1937 Austin 7 Ruby

This is one of the participants in a Vintage and Historic Vehicle Display & Run organised by the Saddleworth Museum in June 1987.

It's a 1937 Austin 7 Ruby saloon and has the 4-cylinder inline 747cc engine. It's the second version of the Ruby that was produced from 1936 to 1939.

1959 Lister Knobbly

This is a photograph I took at Britten's chicane during the Hawthorn International Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's Barry Wood in his 1959 Lister Knobbly leading Tom Walker in his 1952 Allard J2X Le Mans. Brian Lister started producing sports cars in 1954 first with an MG engine and later with a Bristol engine, but he had the most success with the 1957 car which used the Jaguar D-type engine. The first version of this car was known at the time as a Lister-Jaguar, but after the 1959 car was given a smoother aerodynamic body designed by Frank Costin (and designed to use the Chevrolet Corvette powerplant) the more bulbous earlier car became known as the Lister Knobbly. Barry Wood's car has the 3,781cc version of the Jaguar XK6 engine and is chassis BHL117. The Allard J2X Le Mans was developed from the Allard J2 which had motor cycle style mudguards and the J2X was introduced to comply with 1952 FIA regulations which said that cars must have all-enveloping bodywork. Tom Walker's car has a 5,425cc Cadillac V8 engine.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars that took part in the Shell Historic Ferrari Maserati Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Paul Pappalardo's 1967 Ferrari 412 P, also known as a P3/P4, which was a customer version of the Ferrari 330 P3. Both cars have a 3,967cc V12 engine, but the 330 P3 has Lucas fuel injection whilst the 412 P has six Weber carburettors - which gives it slightly less power than the fuel injection cars and made the private entries less likely to beat the works cars. Paul Pappalardo's car is chassis #0850 and was originally built for the Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps team. hence the yellow Belgian racing colour. Only two cars were originally built as 412 Ps, #0850 and #0854. Two cars were built as 330 P3s, #0844 and #0848, but were later converted to 412 P specification. The car was driven in the race by Gary Pearson.

1994 Williams FW16B

This is one of the several Williams Cars on display at the Donington Park Museum when I visited in September 2014.

It's a 1994 Williams FW16, the car with which Damon Hill finished in second place in the 1994 World Championship to Michael Schumacher's Benetton B194. The car was designed by Adrian Newey and has a 3,500cc Renault RS6 V10 engine. The previous year’s World Champion, Alain Prost, had retired at the end of the 1993 season so the number 1 (which was always given to the previous year’s Champion) wasn’t used and Ayrton Senna had moved to Williams from the McLaren team to take the number 2 car, so Damon Hill’s car was given the number 0. Ayrton Senna tragically lost his life in a crash in the early stages of the third race of the season, the San Marino Grand Prix, where Roland Ratzenberger had already suffered a fatal accident during practice. David Coulthard, and Nigel Mansell towards the end of the season, took over the number 2 Williams car and the three drivers managed to gain enough points for Williams to win the World Constructors’ Championship.

1927 Rover 9/20 Tourer

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

It's a 1927 Rover 9/20 Tourer, a model that was produced from 1924 to 1927 and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,074cc engine. It is chassis 52980 and this history of the car was displayed with the vehicle:

1960 Lotus 20 & 1970 Brabham BT30

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008.

On the left is the David Grunberg's 1960 Lotus 20 which is a car built by Lotus for Formula Junior racing and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,098cc Ford Cosworth engine. The car on the right is the Formula 2 1970 Brabham BT30 of Lincoln Small which has a 1,600cc BMW engine. It is chassis BT30/16 and was originally purchased by Tom Wheatcroft for Derek Bell to drive in the 1970 European Formula 2 Championship, finishing the season in second place to Clay Reggazoni.

Ecurie Ecosse Commer TS3 Transporter

This vehicle was in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

This is the 1960 Ecurie Ecosse Commer TS3 Transporter, on top of which are a Jaguar C-Type, and a Jaguar D-Type that I can't identify. The Jaguar C-Type is chassis XKC042 and was provided new to Ecurie Ecosse in 1953.

1926 Ford Model T Tourer

This was one of the vehicle taking part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1992 and is pictured moving up to the start line in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.

It's a 1926 Ford Model T Tourer, and the only information about it in the programme of the event is that it was entered for the Run by Janet Williams of Hyde, Cheshire. The Model T was in production from 1908 to 1927 and was succeeded by the Model A.

1953 Cooper Bristol MkII

These two cars competed in the Hawthorn Memorial Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

They're the 1953 Cooper Bristol MkIIs of Graham Burrows and Mary Grant-Jonkers, and judging by the angle of the shadows the photograph was taken quite early in the morning when the numbers hadn't been changed to the 203 and 204 that they wore in the race. The Cooper Bristol had 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 1,971cc 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.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car in the Ferrari Owners Club's area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1959 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione of Anthony Dyas, and despite the number 157 on the door of the car it didn't take part in any of the races at this meeting. 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. It is chassis #2129GT and was originally owned by Jacques Swaters' Ecurie Francorchamps, Willy Mairesse and Georges Berger taking first place with the car in the 1960 Tour de France race. Ecurie Francorchamps later merged with Johnny Claes' Ecurie Belge to form Equipe Nationale Belge.

1974 Chevron B26

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005, although the car didn't take part in any race at the meeting.

It's the 1974 Chevron B26 of Steve Farthing, a car that was a replacement for the B23, and as well as revised suspension and a rear wing it had an aluminium monocoque tub instead of the spaceframe chassis of all the earlier Chevron sports racing cars. It had a 4-cylinder inline 2 litre Ford engine with an aluminium block, which had been designed by Brian Hart and re-engineered by Cosworth. Only 9 of these cars were made, mainly due to lack of demand because of the 1973 oil crisis in the UK. There was a Closed Wheel Chevron Race at this meeting, but the number 6 car in that race was the black Chevron B19 of Alexander Lienau.

1969 Leyland Titan PD3/14

This is one of the vehicles that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1969 Leyland Titan PD3/14 that was ordered by Ramsbottom Urban District Council Transport, but by the time it was delivered their fleet had been incorporated into the SELNEC (South East Lancashire, North East Cheshire) Passenger Transport Executive together with the fleets of ten other Local Authorities.  A note in the programme of the event says this about this vehicle:

Leyland Titan PD3/14, East Lancs, 1969                                                               TTD386H

S.E.L.N.E.C.

Entered by      Greater Manchester Transport Society

This historic Vehicle was the very last of a long line of British buses. It was the last front engined Leyland

bus built and also the very last of its kind to enter service in Britain. Withdrawn 1981.

The colonnade behind the buses used to stand in front of Manchester's first Town Hall in King Street in the city centre and was moved to Heaton Park when that building was demolished in 1902.

1959 Maserati T61

This was one of the entrants in the Louis Vuitton '50s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's Nick Mason's 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2457, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2457 started off life in the USA. After passing through various hands it was acquired by Nick Mason in the 1980s. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.

1928/18 Franziss Special

This car was one of the competitors in the Boulogne Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's the 1928/18 Franziss Special of Roger Sweet, which he created himself using the chassis of a 1928 Frazer Nash and a 1918 Curtiss OX-5 V8 aero engine that the programme of the event says has a capacity of 9 litres.

2004 McLaren MP4-19

This is a photograph I took at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.

It's the McLaren MP4-19 that competed in the 2004 F1 season, designed by the McLaren team led by Adrian Newey and powered by the Ilmor-built Mercedes Benz 2,998cc V10 engine. It was driven that season by David Coulthard and Kimi Räikkönen but wasn't a great success. Kimi Räikkönen gained its only win, in the Belgian Grand Prix, and finished in seventh place in the World Drivers' Championship. David Coulthard ended the season in tenth place in the Championship and McLaren was fifth in the World Constructors' Championship.

1962 Lotus 22

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the AMOC Historic Formula Junior race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

This is Hugh Barnes in his 1962 Lotus 22 which has a 4-cylinder inline 1,098cc Cosworth engine. The Lotus 22 was developed from the Lotus 20 and was primarily intended for Formula Junior racing, 77 cars being produced between 1962 and 1965.

Friday's Ferrari

This car was in the Ferrari Owners Club area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1952 Ferrari 225 Sport Spyder of David Vine, and  it is chassis #0198ET, with bodywork by Carrozzeria Vignale. It was a development of the Ferrari 212 Export and powered by the same Gioacchino Colombo-designed  V12 engine enlarged to 2,715cc. There were 21 examples of the 225 S built, with a mix of Berlinetta and Spyder bodies and coachwork by both Vignale and Touring.

1933 Delage D8S

This was one of the exhibits at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1994.

I don't know which stand it was on and it's not mentioned in the brochure of the event, but it's a 1933 Delage D8S. It's chassis #35880 and has a 4,061cc 8-cylinder inline engine with bodywork by Fernandez et Darrin.

1951 Jaguar XK120

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the ITD Consultants/JEC Jaguar XK Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's Geoffrey Ottley in his 1951 Jaguar which he purchased in 1981 and has been competing with continuously since 1985, driving the car to and from the meetings on most occasions. It has the 3,442cc 6-cylinder inline Jaguar XK6 engine. This article tells the story of Geoffrey Ottley's ownership of the car.

1924 Amilcar CS

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1990, and is pictured here in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the Run.

It's the 1924 Amilcar CS of Roger Firth of Stalybridge, Cheshire, which was made at the Amilcar factory in Saint-Denis in Paris, to the north of the city centre and has a 4-cylinder inline side-valve 1,004cc engine. A note about the car in the programme of the event reads as follows:

1924 Amilcar

Reg: PE 4287  4 cylinder  8 hp

(Roger Firth, Stalybridge)

Perhaps the first C.S. Amilcar to be built, it only

has rear brakes, as well as staggered seating

which allows more room for passenger and

driver. Imported into this country by Boone and

Porter, the London Amilcar agents, by the late

1950s it was almost a total wreck. During

restoration several parts had to be imported

from France, and the original body was

eventually located in Perth, Scotland, being used

as a chicken shed. It has a three-speed gearbox

and a fixed rear axle, with no differential.

There’s a very interesting article about the car written by a subsequent owner which you can read here.

Silverstone 1994

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Chopard HGPCA 100 Mile Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Jeffrey Pattinson in his 1954 Maserati 250F, chassis #2508, originally owned and raced by Stirling Moss. The car behind him is the 1949 Maserati 4CLT of Dan Margulies, which was being driven by Peter Hannen, followed by the 1955 Connaught B-Type of Paul Burdell, chassis B4, originally raced by the Rob Walker team.

1952 Jaguar C-Type

This car is pictured just after Lodge Corner in the Coys Race for Pre-1959 Drum Brake Sports Cars at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2002.

It's David Wenman in his 1952 Jaguar C-Type which is chassis XKC008 and has the 6-cylinder inline 3,442cc Jaguar XK6 engine that powered all the C-Types, and was originally owned by Leslie Johnson who drove it in the 1953 Mille Miglia but failed to finish the race. Peter Walker and Peter Whitehead won the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour Race in a Jaguar C-Type, and Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt repeated that feat in 1953.

1950 Sheffield Tram 513

In August 1996 when returning home from a holiday in Scotland we paid a visit to the Beamish open air museum in County Durham and this is one of the photographs I took there.

It's the 1950 Sheffield tram number 513 built by Roberts of Wakefield, and it remained in service in Sheffield until 1960. I understand that it is now at the East Anglia Transport Museum at Lowestoft.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a 1991 Ferrari F40, one of 1,311 produced between 1987 and 1992. It has a twin turbo 2,936cc V8 engine with two overhead camshafts per bank and four valves per cylinder. The F40 was apparently the first road legal production car to break the 200mph barrier.

1956 Triumph TR3

These two cars competed in the AMOC Lighthouse Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

Both are 1956 models, number 34 being the car of Charles Gillett and number 37 that of Justin Maeers. The Triumph TR3 was a successor to the TR2, both using a tuned version of the 4-cylinder inline 1991cc Standard Vanguard engine but that in the TR3 was a slightly more powerful unit. These two cars, though, have the 2,138cc engine that only became available with later versions of the TR3 in 1959.

1961 Porsche718

This was one of the cars in the Donington Park Museum when I went there in March 1996.

It's a Porsche 718 that formerly belonged to Dutch privateer Carel Godin de Beaufort, and this is what the book 'Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection' said about it:

'The Porsche 718

Germany’s challenger 

French driver Jean Behra began Porsche’s single-seater venture into Formula 2 in 1958. He had a central-seat version of the RSK sports car built up and it proved very successful. For 1959 the Stuttgart works produced ‘proper’ single-seater cars, with similar air-cooled flat-four engines and trailing-link torsion bar front suspension, and when the 1½-litre Formula 1 came into operation in 1961 they were well prepared to enter Grand Prix racing for the first time.

Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier drove the cars, which proved quite competitive. And when the new eight-cylinder was introduced for 1962 the old cars were sold. Two of them went to the giant Dutchman, Count Carel Godin de Beaufort, and he enjoyed himself hugely as one of that rare breed of private owners in Formula 1. He suffered a fatal accident in one of the obsolete old Porsches during practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix at Nürburgring. He was, as ever, trying as hard as he could to reach a qualifying time, and the loss of this jovial, larger than life character took some much-needed colour from the Grand Prix scene.'

1958 Devin SS

I took this photograph during the Invitation Scratch Race for 1950's Sports Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's Ron Gammons in his 1958 Devin SS which has a 331 cu in (5,424cc) Chevrolet small block engine. There's no information about the car in the programme of the event, but when he raced the car at Oulton Park 3 years earlier the programme said this about it:

'The Devin has a chassis designed and built in Belfast by Irishman Malcolm MacGregor, with a glass-fibre body designed and built by American Bill Devin in California and a V8 engine by Chevrolet of Detroit. Only about 15 were made.'

This site gives lots of information about Bill Devin and his cars.

1970 BRM P153

This car is leaving the pit lane during the qualifying session for the Silverstone International Trophy Race for Pre 1978 Grand Prix Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's Bobby Bell in the 1970 BRM P153, chassis P153/04 that was raced by Jackie Oliver in the 1970 racing season. The car was designed by Tony Southgate, was powered by the 2,9982cc BRM P142 V12 engine, and after the 1970 season it competed in a variety of races until 1981. During the last five years of that period it was owned by Bell & Colvill and driven by Bobby Bell who drove it at this Silverstone meeting.

1949 Crossley DD42

This is one of a large number of double deck buses that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in September 1993 in Heaton Park, Manchester.

It's a 1949 (though the programme of the event says 1948) Crossley DD42 from the Society's museum. The programme gives this information about the vehicle:

'Crossley DD42/8S, Crossley H30/26R, 1948                                                 JND791

Manchester City Transport 2150

Entered by Greater Manchester Transport Society

The sole survivor of a once numerous fleet of Crossley vehicles which graced the

streets of Manchester during the 1950s and 1960s. A star attraction at the recent

Crossley Weekend held at the Museum of Transport.'

Next to the Crossley is another of the Transport Museum's vehicles, a 1951 Leyland PD2/3, fleet number 3245 and registration JND646.

1967 McLaren M4A

This car is pictured just before Lodge Corner in the HSCC Pre '65 Single Seater Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1995.

It's David Coplowe in his 1967 McLaren M4A Formula 2 car with a 4-cylinder inline 1.598cc Cosworth FVA engine. This car was originally driven by Piers Courage for John Coombes in the 1967 Formula 2 season and is chassis M4A/2.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the cars in the special Ferrari display at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Numbered 31 in the list of display cars in the programme of the event it's a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM, which should indicate a 3 litre engine, but since all but the first example of the model (which did have the 2,953cc V12 Colombo engine) had the 3,286cc version of that engine it should really be referred to as a 275 LM. At the time of this race meeting the car was thought to be chassis #6023, the car that won the 1964 Angola Grand Prix, but it has since been found that it is #6313, the car that finished in second place in the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Both cars were owned by Ecurie Francorchamps during that period, and it's thought that at some stage the chassis tags were swapped over to match a relevant travel carnet when crossing borders. Photographic evidence was used to rectify this just a few years ago.