1973 Fiat 130 Coupé

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

It's a 1973 Fiat 130 Coupé with a 3,235cc V6 engine, and below is a photo of the note about the car in the side window.

1959 Aston Martin DBR4

This car competed in the Raymond Mays Trophy Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 2001.

It's the 1959 Aston Martin DBR4 of Wolfgang Friedrichs, chassis DBR4/1. The DBR4 is a car that was first built and tested in 1957 although it didn't make its Grand Prix debut until 1959. By that time the new generation of rear-engined cars had made the older front-engined cars uncompetitive and the best results it managed were Roy Salvadori's sixth place finishes in the British and Portuguese Grands Prix in 1959. Originally powered by a 6-cylinder inline 2,493cc engine, Wolfgang Friedrichs’ car had the same 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc engine as the DB3S sports car.

1937 ERA R12C

I took this photograph on the approach to Lodge Corner during the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1937 ERA R12C of Bill Morris which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline1,488cc engine and was driven in the race by Tony Stephens.  Bill Morris owned two ERAs, R12B and R12C and the two cars have a strange history, R12B being a works car that was originally built in 1936 with a 2 litre engine as a B-type car, but in 1937 it was rebuilt to C-type specifications, thus becoming R12C, and given a 1½ litre engine. In 1938 it was sold to Prince Chula to become one of his White Mouse stable's trio of ERAs driven by Prince Bira, where it was given the name 'Hanuman'. In 1939 the car was badly damaged in a crash during practice at Reims and was rebuilt with a B-type frame, reverting to being R12B and the name changing to 'Hanuman II'. After passing through various hands after the Second World War it came to Bill Morris. Bill Morris had managed to acquire the rest of the wreckage left over from the 1939 crash and using the damaged chassis frame rebuilt the car to its 1939 C-type specifications by 1982. That car was now R12C, as if the 1939 accident had never happened, and was given the original car's name of 'Hanuman'.

1986 MG Metro 6R4

When I made my last visit to the Donington Park Museum in September 2014 there was a section set aside for rally cars where I took this photograph.

It's a 1986 MG Metro 6R4 and the board at the side of the car had this to say about it:

'The MG Metro was one of the most familiar Group B rally cars that emerged during the 1980s. It was based on the Rover Metro, however, apart from the name and badge, the 6R4 bore little resemblance to the front wheel drive ‘city’ car on which it was based, indeed the name 6R4 is derived from 6-cylinder, Rear engine, 4-wheel-drive. The normally aspirated 6 cylinder engine produced more than 400 bhp, far more than a modern World Rally Car, and in such a lightweight car could accelerate the 6R4 to 60 mph in around 3 seconds and on to 100 mph in just eight. In 1986 Prodrive ran this car as part of an independent team. It won three rallies in Ireland, in the hands of Billy Coleman and Jimmy McRae, then the first of the McRaes to drive for Prodrive. This car made its final outing at the RAC Rally in 1986, the last time Group B rally cars were to compete in the World Rally Championship.'

 

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the contestants in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It’s David Vine’s 1953 Ferrari 625 that was driven by Flavien Marçais in the race. It was originally a Formula Two Ferrari 500 with a 4-cylinder inline 1,984cc engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi, and competed in World Championship races in 1952 and 1953 when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. It was an Ecurie Francorchamps car, chassis 0208F, and after being in an accident at the end of 1953 it was rebuilt as a 625 with a lengthened chassis and a 2,498cc version of the Lampredi engine to contest the 2½ litre Formula One starting in 1954. At the same time it was given a new chassis number, 0540. In 1955 it was acquired by Alfonso de Portago who competed in a couple of non-World Championship Grands Prix then was injured in a crash during practice for the International Trophy Race at Silverstone and then sold the car. It then passed through various hands before ending up with David Vine in 1998.

1953 Connaught A-Type

I photographed this car at Lodge Corner in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's the 1953 Connaught A-Type of Alan Cottam, chassis AL10, which has a 4-cylinder inline engine based on the 1,767cc Lea Francis engine with the capacity increased to 1,960cc in line with the then current Formula 2 regulations.

1909 Rolls Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1976 and is pictured in Manchester before the start of the Run.

It's a 1909 Rolls Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost but I don't now have the programme of the event with the owner's details. A total of 7,874 of these cars were produced from 1906 to 1926 all having 6-cylinder inline engines with a capacity of 7,036cc up to 1909, and 7,428 cc from 1910 onwards. This particular car is chassis 1194.

1952 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1975.

It’s a 1952 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica which has a 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine based on that of the BMW 328. This car is chassis 421/100/164 and its original owner was Col. Hal O'Hara Moore. It has the chassis from 421/100/152 which was wrecked in an accident in 1951 and its competition history reads as follows:

Rallye Soleil Cannes 1952 - Winner; Rallye Soleil Cannes 1953, 1954; Tulip Rally 1952, 1953, 1954; Liege-Rome-Liege 1952 - DNF; RAC Rally 1952, 1954

1959 Tojeiro Jaguar

This car competed in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Dick Skipworth’s ex-Ecurie Ecosse 1959 Tojeiro Jaguar, driven in the race by Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams. The car  was built for Ecurie Ecosse in 1959 and its first race was the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year, driven by Ron Flockhart and Jock Lawrence, but it retired after 11 hours of racing with a wrecked engine. It was rebuilt and competed in the 1959 Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood, driven by Masten Gregory and Jim Clark, but was completely wrecked when Masten Gregory left the circuit at Woodcote Corner. The car was rebuilt many years later in its current form and has the 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc Jaguar XK engine.

1954 Packard Cavalier

This car was one of those in the American Cars class at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's a 1954 Packard Cavalier and should have a straight-eight 327cu in (5.4 litre) engine. The 'SK' in the registration number YSK 470 indicates that it was originally registered in Caithness. Caithness, by the way, is as far north as you can get on the mainland of Britain, the major towns being Thurso and Wick, but the most well-known place in Caithness is undoubtedly John o' Groats.

1932 Alfa Romeo P3

This was one of the competitors in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race and the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1970.

It's the 1932 Alfa Romeo P3 of Neil Corner and was driven in both the races by Peter Waller. The car has a 2,905cc twin-supercharged straight-8 engine designed by Vittorio Jano. The P3 was introduced in 1932, and Tazio Nuvolari won two of the three races in the European Championship that season with his team mate Rudolf Caracciola winning the third race. The Alfa Romeo team was suffering financial problems and missed the early part of the 1933 season, but later in the year the cars were handed over to Scuderia Ferrari and won the last two European Championship races of the season. The first two races of the 1934 season were won by Alfa Romeo but the second race, the French Grand Prix, marked the entry of the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars into the fray, and these cars went on to dominate Grand Prix racing until the start of World War 2. The Alfa Romeo P3, however, had its swan song in the 1935 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Tazio Nuvolari beating the 5-car Mercedes Benz and 4-car Auto Union teams.

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 the 1959 Ferrari 250GT LWB Berlinetta TdF of Plinio Haas, which has the 2,952cc Gioacchino Columbo designed V12 engine common to most of the 250 series cars. Four series of the TdF, a total of 77 cars, were produced between 1956 and 1959 which were defined by the number of louvres in the sail panel between the side and the rear windows. The first series had no louvres, the second 14 louvres, next 3 louvres and finally a single louvre. Plinio Haas's car is chassis #1401GT, one of the last series with only one louvre.

Morris Commercial

This is one of the vehicles displayed at the Pallot Museum when we visited it on a holiday in Jersey in May 2013.

It's a Morris Commercial, probably one of the LC4 or LC5 that were produced between 1952 and 1960.

1950 Singer 9 Roadster 4AB

This was one of the exhibits at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1987.

I no longer have the brochure from this event, but it's a 1950 Singer 9 Roadster 4AB and has a 1,074cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

1925 Delage

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1963.

It's Nigel Arnold-Forster's 1922 Delage almost hidden by the foliage along The Avenue leading towards the Cascades corner during the race. The only information about the car in the programme of the event is that it has a 5,109cc engine and is an 'ex-hill climb and Brooklands car'.

1955 Maserati 300S

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 1955 Maserati 300S of Dudley and Sally Mason-Styrron and was driven in the race by Sally Mason-Styrron. The 300S was produced by Maserati from 1955 to 1959 to contend the World Sportscar Championship and had a straight-6 engine based on the 250F Grand Prix car's 2½ litre unit, but with a longer stroke to bring the capacity up to 2,992cc and this car is chassis 3055.

BRM V16

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

On the left is a 1950 BRM P15, originally known as a BRM V16 MkI, and it is chassis no. 3. It's got the light green finish that was first favoured but which was later changed to a much darker shade of green. The P15 had a supercharged 1,496cc V16 engine which was claimed to achieve 600bhp. It was notably unsuccessful in the 1950 and 1951 racing seasons, retiring from many races. To the right is a 1954 BRM P30, V16 Mk2 No2, alternatively known as V16/05. This car competed in Formula Libre races for a few years, and the only time I saw one in competitive action was in the Formula Libre race at the 1955 Aintree 200 meeting when Peter Collins won the race in P30/2.

1931 Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 GS Zagato

This car competed in two handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1961.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 GS Zagato which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 1,752cc engine. This model was produced from 1929 to 1933 and was an extremely successful car in that period, winning every major race for which it was entered in 1929.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Shell Ferrari Historical Challenge race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1964 Ferrari 250LM, chassis 8165, of David Piper and was driven in the race by Chris Rea. The '250LM' 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. The intention was for the 250LM to be homologated for the FIA's Group3 GT class so when the larger engine was fitted Enzo Ferrari insisted that the '250LM' should be retained to help with the homologation process.

1924 Trojan Utility

This was one of the competitors in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veterans and Vintage Car Run in June 1975 and is pictured in Manchester before the start of the event.

It's a 1924 Trojan Utility, but I don't have any other details of the car as I no longer have the programme of the event. The Trojan had a 1,527cc 4-cylinder two-stroke engine, later reduced to 1,488cc to bring it into the under 1½ litre class, but the DVLA record says that this car has a 1,141cc engine. It also has solid rubber tyres.

1960 Cooper T53

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's a 1960 Cooper T53, the car that brought Jack Brabham the second of his two consecutive World Drivers' Championship titles in 1960 and was powered by a 4-cylinder inline 2,497cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. There were two races at this meeting featuring Grand Prix cars of this era, a Pre '61 Grand Prix Car Race in which Gerry Porter drove a Cooper T53 and car number 10 was a Maserati 250F, and a Pre '66 Grand Prix and Tasman Cars Race in which Allan Miles and Stephen Griswold drove Cooper T53s and car number 10 was a Brabham BT11.

1938/46 Rover Special

I remember seeing this car competing many times at VSCC meetings at Oulton Park in the 1950s and 60s, but this photograph taken at the 1973 Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting appears to be the only one I have of it.

It's the 1938/46 Rover Special of Frank Lockhart which was built in 1948 by three young engineers at the Rover Company using a chassis which was a prototype of the P3 chassis designed by Adrian Lombard in 1938. They and other drivers used it for club racing but in 1963 Frank Lockhart became the regular driver and in the late 1960s he bought the car from the original owners. The car has been powered by several different Rover engines and in 1973 the car had a 2,995cc engine, seemingly the 6-cylinder inline unit from the Rover P5.

1964 Abarth Simca 2000

This was one of the competitors in the BRDC '60s GT Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's Horst Pichler's 1964 Abarth Simca 2000 which was produced as a collaborative project by Simca and Abarth and powered by a 4-cylinder inline 1,946cc Abarth engine.

1938 ERA Parnell Challenger

This car took part in one of the races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Formula Vintage meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

It's Duncan Ricketts' 1938 ERA Parnell Challenger, a car that was conceived by Reg Parnell for the 1½ litre Formule Internationale which was expected to be introduced in 1941 - events in 1939 obviously stopped that from happening. It was apparently intended to be fitted with an MG engine, but its only appearance before the war was at Prescott in early 1939 when it had an ERA engine. After the war Reg Parnell fitted it with an 8-cylinder inline Delage engine, but lost interest in the project after acquiring a Maserati 4CL. It was driven by David Hampshire in a couple of events with the Delage engine in 1947 and more recently came into the ownership of Duncan Ricketts who restored the car with a supercharged 1,488cc ERA engine.

Here's Duncan Ricketts at Hislop's chicane during the morning practice session.....

.....and at Druids Corner during the race.

1964 AEC Routemaster

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

It's a 1964 AEC Routemaster which was with London Transport until 1987 when it was sold to Clydeside Scottish of Glasgow in whose livery it appeared at this event. A note in the programme of the event reads as follows:

'AEC Routemaster, Park Royal H36/28R, 1964                                                        ALD913B

London Transport RM1913

Entered by Messrs Bentley, Cannon & Worksnop, Halifax

Following service in the capital until 1987, this vehicle was sold to Clydeside

Scottish in Glasgow. It was purchased for preservation in 1991'

It later became part of London Transport's Routemaster Heritage Fleet.

Friday's Ferrari

Ferrari uses the Corse Clienti Ferrari Racing Days meetings at various circuits to allow a group of specially selected customers to test limited edition cars developed exclusively for the track and to provide feedback on the performance of the cars to Corse Clienti engineers, thus helping Ferrari to develop its cars for the future. The Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017 included a series of test sessions involving the Ferrari FXX-K, the 'K' referring to the KERS kinetic energy recovery system with which the car is equipped. Here's one of the cars pictured at Club Corner during one of the sessions.

This is Argentinian driver Alejandro Roemmers in his Ferrari FXX-K, which is based on the LaFerrari. The car is chassis no. 211632 and has a 6,262cc V12 engine that develops 848 hp, to which the 140kW electric motor adds 188 hp.

1968 Lotus 41X

I took this photograph early in the Saturday morning in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2018 with cars making their way to the racetrack for what the programme of the event called 'Testing Sessions'.

It's the 1968 Lotus 41X Formula 3 car of Italian driver Enrico Spaggiari with a 4-cylinder inline Ford Cosworth engine. The F3History site says this about the car:

'A “new” car appeared for 1968, the 41X, Lotus took a 41C and modified the front suspension with Lotus 47 (the competition version of the Europa road car) uprights and wheels. In addition a dramatic (for the time) wedge shaped body was fitted, it had a low, wide nose and radiator inlet, the body rising at a constant angle to the rear of the cockpit. A flat engine cover with a slanted undercut tail completed the design. As the season progressed various aerodynamic adjustments were made including a tall rear wing in imitation of its F1 relatives. Only the one car was built and John Miles took it to four good wins during the year. However once again compared with the results racked up by Tecno and Brabham during the year it was another poor Lotus season. In official Lotus records this car was actually listed as the Type 55, the designation it would have when production started. However in view of its only adequate performance these plans were shelved and the Type 59 appeared instead.'

Behind the Lotus number 28 is the 1980 Formula Ford 2000 Lola T580 of Fraser Collins and the number 19 in the background is the 1977 Formula Ford 2000 Crossle 33F of Jimmy Stewart.

The Moon

The Moon seen from Hyde, Cheshire just after 8.30am on 20 December 2022.

1961 Maserati 3500GT

I photographed this car in the Maserati Club's area at the Christie's International Historical Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1961 Maserati 3500GT, a model that was produced between 1959 and 1964, and was powered by the 6-cylinder inline 3,485cc Tipo 101 engine developed from that of the Maserati 350S racing car of 1956. The coachwork was designed by Carrozzeria Touring and the car had an aluminium body attached to a tubular steel frame.

Volkswagen Beetle

I took these photographs of 3 Volkswagen Beetles at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018. All three cars have the flat-4 air cooled engine.

This is a 1971 Cabriolet and has the 1600cc engine.

This is a 1972 model and has the 1300cc engine.

This is a 1973 model and also has the 1300cc engine.

1935 Hudson Terraplane

This car was on the stand of the Railton Owners Club at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1994.

It's a 1935 Hudson Terraplane, built by the Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The Terraplane chassis and engine were also used on the British Railton car built by the Fairmile Engineering Company in Cobham, Surrey, hence the appearance of this car on the stand of the Railton Owners Club.