Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at Druids Corner during  the Aston Martin GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017.

It's the 2000 Ferrari 360 driven in the 50 minute race by Matthew Wilton and John Cowen. There were two versions of the Ferrari 360, the Modena and the Challenge, as well as a Spider version, each with a 3,586cc V8 engine. It doesn't say in the programme of the event which version this is, but presumably it's the Challenge.

2022 Porsche Taycan

I took these photographs in the Manchester United car park at Old Trafford in September 2022.

It's a 2022 Porsche Taycan, an electrically powered car which is available with a motor driving just the rear wheels, or with an additional motor driving the front wheels also.

1931 Invicta Low Chassis

I took this photograph at the Village Hotel, Cheadle, Stockport, at the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran & Vintage Car Run in June 1993.

It's a 1931 Invicta Low Chassis and the only information about it in the programme of the event is that it was entered by Malcolm Hoyle of Linthwaite, Huddersfield. Also known as the Invicta S-type and called the Low Chassis because the chassis was slung under the rear axle. It has a 6-cylinder inline 4,469cc engine.

1938 ERA E-Type GP2

This car took part in the Historic Memorial Trophy Race and the Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

It's Gordon Chapman's 1938 ERA E-Type, GP2 which was the last ERA to be built and didn't make its racing debut till after the Second World War. It has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 1,488cc ERA engine and was driven that day by Bill Morris. A note about the car in the programme of the event reads as follows:

 

'Bill Morris is down to drive an example of the last ERA pre-war design. Entered by Gordon Chapman, the 1938 E-Type - chassis number GP2 - was not raced until after the war. GP1, incidentally, did run in 1939. The 1.5 litre E-Type had a rather similar career to the post-war V16 BRM car: it showed promise, but recorded few hard results. Lighter, lower and more modern-looking than the previous ERA chassis, the E-Type differed from the earlier cars in having a synchromesh gearbox (instead of a pre-selector) and de Dion rear suspension.'

1939 Alfa Romeo 158

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine Grand Prix Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's not mentioned in the programme of the event, but it's Carlo Vögele's 1939 Alfa Romeo 158. At around that time I went to a meeting at Donington Park where this car appeared and a note in the programme of that meeting said this about the car:

'The 158 Alfetta, a voiturette, of Carlo Vögele with its Columbo designed straight-eight engine first appeared in 1938 at the Coppa Ciano where the three cars entered and came first, second and seventh. With only a single stage supercharger, the engine was said to develop 195bhp at 7500rpm. A Formula One Grand Prix car from 1948, in its final form in 1951 the engine had two-stage supercharging, developed something like 400bhp plus after the superchargers had taken some 135bhp, and did 1.6mpg, according to David Hodges. This car had independent suspension all round with trailing links at the front.'

1961 Vanwall VW14

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

It's the last car built by Vanwall, the rear engined 1961 Vanwall VW14, which was built when the old 2½ litre limit for Formula 1 cars was reduced to 1½ litres starting with the 1961 season, and VW14 was built to contest the 3 litre Intercontinental Formula. The car originally had a 2½ litre Vanwall engine bored out to 2,605cc and only contested a handful of races before development was stopped when the Intercontinental Formula didn't catch on in Europe.

1959 Lotus Elite

This was one of the competitors in the HSCC Classic Sports Car Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1992.

It's the 1959 Lotus Elite of George Hadfield which has a 4-cylinder inline 1,216cc Coventry Climax FWE engine. Over 1,000 of these cars were built between 1957 and 1962.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997 featured a tribute to Ferrari's 50th anniversary with a large display of cars.

This is the 1959 Ferrari Dino196S then owned by Viscount Cowdray (Michael Pearson) which is chassis #0776S and originally had a 1,984cc V6 engine, but by 1997 apparently had a 2½ litre engine. It's the only example of this model produced and was originally owned by Luigi Chinetti, for whom the Rodriguez brothers Pedro and Ricardo drove the car in the 12 Hours of Sebring Race, the Targa Florio and the Nürburgring 1000km Race in 1960. They were 7th in the Targa Florio but failed to finish the other two races. It was at one time owned by Rob Walker, hence the 'RRW 1' registration.

1948 AEC Regal III

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 1948 AEC Regal III and the programme of the event had this note about it:

AEC Regal III, Windover C31F, 1948

Burtons of Alfreton

Entered by J.Burton, Alfreton, Derbyshire

New to Trent Motor Traction. Bought by Burtons in September 1987. Five year project to bring back to the immaculate condition of today. In full P.S.V. use.

1927/31 Austin 7

This is a photograph I took during a scratch race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It's the 1927/31 Austin 7 of A J Spence which has a 4 cylinder inline 747cc engine, and the photograph was taken on the exit from Lodge Corner. Some 290,000 Austin Sevens were produced between 1923 and 1939.

1961 Cooper T53

This was one of the competitors in the Pre-1966 Grand Prix & Tasman Cars race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the 1961 Cooper T53 of Douglas Mockett with a 4-cylinder inline 1,475cc Coventry Climax engine and is chassis #F1-3-61. Originally built for Lucky Casner's Camoradi team it was driven by Masten Gregory in the 1961 season.

1924 Amilcar CS

This was one of the cars that took part in a vintage car run from Stockport to Matlock in July 1985 organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport.

There was no programme showing the cars taking part in this event, but this car competed in the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in 1990 where the programme showed the owner to be Roger Firth of Stalybridge, Cheshire. It's a 1924 Amilcar CS 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.

1985 AC 3000ME

I spotted this car when walking from Lodge Corner towards the paddock at Oulton Park during the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race Meeting in May 1987.

It's a 1985 AC 3000ME and has a 2,994cc V6 Ford Essex engine. The prototype was introduced by AC at the 1973 London Motor Show as the AC 3000, but only went on sale in 1978 - though the first customer cars were not delivered till 1979. Sales were poor and only 76 vehicles had been built when production was halted by AC in 1984. The car and the AC name were licensed to a company called AC (Scotland) plc but only 30 cars had been built when that company went into receivership in 1985.

1939 Rover 14 Drophead Coupe

This is a photograph that I took at the Northern Classic Car Show at G-Mex, Manchester in August 1987.

It's a 1939 Rover 14 P2 Drophead Coupe, a car that was produced from 1933 to 1940 and then again from 1945 to 1948. This 1939 model had a 6-cylinder 1,901cc engine

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider, a convertible version of the F430 and was produced from 2005 to 2009. It has the 4,308cc Ferrari F136 E V8 engine.

1954 Austin Healey 100

This car took part in the HSCC Pre '60 Historic Sports Car Championship  race at the HSCC Spring Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1986.

It's Andrew Usher's 1954 Austin Healey 100. Two versions of the Austin Healey 100 were produced from 1953 to 1956, the BN1 from 1953 to 1955 and the BN2 from 1955 to 1956, the main difference being that the BN2 had a four-speed gearbox instead of the three-speed of the BN1. Both the BN1 and BN2 were powered by the 2,660cc 4-cylinder inline engine of the unsuccessful Austin A90 Atlantic. Logically Andrew Usher's car should be a BN1 model, but the two-tone paintwork was only introduced with the BN2.

1900 Liver-Benz

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 Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1963.

It's shown in the programme of the event as a 1900 Liver-Benz, entered for the Run by N.E.J. Bradshaw, and the programme says this about it:

 

'This car was made in Liverpool in 1900 by a Mr. William Lea and is a copy of Benz, many parts of which were imported to make this car. The design is really around 1896. Drive is by belts and chains having two forward gears and a crypto gear for vertical hills! Maximum speed is in the region of 12 m.p.h. (with a following wind). The car has competed successfully in many rallies including London-Brighton and a 3-day Dutch International Rally. Last year the car covered 300 miles in rallies. Points of interest on the engine are exposed crankcase, trembler coil ignition, drip feed lubrication to mains and cylinder wall, the reservoirs of which require topping up every 35 minutes. Big end lubrication is effected by screwing up a grease cup, this also requires turning every 35 minutes. As the top speed is around 12 m.p.h. we hope to average about 10 m.p.h. over the 48 mile course. We shall be in late!'

This appears to be the car that was offered for auction by Christies in 1998 and is currently in the Museum of Liverpool.

The car behind the Liver-Benz, by the way, is a DKW Junior.

1939 Lagonda V12

This car took part in a Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1938 Lagonda V12 of D.P. Crow - two of these cars were built for the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hour race, and afterwards several of the short chassis Lagonda Rapide models were converted to Le Mans Replicas. The cars that competed at  Le Mans in 1939 had a 4,479cc V12 engine with 4 SU carburettors and finished in third and fourth places driven by Arthur Dobson/ Charles Brackenbury and Lord Selsdon/ Lord William Walleran respectively.

1934 Alfa Romeo P3

This was one of the competitors in the Pre 1952 Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's Rodney Felton's 1934 Alfa Romeo P3 and was driven in the race by Sir John Venables-Llewelyn. The P3 was introduced in 1932 with a twin-supercharged 2,654cc straight-8 engine which by 1935 had been enlarged to 3,165cc. By then, with the exception of Tazio Nuvolari's victory in the German Grand Prix that year (with the engine further enlarged to 3,822cc), the car was unable to match the Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz cars. This car is chassis #50009 that was destroyed in an accident in 1949 but the remains were eventually reconstructed by Rodney Felton.

2000 Audi R8

May 2001 marked the first appearance of the Auto Union C-type and D-type Grand Prix cars at Donington Park since the late 1930s when Audi brought an Auto Union C-Type and a D-Type to the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting. They brought several other cars and motorcycles that day, including the one shown below.

This is the 2000 Audi R8, developed from the previous year's R8R and powered by the same 3.6 litre V8 engine. The R8 competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race six times, from 2000 to 2005, winning on 5 occasions and being beaten only in 2003 - by the Bentley Speed 8.

1957 Maserati 250F

This is a photograph I took at Lodge Corner during the Cheshire Building Society's Allcomers' Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's Willie Green driving A P Bamford's 1957 Maserati 250F which is chassis #2534, a car that was supplied new to the American Temple Buell team in September 1958. This car was acquired by Anthony Bamford in 1972, and after restoration was raced in historic events by Willie Green. The car has the usual 6-cylinder inline 2,491cc Maserati 250F engine.

Friday's Ferrari

This car is taking part in the Corse Clienti Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's the Ferrari 488 Challenge of Malaysian driver David Lim, a car which has a 670hp 3,902cc V8 turbocharged engine developed from that of the Ferrari 488 GTB. The photograph was taken at Club Corner.

1935 Morris 8

This is a photograph that I took at a car show in Ashton-under-Lyne in March 1987.

It's a 1935 Morris 8 and has a 4-cylinder inline 918cc side-valve engine. Over 160,000 of these cars were produced between 1935 and 1937 and they were produced in saloon and open tourer versions. The DVLA record says that it has been untaxed since February 1994.

1929 Bentley Napier

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1929 Bentley Napier which was driven in the Historic Trophy race by David Llewellyn. This is a vehicle that he and Peter Morley created in 1968 using a 24 litre Napier Sea Lion engine which has a 'W' configuration - two banks of four cylinders in a 'V' with a third upright bank between them. The car was originally built on a Sunbeam chassis but after an accident was rebuilt using the chassis of a 1929 8 litre Bentley. The nose of the car was later altered to resemble that of the Napier Railton. On the right the blue car number 7 is the 1936 ERA R5B 'Remus' of the Hon. Patrick Lindsay. This car has the 1,488cc supercharged version of the 6-cylinder ERA engine and it was originally one of the cars in the White Mouse Stable of Siam's Prince Chula and driven by his cousin, Prince Birabongse, known simply as 'Bira'.

1940 Leyland Merryweather Fire Engine

This is one of the vehicles entered in the Emergency Vehicles Class at the Greater Manchester  Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1990.

It's a 1940 City of Salford Leyland Merryweather Fire Engine and the programme of the event had this note about it:

Leyland Merryweather Fire Engine, 1940

Entered by Greater Manchester Transport Society

Built to replace an appliance destroyed in the blitz. It is unusual for a Leyland fire engine to have a Merryweather ladder but the normal Leyland supplier, Metz were a German firm who were undertaking other work at the time.

1970 McLaren M14A

This car competed in the F.O.R.C.E. Pre-1972 Classic Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's a 1970 McLaren M14A, entered by the BruceMcLaren Trust and driven by David Clark. 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.

1959 Aston Martin DBR4

I took this photograph on the straight between Esso Bend and Knickerbrook during the Allcomers Race for Historic Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1971.

It's Neil Corner in his 1959 Aston Martin DBR4, chassis DBR4/4 - the last DBR4 built and which was never raced by the works team. 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-engine cars had made the older front-engine cars uncompetitive and the best results it managed were Roy Salvadori's sixth place finishes in the British and Portuguese Grands Prix in 1959. The DBR4 was powered by a 6-cylinder inline 2,493cc engine, but Neil Corner's car has the 2,992cc DB3S engine.

1955 Vauxhall Velox

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

It's a 1955 Vauxhall Velox E Series which has a 2,275cc 6-cylinder inline engine and was produced between 1951 and 1957. This note in the side window gives the history of the car:

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the HGPCA Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's described in the programme of the event as a 1958 Ferrari 250TR, but has had a chequered history, being built in 1956 as a Ferrari 290 MM with chassis #0606 and a 3,491cc V12 engine. As a Scuderia Ferrari car it won the 1956 Swedish Grand Prix in the hands of Maurice Trintignant and Phil Hill, then in the 1957 season was raced by the Ecurie Nationale Belge. At the end of the season it returned to the Ferrari factory and was loaned out during 1958, then in 1959 it was converted to Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa specifications with a 2,953cc V12 engine. It was sold as a Ferrari 250 TR to Brazilian Jean Luis Lacerda Soares who raced the car in 1960, but in 1962 Fernando Moriera borrowed it to race at Interlagos and the front half of the car was totally wrecked in an accident during the race that killed the driver. The less damaged rear part of the car was used to create an Corvette V8 engined special which was used through the 1960s after which the engine was removed and the rest of the car was untouched until the mid 1980s when it was brought to the UK. The new owner, Paolo Sebastiani was under the impression that he had the remains of a Testa Rossa #0726 and had the remains reconstructed as that car, which is how it appeared at this Silverstone race where it was driven by Paolo Sebastiani. It was then sold in the 1990s to a John Godfrey who did some detailed research and found that the remains were of the 290MM, #0606, and when John Godfrey later died the current owner bought the car from his estate and commissioned Neil Twyman to return it to the same specification it was when it last left the Ferrari factory in 1959.

1930 Maserati 26M

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

This is Lord Doune's 1930 Maserati 26M, chassis 2514, that was driven by Ray Fielding in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race. The programme of the event describes it as a Maserati 8C and says this about it:

'.....also in the third row is a most welcome dark horse in the form of a rare 1930 blown 8C 2½ litre Grand Prix Maserati. This car was brought over from Switzerland by Lord Doune, famous for his Scottish museum of Sports and racing cars and the Doune hill climb course, who has entered the car to be driven by Ray Fielding.'

1901 De Dion Bouton Tonneau

I took this photograph just after the car had left the start point of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1985.

I no longer have the programme of the event, but this car was a regular participant in the Run and the 1986 programme says this about it:

 1901 De Dion Bouton Tonneau
 Reg: D 235   1 cylinder   8 hp
 W.A. Pownall, Hazel Grove, Cheshire
The original "Surrey with the fringe on top" - this car has won the concours
in its class on the run ten times. It spent much of its early life in India where
it was owned by a prince. It was also once owned by Sir William Rootes.