1960 Elva 200

This car took part in the Miller Oils/AMOC Historic Formula Junior Championship race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's the 1960 Elva 200 of Doug Martin and I can't find out much information about the Elva 200 except that 20 examples were produced, mostly with the BMC 1,098cc engine.

1971 Jensen Interceptor Mk III

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

The Jensen Interceptor was produced from 1966 to 1976 and this is a Mk III model made in 1971. Like all the earlier cars it has the 6,276cc (383 cu in) Big Block Chrysler V8 engine, which was superseded by the 7,206cc (440 cu in) Big Block V8 unit later in 1971.

1935 Aston Martin Ulster

This was one of the contestants in the Pre-War Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's the 1935 Aston Martin Ulster of Belgian Hubert Fabri, who shared the driving in the race with Rowan Atkinson. Four Aston Martin Ulster team cars were produced in 1935 and also 21 replica customer cars, both the team and customer cars having a 4-cylinder inline 1,495cc engine. CMX 743 is one of the customer cars, originally in Prince Chula's White Mouse Stable and raced by Prince Bira.

1929 Austin Burnham 16/6 and 1930 Austin Burnham 12/4

These two cars are making their way to the start line in the Exchange Station car park in Manchester to take part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1992.

The programme of the event has very brief notes about the cars taking part in the Run and here's what it says about these two:

73  1929 Austin Burnham Sixteen-six

       Albert Grimshaw, Cleveleys,

       Blackpool

74   1930 Austin 12/4 Burnham

        David J. Fellows, Fulwood, Preston

Both cars had taken part in earlier runs, however, and the 1991 programme tells us that the registration number of the 1929 car is DL6623 and: 'This Burnham originated on the Isle of Wight and was with the original owner until 1963. This was Austin's first attempt at a six-cylinder engine, put into the well tried 12 hp 4 cylinder chassis. It worked very well - a powerful combination.'

The only information I can find about the 1930 car is that the registration number is TF678 and it has a 4 cylinder 12 hp 1490cc engine.

1918 De Dion Bouton Model HD

The Vintage Sports Car Club's meetings at Oulton Park always included a Concours D'Elegance organised by the Cheshire Life magazine and the Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies meeting in May 2005 was no exception. This is one of the cars that I photographed amongst the cars gathered there.

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's a 1918 De Dion Bouton Model HD and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,940cc engine. The car was auctioned by Bonhams in March 2013 and here's the history of the car they provided at that time.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph I took at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992 which featured a special display of Ferraris in the paddock.

The red car in the centre of the picture is the 1950 Ferrari 166/195 MM Touring Barchetta that the factory brought up to 195, and later to 212 specifications. Owned by Dudley Mason-Styrron it is chassis #0040M. The note about the car in the programme of the event says this:

'166/195 Barchetta

Front engined V12; 2.3 litres; 160-180 bhp at 7000rpm; ifs/double wishbones/transverse leaf springs. Rigid rear axle/semi-elliptic leaf springs. The dual model designation reflects the fact that it started out as a 2-litre car in the 166 series and finished up with a 2.4 litre engine from the 195 series. The 'Barchetta' - literally 'little boat' body is by Touring. It ran in the 1950 Mille Miglia, 4th overall (G.Bracco/U.Maglioli) and finished 12th overall. 5th in class (Luigi Villoresi) in the Targa Florio that year.'

Behind that is a 1960 Ferrari Dino 246 F1 car, one of which was the last front engined car to win a World Championship Grand Prix race - the 1960 Italian Grand Prix driven by Phil Hill. The black car on the left is a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California GT Spyder, chassis #2377GT which was owned for a long time by Hollywood film star James Coburn, and between 2008 and 2010 by Chris Evans. To the right you can see the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta Competizione, chassis #2735GT, which is the Rob Walker entered car with which Stirling Moss won the 1961 Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood.

One of the routes on the Manchester Metrolink system is from Ashton-under-Lyne to Eccles with a spur at Salford Quays going to Media City. I understand that because of track maintenance work the Eccles service currently terminates at Deansgate-Castlefield. Here are two photographs I took on a recent evening of trams going in both directions calling at Media City.

This was the tram from Eccles to Deansgate-Castlefield at Media City.

Five minutes later this was the tram from Deansgate-Castlefield to Eccles.

1957 Aston Martin DBR1

This car featured in a track display at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's Roy Salvadori in a 1957 Aston Martin DBR1, a car that replaced the DB3S and was designed by Ted Cutting to compete in the World Sportscar Championship and specifically the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. In 1957 DBR1/2 won the Nürburgring 1000km race driven by Tony Brooks and Noel Cunningham-Reid, and in 1958 won the RAC Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood with Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks. In 1959 Aston Martin finally managed to win the World Sportscar Championship, this car winning the Le Mans 24 Hour race driven by Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby whilst Carroll Shelby, Jack Fairman and Stirling Moss took it to victory in the RAC Tourist Trophy race. The Nürburgring 1000km race was won by DBR1/1 driven by Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman.

1962 Lotus 23B

This is Mike Doyle in his 1962 Lotus 23B at Lodge Corner during practice for the European Sports Prototype Trophy race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Par in August 2004.

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 1,498cc engine, presumably the Ford Kent derived 4-cylinder inline Cosworth 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.

1962 Aston Martin DP212

The 1995 Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995 marked the Diamond Jubilee of the Aston Martin Owners Club with a display of Aston Martins in the paddock and this is one of the cars in that display.

It's the Aston Martin DP212 that was created to run in the 1962 Le Mans 24 Hour race and was driven in that race by Graham Hill and Richie Ginther. The car was built on a DB4 GT chassis with an inline 6-cylinder 4 litre engine based on the DB4 GT's 3.7 litre unit. A note in the programme of the event says this about it:

1962 Prototype DP212

The only team car entered for Le Mans in

1962, DP212 was in second place, but

forced to retire after 6 hours with

piston failure. In 1964 it was rebuilt as

a road car, but continued to be raced in

this country. In 1974 DP212 won the

Classic Car Championship, driven by

Mike Salmon for its owner Viscount

Downe, President of the AMOC.

1964 Leyland Titan PD2

This bus took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It's a 1964 Leyland Titan PD2A/24, and the programme of the event said this about it:

 

'Leyland Titan PD2A/24, East Lancs H65R, 1964                       ABV33B

Blackburn Corporation 33

Entered by Blackburn PD2 Preservation Group

The last of the class in passenger service when withdrawn in March 1981.

Restored in the 1972 livery of cream and green.'

It was originally delivered to Blackburn Corporation in March 1964 and entered service with fleet number 33 on 1st May 1964. On 1st April 1974 it passed to the Borough of Blackburn as a result of the reorganisation caused by the Local Government Act of 1972.

1970 Tyrrell 001

This car competed in the FORCE Classic Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the John Delane's 1970 Tyrrell 001, not a successful car itself, but one which led to the last two of Jackie Stewart's three World Drivers' Championship wins. Powered by the ubiquitous 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine it was introduced towards the end of the 1970 season replacing the March 701 for the last three races, but retiring in each of those races. Jackie Stewart finished in fifth place in the championship that year having won it with the Matra MS80 in 1969. Jackie Stewart only drove the car in the first race in 1971, in South Africa, where he finished in second place, then drove the Tyrrell 003 in the rest of his appearances that season to win the Championship again, repeating that feat with the Tyrrell 006 in 1973. The car number 95 behind the Tyrrell is Peter Austin's 1960 Lola Mk1. These cars were produced by Lola Cars from 1958 to 1962, initially with a 1100cc Coventry Climax FWA engine. The programme of the event shows that this one has an engine of 1490cc and it appears to be chassis BR-19.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took in the Ferrari Owners Club's area in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's a Vignale bodied 1953 Ferrari 166MM with a Gioacchino Colombo designed 1,995cc V12 engine. The original owner was Porfirio Rubirosa, and its owner at the time of this Silverstone meeting was Bernard Worth who had owned the car since 1960. The chassis number has been changed a couple of times and it appears to now be 0308M, but the history of the car is shown on the barchetta.cc file for chassis 0328M.

2021 Polestar

I saw this car recently which I did not recognise at the GMEV charging point at Salford Quays and there appears to be nothing on the car to identify it.

The DVLA record shows that it's a 2021 Polestar and looking closely at the photograph I can see that it says 'Polestar Automotive UK Limited' at the bottom of the number plate. Polestar is apparently a sub-brand of the Volvo company and the cars are produced at the Luqiao CMA Super Factory in Luqiao, China.

1994 McLaren MP4/9

This is a photograph I took on what was to be my last visit to the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.

It's the McLaren MP4/9 that was driven by Mika Häkkinen in the 1994 season, his team mate Martin Brundle driving the number 8 car. It was designed by Neil Oatley and was powered by a 3,499cc V10 Peugeot engine. The car was not particularly successful and didn't win any races, Mika Häkkinen getting a second place in Belgium and five third place finishes to end the season in fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship, while Martin Brundle had a second place in Monaco and four minor placings to finish  in seventh place in the Championship. McLaren ended the season in fourth place in the World Constructors' Championship.

1955 Maserati 300S

This was one of the competitors 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 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. The car number 18 in the background is the 1958 Cooper T45 of Anthony Ditheridge which took part in the HGPCA Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars race.

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.

The car on the left is the 1938 ERA R14B of Donald Day which has the 6-cylinder inline supercharged 2 litre engine - usually 1,980cc, but shown in the programme of the event as 2,044cc. The number 14 on the right is Allan Miles in a 1957 Cooper T41, probably chassis F2-2-57, with a 1,498cc Coventry Climax engine and behind him is the 1953 Cooper Bristol T23 - originally known as the Cooper Bristol MkII - of John Beasley which has a 1,971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine.

1929 Fiat 509S

I took this photograph at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1985.

I don't now have the brochure from the event and the only information I wrote down at the time was that it's a 1929 Fiat 509S. The Fiat 509 was produced from 1924 to 1929 and has a 4-cylinder inline 990cc engine and was available as a 2/4 door sedan, a 2/4 door cabriolet or a 2 door spyder. This one appears to have had a more sporting body fitted.

1951 Jaguar XK120

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

It's the 1951 Jaguar XK120 of Nicholas Wilkins and has the 6-cylinder inline 3,441cc Jaguar XK engine. The XK120 was produced from 1948 to 1954 and was used for racing and rallying from the start, leading to the Le Mans winning C-Type and D-Types. It was later succeeded by the XK140 and then the XK150.

 

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997 featured an extensive display of Ferraris, some of which took part in demonstration runs round the circuit during the two-day meeting. Here is one of the cars on display that day and which was driven by Jody Scheckter in those demonstrations.

It's the 2,992cc flat-12 Ferrari 312 T4 (chassis #040) with which Jody Scheckter won the World Championship in 1979. Jody Scheckter won 3 of the 15 races finishing ahead of his team-mate Gilles Villeneuve, who also won 3 races, in the final table. Alan Jones in the Williams FW07 won 4 races, but the only other points he scored were for a 3rd and a 4th place so he only managed to finish the season in 3rd place in the Championship.

1929 Bugatti Type 40

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

It's the 1929 Bugatti Type 40 of M.C. Dickson of London which the Bugatti Trust says is a Grand Sport type 40, chassis 40652 with engine no. 584, that was supplied to Sorel in London on 25th October 1928 and sold to Percy Hargreaves of Blackpool in March 1929. Registered on 27th March 1929 as UF 4524. A note about the car in the programme of the event reads as follows:

126   1929 Bugatti Type 40

          Reg: UF 4524    4 cylinder    1496cc

          (M.C. Dickson, London W14)

Jointly owned by Mike and Hugh Dickson,

it was first entered on the Run in 1987.

1960 OSCA FJ

This car took part in the AMOC Formula Junior Race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2001.

It's the 1960 OSCA Formula Junior car of Peter Mullen and has a 4-cylinder inline Fiat 1,098cc engine. The OSCA company was established by the Maserati brothers at the end of their 10 year contract with Adolfo Orsi, to whom they had sold the Maserati concern in 1937. Formula Junior racing was initiated in 1958 by Giovanni Lurani as an affordable introduction to single seater racing and was initially dominated by the Fiat-engined Italian cars, particularly Stanguellini. British interest remained for some time with the 500cc Formula 3 class of racing, but when they turned their attention to Formula Junior cars such as Elva and Lola started to make an impression, and when Cooper and Lotus introduced their mid-engined cars they became the ones to beat.

Stirling Moss

I attended most of the Christie's/Coys International Historic Festival meetings at Silverstone in the 1990s and Stirling Moss was at many of these meetings, either taking part in the racing or just joining in a track parade with one of the cars being displayed at the meeting.

I took this photograph at the Christie's meeting in July 1992 when he was signing an autograph for one of his many fans. He shared a drive at this meeting with Nick Mason in the latter's Ferrari 250GTO in the BRDC '60's GT Race.

Four buses

I took this photograph at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1996.

All were comparatively new vehicles at the time, but although there's a class shown in the programme of the event for Operating PSV's Buses none of them is listed in that programme. From left to right the vehicles are:

1991 Volvo Citybus 7001, Northern Counties body, H701GVM

1984 Leyland Olympian, NMCE body, B40PJA

1984 Leyland Olympian, NMCE body, B46PJA

1995 Dennis Dart, Northern Counties body, N619CDB

For some reason it looks appropriate to me that the buses are displayed by height with the tallest on the left - it just wouldn't have looked right the other way round.

1955 Jaguar D-Type

I photographed this car approaching Lodge Corner during the Scratch Race for 1950's Sports/Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at a wet Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's Ian Donaldson in Andrew Pisker's 1955 Jaguar D-Type with the later 3,781cc version of the 6-cylinder inline Jaguar XK engine. The car is chassis XKD544 and has a very interesting history detailed in the coventryracers website.

1966 Triumph Bonneville

I took this photograph at a motorcycle show organised by the Stalybridge Motorcycle Club in June 1994.

It's a 1966 Triumph Bonneville with a twin-cylinder 649cc engine, a model that was in production from 1959 to 1975.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the participants in the Trofeo Pirelli series of races contested by the Corse Clienti at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's the Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO of Kriton Lendoudis, the Challenge being developed from the 458 by reducing the weight of the body panels with the EVO version having improved aerodynamics, including the large rear wing. The car is powered by the 4,499cc V8 Ferrari F136 F engine.

1969 Lotus 61

This was one of the competitors in the HSCC Formula Ford Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1995.

It's the 1969 Lotus 61 of Kevin Stanzl and has a 1,599cc 4-cylinder inline Ford Kent engine that was originally developed for the 1959 Ford Anglia, and styling reminiscent of the Lotus 56 which contested the 1968 Indianapolis 500 race.

Lamborghini Countach

This car caught my eye as I was walking through the paddock at the Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2010.

It's a Lamborghini Countach that has been transformed into a 'work of art' by the Danish artist Kristian von Hornsleth, and I've been unable to find out anything about the car itself nor what the artist is trying to portray. The Lamborghini Countach was produced from 1974 to 1990 and was available with three different sizes of the V12 engine, 3,929cc, 4,754cc and 5,167cc.

1934 Maserati 8CM

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

It's the 1934 Maserati 8CM, chassis 3018, originally owned by Tazio Nuvolari, and the book Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection says this about it:

    'In 1933, while the new Alfa Romeo Monoposti were languishing in enforced inactivity, the Scuderia Ferrari persevered with their old Monza models, fitted with more powerful 2.6 litre engines. This added urge proved too much for the fragile transmissions, which regularly failed and robbed thr Scuderia drivers of several good placings.

     Tazio Nuvolari – the legendary Italian ace – suffered more than most. The Press began to call him a car-breaker. He and some of his team-mates broke with Ferrari and moved down the Via Emilia to buy competitive cars from the Maserati brothers in Bologna. These were the 2991cc supercharged eight-cylinder 8CMs, and the ex-Alfa Romeo aces quickly turned them into race winners.

     Alfieri Maserati had begun competitions in the 1920s, and in 1926 he modified an eight-cylinder Diatto which became the first Maserati racing car when Diatto lost interest in racing and dispensed with Alfieri’s services. He and his brothers Bindo, Ernesto and Ettore formed their own company to build competition cars and quickly proved successful, selling many cars to private entrants.

     Early in 1933 their 8CM engine was introduced, installed in originally 2.8 litre ‘two-seater’ chassis from the previous year. Three of these cars were produced before Maserati introduced their first Monoposto with incredibly slim chassis and body, only 62 centimetres wide. With the advent of the 750kg Formula in 1934, the later 8CMs were widened to meet the 85-centimetre minimum width rule, although this was cleverly achieved in the chassis and lower body sides only, leaving the upper part of the shell as slim and wind-cheating as before.

     In its original form the 8CM chassis was whippy and made the lightweight 210bhp car a ferocious thing to drive. Its braking was sophisticated, however, for the brothers had revived hydraulic operation for all four brakes – twelve years after their value had been proved by Duesenberg in winning the 1921 French Grand Prix.

     Burly opera-singing driver Giuseppe Campari gave the 8CM engine its first victory in the French Grand Prix, and then Nuvolari won the Belgian event in his brand-new privately-owned single-seater. The Mantuan won again at Montenero and Nice, was second in the Italian GP and led in Spain before his car failed him. This brilliant season was marred by the deaths of fellow Maseratistis Campari and Borzacchini in the Monza GP, but Nuvolari continued racing his slim-bodied car – number 3007 – into 1934.

     Early in the new season he wrecked this car in the Bordino Cup race at Alessandria, somersaulting it into a stout tree. A young newcomer named Carla Pedrazzini was killed in his unmanageable 8CM in this same event, but the indomitable Nuvolari was soon recovered and racing again. His new wide-chassis car – number 3018 – was second to Fagioli’s Mercedes in the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara, and then the 8CM was replaced by a new Tipo 34 six-cylinder 3.3 litre model for the Italian GP.

     About twenty-three Maserati 8CMs were built in this period, nineteen of them single-seaters, and one – number 3003 – being based on a Bugatti chassis for Count Premoli, to form the PBM, or Premoli-Bugatti-Maserati.

     They were exceptionally popular among private owners, particularly since Alfa Romeo would not release their P3s at the time. Earl Howe and Philippe Étancelin ran single-seater cars with some success, while the American-born Cambridge undergraduate Whitney Straight ordered a three-car team.

He had them modified by Thomson & Taylor at Brooklands, fitted with Wilson pre-selector gearboxes and stiffened chassis and even designed his own grille shape. These cars were raced widely and successfully by the Straight team and, in later years, by private owners.

     The immaculate and very original 8CM in the Donnington Collection is 3018, Nuvolari’s personal 1934 car; it is possible that it was built using some of the parts salvaged from his Alessandra wreck. In present form it is fitted with a Wilson pre-selector gearbox, which Nuvolari disliked and used only occasionally.

     The car was in the Collezione Giorgio Franchetti for many years and is one of the best-preserved of all the great racing cars of the 1930s.'