1958 Maserati 250F

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

It's indistinguishable from a 1950s Maserati 250F, but it's one of 12 replicas built by Cameron Millar and this one has the chassis number CM7. Cameron Millar acquired a genuine Maserati 250F in 1964 (originally 2501, later renumbered 2523) which he kept and raced for 8 years. In this time he purchased all the remaining cars and spare parts belonging to the Scuderia Centro Sud who had competed with the 250F in the 1950s, and also the chassis jigs from the Maserati factory. He then set about creating this series of replicas, using as far as possible genuine period parts, which are so well crafted that the FIA has allowed them to race alongside the genuine Maserati 250F and its contemporaries in competitive historic racing events. At the time of this Silverstone event CM7 was owned by Gerry Hann and was driven in this race by Allan Miles.

2008 Jaguar X-Type Estate

This is a car I've seen a few times in Hyde recently.

It's a 2008 Jaguar X-Type Estate

It has a 2,198cc 4-cylinder inline turbocharged diesel engine

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a 2010 Ferrari California with a 4,297cc 32 valve V8 Ferrari F136 engine, and body designed by Pininfarina.

1932 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza

This car competed in two races at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019 and is pictured at Britten's chicane during the morning practice session.

It's the 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza of Chris Mann which he drove for about 10 years in the red colour of Italy until it was rebuilt recently and given this two-tone blue colour scheme as a tribute to prewar French racing driver Hellé Nice. Vittorio Jano designed the 8-cylinder supercharged engine in 1931 originally with a capacity of 2,336cc and Tazio Nuvolari's victory in the 1931 Italian Grand Prix gave it the 'Monza' name. In 1933 the engine was enlarged to 2,557cc and in 1935 to 2,905cc. As Chris Mann's car is a 1932 model it should have the 2.3 litre engine, but the programme of this event shows the capacity as 2,750cc.

1956 Ford Thunderbird

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

It's a Ford Thunderbird First Generation, a car which was produced between 1955 and 1957, and you can tell that this is a 1956 model because the spare wheel is mounted on the back of the car and it has the air vents in the body in front of the doors. The 1957 car had further modifications to the front bumper, the grille and the tailfins. The Ford Thunderbird was produced not as a sports car but as a 'personal luxury car'.

Peter & Clive Morley

I took this photograph at Hislop's chicane during the Boulogne Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

Leading is Clive Morley in a 1928 Bentley 4½ litre with his father Peter behind in a 1929 Bentley 3/4½ litre - a 3 litre chassis with a 4½ litre engine.

1953 Cooper Bristol T23

These cars took part in two of the races at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Car number 30 competed in the Corporate Jets Historic Grand Prix Car Race and is Oliver Robinson’s 1953 Cooper Bristol MkII which has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Car number 29 next to it is Belgian driver Jan Heuten’s 1960 Cooper T43 with a 4-cylinder inline 1,960cc Coventry Climax engine, and is possibly chassis F2-14-57. This was one of the competitors in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Pre '65 Grand Prix Car Race.

2001 Williams FW23

This is one of the cars I photographed at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.

It's the 2001 Williams FW23 that was designed by Patrick Head, Gavin Fisher and Geoff Willis, and was powered by a 2,998cc V10 BMW engine. The car was driven by Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, Schumacher winning three of the seventeen races to end the season in fourth place in the World Drivers' Championship while Montoya won the Italian Grand Prix and took sixth place. Ralf Schumacher's elder brother Michael was World Champion that season in his Ferrari with nine victories.

1958 Lister Jaguar

I took this photograph on the exit of Lodge Corner during the Guards Trophy GTSR Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008.

It's Phil Bennett in his 1958 Lister Knobbly which has the 3,781cc version of the Jaguar XK6 engine. 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.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed in the Pre-1972 Le Mans Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's Davis Piper's 1966 Ferrari 330 P2 which has a Gioacchino Colombo designed 3,967cc V12 engine. I don't remember who drove the car in the race - the programme of the event says 'to be nominated'.

1912 Minerva

This is one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Monachester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1983 and I took this photograph in Manchester before the start of the Run.

It's a Belgian car, a 1912 Minerva, and although I no longer have the programme of the event it took part in the run in 1987 when the program said this about the car:

1912 Minerva

Reg: HS 457 4 cylinder 38 hp

(Nigel Bradshaw, Lytham)

Minervas were beefy Belgian racers of which

this blue brute is a superb specimen. They

used Knight sleeve valve engines of more than

2000 cc, and in the 1914 TT came second, third

and fifth.

1938 TRS

I took this photograph at the Knickerbrook chicane during a Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Leading is Kieran White in his 1938 TRS ahead of the 1930 Riley Special of Andrew Kellock. The TRS, or Thompson Racing Special was built from Ford parts, including the 1938 Ford 7W grille, and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,087cc Riley 9 engine. There's a note in the programme of the event that says this about the car:

'The second handicap race of the day features a very special 'special'. The TRS, a newcomer to VSCC race meetings has a seriously impressive history. Created in the late 30's, the car is based on a modified Ford C chassis, with a Riley 9 engine and various "go faster" bits. The car won a handicap race at the 1939 Phoenix Meeting, so watch out 'cos this could be a close one!'

Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally

The area of Heaton Park where the participants all gather at the end of the Rally in September each year has a large raised bank from where you can look down on all the vehicles. This is a photograph I took from that bank at the 1995 Rally.

I've been able to identify the five single deck buses, not all of which are listed in the programme of the event.

                                          834 OU                        AJA 118                        SHL 917                      ACU 304B                      OFM 3E

                           1958 Leyland Tiger Cub     1938 Bristol LG5         1961 AEC Reliance     1964 Leyland Leopard      1967 Bristol RE

                             Wallace Arnold Tours          North Western                 West Riding        Stanhope Motor Services          Crosville

 

Porsche 550 Spyder

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000, but I don't remember if it was part of a display or one of the vehicles in the Coys auction which took place during the weekend of the meeting.

It's a Porsche 550 Spyder, about 90 of which were produced between 1953 and 1956, not many of which had a headrest as seen on this car. The Porsche 550 had a 1,498cc flat four air-cooled engine and dominated the 1½ litre class in sports car racing in the mid 1950s.

2018 Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4 Spyder

I saw this car recently on Trafford Wharf Road, Old Trafford behind a fast food mobile trailer.

It's a 2018 Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 Spyder

The Lamborghini Huracán LP610-4 Spyder is a 4-wheel drive car and has a 5,204 cc V10 engine producing 602hp. It was in production from 2016 to 2019.

1971 McLaren M18

This is one of the cars that competed in the HSCC Derek Bell Trophy race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's a 1971 McLaren M18 driven by Judy Lyons, though the programme of the event has number 55 as the Lyons family's Surtees TS9. The McLaren M18 was a Formula 5000 car and this one apparently has a 5 litre Chevrolet V8 engine. Allen Brown's 'old racing cars' website shows this as 'the Roger Ealand car'.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Maserati UK Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's the 1952 Ferrari 625 of David Vine, a car that 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.

 

1934 Packard Coupe Roadster

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

It's a 1934 Packard Coupe Roadster, a Packard Twelve, and although it no longer shows on the DVLA  record it should have a V12 engine with a capacity of 445.5 cu in (7.3 litres).

1959 Lotus 15

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

1998 was the 50th anniversary of the first Lotus to be produced and this was one of several cars displayed by the Historic Lotus Register at the meeting. It's the Lotus 15 of Paul Samuels, one of 27 cars that were produced between 1958 and 1960. The 15 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 Cooper T41

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Gold Cup meeting in September 1956 which was run under the 1½ litre Formula 2 regulations which were to take effect in the 1957 season.

Several Formula 2 races took place in 1956 which, as in this Gold Cup meeting, included 1½ litre sports cars such as the Lotus Eleven because not many Formula 2 cars had been built at this stage. The photograph shows Jack Brabham being given a push start in his Cooper T41 which had a 1,460cc Coventry Climax engine.

1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre '52 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's the 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 of Paul Grist and has an 8-cylinder 3,822cc engine with twin overhead camshafts. It was built to challenge the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars but never beat the German cars in a top level Grand Prix, although it did succeed in doing so in a number of smaller races in the hands of the legendary Tazio Nuvolari.

1962 Porsche 804

I took this photograph at the Donington Park Museum in May 1989.

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. This is what the book 'Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection' says about the car:

'Air-cooling and mid-mounted engines were two design tenets dear to old Ferdinand Porsche’s heart, and his son Ferry’s company continued to include these characteristics in their competition programmes long after his death.During 1961 while the ex-Formula 2 flat-four cars were being raced in Grand Prix events, the engineers at Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen worked hard to iron out teething troubles in a new flat-eight cylinder engine. A new chassis was developed for it, with a new system of independent front suspension in which the old idea of two trailing links on each side sprung by transverse torsion bars was replaced by double wishbones and coil-springs.By the time the problems were considered laid in 1962, the wishbone chassis was torsion bar sprung, and with its air-cooled horizontally-opposed eight-cylinder engine installed it made its debut in the Dutch Grand Prix, opening the year’s World Championship series.The engine’s internals were watchlike in their proportions, but despite its sophistication number one driver Dan Gurney likened the ‘Eight’s’ power and handling to a road-going VW Beetle! In truth it wasn’t quite that bad and with a little luck helping him on his way Gurney won the French Grand Prix at Rouen, and then led team-mate Bonnier home to a 1-2 success on Porsche’s home circuit at Solitude, going on to star in the German Grand Prix at Nürburgring, where he was beaten honourably by Hill’s BRM and Surtees’ Lola.At the end of the season Porsche withdrew from Formula 1 to concentrate on sports-car racing, and from the flat-eight project there grew a long line of multi-cylinder engine developments which reached their ultimate expression in the turbochargd 1000bhp flat-12 engines used in CanAm and InterSerie Championship-winning 5.4 litre Porsche 917s.'

1938 ERA E-Type

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

It's Duncan Ricketts' 1938 ERA E-Type, chassis GP1, here with a 1,980cc supercharged engine but originally with a 1½ litre unit. This and its sister car, chassis GP2 were the only two E-Type ERAs built. Only one other ERA was built later and that was the  G-Type, designed after the Second World War to compete with a Bristol 2 litre engine as a Formula 2 car, but actually competed in the Formula 1 World Championship races in 1952 when they were run under Formula 2 rules. That car later became the basis for the Bristol 450 sports car that competed at Le Mans in 1953, 1954 and 1955.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars in the Ferrari display at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1990 Ferrari 641/2, chassis #121, that was driven  that season by Alain Prost. It was developed by a team led by Steve Nichols from the previous season's Ferrari 640 that had been designed by John Barnard, and has a 3,498cc V12 engine. Alain Prost won 5 of the 16 races to finish in second place behind Ayrton Senna in the World Drivers' Championship, and his team mate Nigel Mansell won just one race to finish in fifth place. Ferrari ended up in second place in the World Constructors' Championship behind the McLaren-Honda team.

1899 Bassett Phaeton

I took this photograph at the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in May 1981.

I made a note at the time that it was an 1899 Bassett Phaeton, but I no longer have the programme of the event and have no further information about the car or the owner.

1970 McLaren M14A

I came across this car in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's a 1970 McLaren M14A, but there was no race at the meeting for which the car was eligible. The M14A was raced by the McLaren team in the 1970 season and early part of the 1971 season. It gained several 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the hands of Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme, but Bruce McLaren, who took second place in the Spanish Grand Prix, was unfortunately killed during the 1970 season when testing an M8D CanAm car at Goodwood.

1974 Morgan +8

I took this photograph at Knickerbrook during the HSCC's 70's Roadsports Championship Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

It's Richard Thorne in his 1974 Morgan Plus 8 leading the 1970 Lotus 7 S4 of Chris Holland and the 1962 Lotus 7 S2 of Andy Shepherd.

1963 Bizzarrini Le Mans

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

Shown in the programme of the event as a 5.7 litre 1963 Bizzarrini Le Mans, it was driven in the race by Brian Classic. Giotto Bizzarrini, who had previously worked with Alfa Romeo and Ferrari joined forces with Renzo Rivolta to develop the Iso Rivolta GT, the Iso Grifo, and the Iso Grifo A3L and A3C. Following a disagreement with Renzo Rivolta in 1964 Giotti Bizzarrini split with Iso forming his own company and continued producing the Iso Grifo A3C which was renamed the Bizzarrini 5300 GT.

1956 Leyland Titan PD2/12

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

It's a former Portsmouth Corporation 1956 Leyland Titan PD2/12 and the programme of the event contained this note about the vehicle:

Leyland Titan PD2/12, MCW O81R. 1956                                                               LRV988

Portsmouth Corporation

Entered by F. Gradwell, Mottram

Converted to open top by Portsmouth in 1972 and operated by them until 1980. This

year the seats have been replaced on the upper deck.

1960 Condor SII

This is a photograph I took at Lodge Corner during the qualifying session for the HSCC/FJHRA Silverline Historic Formula Junior Front Engine race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2018.

It's the 1960 Condor SII of Alex Morton, who has his hand raised to warn drivers of any following cars that he is about to go into the pit lane. The only information about the car in the programme of the event is that it had a 1,098cc engine.