1959 Cooper T51 & 1958 Lotus Eleven Le Mans

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

On the left is the 1959 Cooper T51 of David Cooke that he drove in the John Cooper Trophy Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix and Tasman Cars. The T51 was a development of the Cooper T43 and and T45 cars for the 1959 F1 season and was usually powered by a 2½ litre Coventry Climax engine, though the programme of this events says that David Cooke's car had a 1,998cc engine. On the right is David Cooke's 1958 Lotus Eleven Le Mans with a 1,498cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was primarily designed to compete in the 1,100cc class of racing, but competed with a variety of engines ranging from 750cc to 1,500cc. The Lotus Eleven Le Mans differed from the standard Lotus Eleven in that it had a wider chassis frame in order to provide Le Mans regulation-width seats, and cockpit and footwell minimum dimensions, but the overall width of the bodywork was no different to the standard car.

Ducati Superlite 900 Desmodue

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

It’s a Ducati Superlight 900 Desmodue and has a 904cc V-twin engine.

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 2000.

It's the 1935 Aston Martin Ulster of Belgian Hubert Fabri, who shared the driving in the race with Belgian/French Bertrand Gachot. 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.

1924 Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1924 Alfa Romeo Targa Florio of Chris Mann which has a 6-cylinder inline 2,996cc engine. The Alfa Romeo RL was produced in 1922 and the Targa Florio was a special version of the RL built to take part in that race.

Here's Chris Mann at Old Hall Corner during a handicap race earlier in the meeting leading Kenneth Neve in his 1914 Humber TT.

1954 Daimler CVG6

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 an ex-Birmingham Corporation 1954 Daimler CVG6, and the programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

'Daimler CVG6, Crossley H55R, 1954        MOF225

Birmingham Corporation 3225

Entered by West Midlands Travel Ltd

One of the last batch of "Birmingham Standards", it had a service life of 23 years and was then restored over a four year period by apprentices at the company's Engineering Technical Training Centre.'

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.

1955 Connaught B-Type

This car competed in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1972.

It's the 1955 Connaught B Type of Alan McKechnie and was driven in the race by Tony Mitchell. The Connaught B Type was made famous by Tony Brooks' win in the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix where the main opposition were the five cars of the Maserati works team, since when the B Type has been known as the Connaught Syracuse. It has a 4-cylinder inline 2,470cc Alta engine and seven of the cars were produced, Alan McKechnie's car, chassis B7 was owned by Bernie Ecclestone after the Connaught team folded and was raced in 1958 by Roy Salvadori, Archie Scott Brown and Jack Fairman. In later years it was on long-term display in the Donington Park Museum.

1951 Ford Anglia

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

It's a 1951 Ford Anglia, the E494A model of which over 100,000 were produced between 1949 and 1953. It should have a 4 cylinder inline 933cc engine but according to the DVLA record the capacity of the engine of this car is 1,174cc, possibly an engine from the later 100E model. The note in the side window of the car reads:

Ford

Anglia

1951

Barn-find

Totally dismantled in 70's, put

into boxes and jam-jars,

recovered 2012

1970 BRM P153

I took this photograph at Old Hall Corner at Oulton Park during practice for the Gold Cup meeting in May 1972.

It's the 1970 BRM P153, chassis 153/03, of Vern Schuppan who qualified the car in sixth position on the grid and ended the race in fifth place. The BRM P153 was designed by Tony Southgate and had BRM's own 2,998cc V12 engine. Its only victory was in the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix driven by Pedro Rodriguez.

1934 Maserati 6C-34

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

It's a 1934 Maserati 6C-34 and though the race number isn't visible the only Maserati 6C-34 in the race was that of Ernst Schuster. It has a 3,724cc 6-cylinder inline engine and 6 of these cars were produced between 1933 and 1935.

1977 Wolf WR1

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

Walter Wolf was a Canadian who became a Formula One constructor in 1976 by buying the assets of the Hesketh team when it withdrew from F1. The first car designed and built by the team led by Harvey Postlethwaite was the WR1 which, driven by Jody Scheckter, won its first race in Argentina then went on to win the Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix, finishing second to Niki Lauda in the Drivers' World Championship and fourth in the World Constructors' Championship. It was powered by the Ford Cosworth DFV 2,993cc V8 engine.

1937 Mercedes-Benz W125

I took this photograph at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1971.

It's Colin Crabbe driving the 5,663cc straight-8 supercharged 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125 out of the paddock to take part in a practice session for the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race which he won later that day. Rescued by Colin Crabbe from East Germany in the 1960s, it's the only Mercedes-Benz W125 in private hands and was subsequently owned by Neil Corner and Bernie Ecclestone. A note in the programme had this to say about the car (after discussing the expected duel between the ERAs of Martin Morris and Neil Corner):

 

'Also on the front row will be one of the fabulous 1937 Grand Prix Mercedes of 5.6 litres, the most powerful Grand Prix car ever built with an engine capable of giving over 600 bhp, perhaps double that of a 2 litre ERA. The driver is Colin Crabbe, whose brave bid to bring one of these formidable cars back into racing after a lapse of over 30 years will be watched with interest.'

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997 featured a display of Ferraris in the paddock some of which took part in demonstration runs around the circuit during the meeting.

This is the 1968 Ferrari DinoTasman of Dudley Mason-Styrron which was one of the cars that took part in the track demonstrations. The car is chassis #0010 which started off as a Formula 2 car with a 1,596cc V6 engine in 1968, taking part in that year's European Formula 2 Championship. Several drivers including Chris Amon, Jackie Ickx, Derek Bell and Ernesto Brambilla drove F2 cars for Ferrari that season, and two of the races were won by Ernesto Brambilla. At the end of that season a 2,405cc V6 engine was installed in two of the cars and they went to Australia to take part in the Tasman Championship that was held in Australia and New Zealand. Derek Bell drove this car and finished in fourth place in the Championship which was won by Chris Amon in the other car - chassis #0008.

1912 Stoewer Open Tourer

I took this photograph at the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1984 which began in very wet conditions.

I no longer have the programme of this event, but I made a note at the time that it was a 1912 Stoewer Tourer and one of these cars took part in the 1992 run where the only information about it in the programme is that it was entered Kevin Bann of Fence, Burnley, and that it ran in the class for cars from 1905 to 1918 of over 20hp RAC rating. The Stoewer company was founded by Emil and Bernhard Stoewer in Stettin (then in Germany) and produced cars from 1899 to 1940. At the end of the Second World War that part of Germany was occupied by the Russians who closed the factory down, and in 1945 Stettin became part of Poland and was renamed Szczecin. I've been unable to find out any more information about this particular car.

1989 Jaguar XJ12 Sovereign

I saw this car recently in the local Shell filling station in Hyde when I went to collect my morning newspaper.

It's a 1989 Jaguar XJ12 Sovereign Series 3 and has a 5,344cc V12 engine.

1936 ERA R11B

I took this photograph at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1970.

It's Martin Morris returning to the paddock in his 1936 ERA R11B after winning the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race. R11B was named 'Humphrey' by its first owner Reggie Tongue after the ERA founder, Humphrey Cook. It was originally a 1½ litre car in 1936, but was given a 2 litre supercharged engine in the late 1940s. This car was owned, and driven, by Martin Morris from 1962 until his death in 2006 when it passed to his son David.

1955 Lotus Mk IX

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

It's George Edney's 1955 Lotus Mk IX, about thirty of which were produced. It could be used with a variety of engines, most often the 1,100cc Coventry Climax unit, but the programme of the event says that the engine capacity of this car was 1,498cc. The first Le Mans 24 Hour race contested by Lotus was with a Mk IX in 1955, driven by Colin Chapman and Ron Flockhart, but the car was disqualified after 12 hours when Colin Chapman went off the circuit at the Arnage corner into a sandbank and reversed the car back onto the circuit without getting permission from a marshall to do so.

The number 33 car next to the Lotus Mk IX is the 1958 Lotus Eleven of Ron Gammons and the number 66 car is the 1959 Lotus 15 of Paul Samuels.

1946 Bristol L5G

This was one of the many single deck buses taking part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1946 Bristol L5G provided new to the North Western Road Car Company in January 1947 with a Brush B35R body and a Gardner 5LW 7 litre 5-cylinder diesel engine. In 1958 it was rebodied with a Willowbrook B38R body and continued in service with North Western until 1964. After passing through various hands it was acquired by the Greater Manchester Transport Society in November 1986. The programme of the event has the following note about the vehicle:

 

Bristol L5G, Willowbrook B38R, 1946                                               BJA425

Entered by                                        Greater Manchester Transport Society

This vehicle has been fully restored at the Museum of Transport over the past eighteen months by volunteers. Material costs of over £4,000 have been raised with the assistance of David Whitehead and Stuart Cameron who held auctions at the Museum in conjunction with the spring and autumn transport festivals.

1953 Connaught A-Type

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1969.

It's Alan Cottam in his 1953 Connaught A-Type, 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.

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 Ferrari 488 GTB with the 3,902cc twin turbocharged 32 valve F154 V8 engine which has two overhead camshafts per bank. Manufacture of the 488 started in 2015 and ended in February 2019. Its successor is an updated version of the 488, the Ferrari F8 Tributo.

Ford Escort Mk1 Mexico

This is one of a variety of cars that were in the Pallot Museum in Jersey that we visited while on holiday in May 2013.

The Ford Escort Mark I was a successful rally car and the Ford works team was practically unbeatable in the late 1960s/early 1970s. Its greatest victory was probably in the 1970 London to Mexico World Cup Rally, driven by Finnish driver Hannu Mikkola with Swedish co-driver Gunnar Palm. Ford then produced this special edition road version named the Escort Mexico which had a 4-cylinder inline 1,598cc crossflow engine and over 10,000 of these cars were produced between 1970 and 1974.

1935 Brough Superior

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

It's a 1935 Brough Superior which is powered by a 4,163cc 8-cylinder inline Hudson engine. A note in the brochure of the event reads as follows:

'The Hudson is an important car to R.O.C. members as the chassis and engine form the basis of all 8 and 6 cylinder Railtons. For many years only Hudsons which were contemporary to the Railton (1933-1950) were admitted to the club. but we have recently extended this rule to include all Hudsons from 1909 to 1956 (the years of production). As a result of this we now have a number of vintage Hudsons and quite a few of the later Hornets attended our meetings. The Nottingham built Brough Superior has always been very acceptable to us, as apart from the excitingly different coachwork, it shares the same Hudson engine as the Railton. Vehicles on display will include a Railton Light Sports Tourer, a Brough Superior "Dual-Purpose" Tourer and a Hudson Terraplane Sedan. All three cars were built in 1935, but despite their different appearances it should be remembered that they all have the same engine and chassis (although the Hudson is a six whilst the other two are eights).'

1965 Lola T70 Traco

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park before the start of the  RAC International Tourist Trophy Race in May 1965.

It's the 1965 Lola T70 of John Surtees who set the fastest lap in practice but retired with a steering problem after 19 laps of the first part of the race which was scheduled to be run in two parts, each part lasting for 2 hours. The car had a 5.3 litre Chevrolet V8 engine prepared by Traco.

1958 Lister Monzanapolis

This car competed in the Innes Ireland Trophy Race for Pre-’66 Grand Prix and Tasman Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1958 Lister Monzanapolis of Ric Weiland with a 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc Jaguar engine that was built for Ecurie Ecosse to run in the Race of Two Worlds at Monza. The Race of Two Worlds was conceived as an annual exhibition event to be run on the banked oval at Monza and contested by two teams of cars from the USA (USAC cars as in the Indianapolis 500 race) and from Europe (F1 World Championship cars). Because of safety concerns and costs (and a lack of enthusiasm amongst the European F1 teams) the event only lasted for two years, 1957 and 1958, being won by the American cars on both occasions. Ecurie Ecosse entered a team of three Jaguar D-types in the 1957 race, and in 1958 two Jaguar D-types and this single seat Lister Jaguar built especially for the race and consequently known as the Lister Jaguar Monzanapolis. The aluminium body of the car was unpainted for the race, but at some time since then was painted this Ecurie Ecosse blue. It has more recently been returned to the original unpainted finish.

1958 Lotus 16

I took this photograph on a visit to the Donington Park museum in October 1989.

It's a 1958 Lotus 16 Grand Prix car, and the book 'Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection' says this about it:

The Lotus 16

a proper Grand Prix car

Working from experience with the Lotus 12 and also the successful Vanwall, for whose chassis design he had been responsible, Colin Chapman introduced the complex Lotus 16 to Grand Prix racing at Reims in 1958. Frank Costin designed the new car’s body, and it was no surprise that the family resemblance to the Vanwall was unmistakable.

Chapman’s concept of the 16 was a very light car with a competitive power-to-weight ratio. The body shape was intended to reduce drag and give a high maximum speed, and the all-independent coil-spring suspension was intended to promote superior road-holding in corners. To achieve a low frontal area the Coventry-Climax engine was canted at 17 degrees to the nearside, and raked at 10½ degrees to the car’s centreline to run the propellor shaft down its left side. This allowed the driver to be seated low down beside the shaft. The drive-line was complex and the Lotus-developed gearbox which had a gearchange similar to a motor-cycle was to prove extremely troublesome – as it had in the earlier Lotus 12s.

The Lotus 16 seldom made a great impression, and its Chapman strut rear suspension – subsequently adopted on the road-going Elite – proved too efficient for the front suspension. The car tended to unstick its front wheels first, and was plagued by understeer throughout its one-and-a-half season life. Graham Hill, Innes Ireland, Cliff Allison and Alan Stacey drove the cars – Ireland putting in the best performance on his Grand Prix debut when he finished fourth in Holland.

The Donington car is No. 363 - the very first Mark 16 – and after performing nobly in historic racing events in the hands of John Le Sage it was acquired by Tom Wheatcroft in first-class condition.

 

1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1500

This car competed in two races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1963.

It's J D Crabtree's 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C with a 6-cylinder inline 1,487cc supercharged engine.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed in the HGPCA Sports Car Race at the Christie’s International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC of David Cottingham has a twin overhead camshaft 4-cylinder inline 1,984cc engine derived from the 1953 Formula 2 unit designed by Aurelio Lampredi and a body designed and built by Scaglietti. The 500TRC was an updated version of the 500TR, the first to have the 'Testa Rossa' red camshaft covers, modified to comply with the 1957 Appendix C Regulations, and it was a 'customer' car, never being raced by Scuderia Ferrari. David Cottingham's car is chassis #0682MDTR that was first owned by Ecurie Nationale Belge (also known as Equipe National Belge) which was formed by a merger of Ecurie Belge and Ecurie Francorchamps. It finished in seventh place in the 1957 Le Mans 24 hour race in the hands of Lucien Bianchi and Georges Harris, winning the 2 litre class.

1897 Daimler 4hp Twin-Cylinder Tonneau

I took this photograph at the roundabout that at one time stood at the junction of the A6 and Cross Lane in Pendleton which was my vantage point for the Lancashire Automobile club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1966.

It's an 1897 Daimler 4hp Twin-Cylinder Tonneau, but I have no further information about the car or the owner as I no longer have the programme of the event.

1955 Aston Martin DB3S

I took this photograph in the paddock at the British Empire Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in April 1956.

It's the 1955 Aston Martin DB3S of Berwyn Baxter, chassis DB3S/101, and has the 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc Lagonda engine.

1955 AEC Regent III

I took this photograph at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It's a 1955 AEC Regent III, a former Huddersfield Corporation bus, and the programme of the event said this about the vehicle:

 

AEC Regent III, East Lancs L55R Body, 1955                                               JVH 373

Huddersfield Corporation 243

Entered by     E.G.Sykes, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

The last lowbridge bus to operate in the fleet. Recently returned to the rally scene after a

fifteen year absence.

1926 Bugatti Type 35T

This was one of the contestants in the Richard Seaman Vintage Memorial Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1961.

It's Richard Bergal's Ecurie Phoenix 1926 Bugatti Type 35T which has an 8-cylinder inline 2,262cc unsupercharged engine.