original registration number then it's the car that Claude Dubois and Keith Ballisat drove in that race. It was driven in the hour long race at Silverstone by Tony Eckford and Chris Beighton.

1999 Penske PC-27B

This is a photograph that I took at the Donington Park Museum on my final visit there in September 2014.

It's the Penske PC-27B that Al Unser drove in the 1999 Cart season for the Marlboro Team Penske but without much success, his best result being a seventh position in the final race of the season at the California Speedway in Fontana. The car was designed by John Travis and built by Penske Cars in Poole, Dorset, and was powered by a 2,650cc Mercedes Benz IC108E V8 engine.

Dan Gurney

I took this photograph in the paddock at Aintree on the Friday practice day for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.

It's Dan Gurney getting ready to go out on a practice session in the 1962 Porsche 804 in which he qualified in sixth position on the grid and finished the race in ninth position. Porsche had first built a single seat racing car in 1959, the 718, using the 1½ litre flat-four boxer engine from their sports car to create a Formula 2 car. In 1961 the engine capacity for Formula 1 cars was reduced to 1½ litres and the Porsche 718 was able to compete in Formula 1 races that season. The Porsche 804 was built for the following season using a new Flat-eight engine of 1,494cc, and with this car Dan Gurney won the French Grand Prix and finished in third place in the German Grand Prix to end the season in fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship. His team mate Jo Bonnier's best finish was fifth place in the Monaco Grand Prix and he finished in fifteenth place in the Championship. Porsche finished in fifth place in the World Constructors' Championship. That first place in the 1962 French Grand Prix is Porsche's only Grand Prix victory.

1954 Maserati 250F

The races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982 were run on the short circuit omitting the loop from Cascades to Knickerbrook, and I took this photograph on the exit from Foster's corner, just before Knickerbrook.

It's the Hon. Amschel Rothschild in his 1954 Maserati 250F, the ex-Gilby Engineering Company car with the replacement chassis 2507/2 given to the car after an accident at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in 1954. It was campaigned by Roy Salvadori for the Gilby Company during 1954, 1956 and 1957. The Maserati 250F was produced by Maserati from 1954 to 1957 with a 6-cylinder inline 2,490cc engine and raced throughout the 2½ litre Formula 1 years from the first race in 1954 to the last race in 1960.