1989 Williams FW12C

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

It's a Williams FW12C, a car that was used for all but the last four races of the 1989 season. It was based on the previous season's FW12, but a 3,493cc Renault V10 engine was used instead of the FW12's Judd V8 engine. Thierry Boutsen and Riccardo Patrese drove the cars, Patrese finishing in third place in the World Drivers' Championship and Boutsen in fifth place - both with the help of points won in the last four races of the season in the FW13B. Patrese didn't win any of the races but Boutsen won in Canada and Australia (the latter in the FW13B), Patrese finishing ahead of him in the Championship thanks to a greater number of high-placed finishes. Williams finished the season in second place in the World Constructors' Championship.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield Corner during the HGPCA Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

The yellow car is the 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC of David Cottingham which 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. The green car at the side of the Ferrari is a 1957 Lotus Eleven, probably that of Carol Spagg, while behind are the red 1954 Austin Healey 100M of Bill Clegg and the 1952 Jaguar C-Type of Hugh Taylor.

1913 Monarch

The Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992 included a short handicap race for Edwardian Cars - only 4 laps long in deference to the age of the cars. This is one of the cars during the race on the approach to Lodge Corner.

It's Mark Walker's 8,237cc 1913 Monarch, and the programme of the event had this note about the car:

 

'The 4-lap Handicap for Edwardian Cars features Mark Walker's 1913 Monarch which caused a sensation at Mallory Park last month! Having built the car, Walker made a winning debut but had to battle wheel to wheel with Roger Firth in the 1913 Theophile Schneider.

Monarch was a short-lived marque which built cars designed by Robert Hupp (late of Hupmobile) in Detroit from 1913 to 1916. Into the chassis, which Mark bought in the US, he put an OX5 Curtiss V8 aero-engine of 8.2 litre capacity. This was also acquired in the US and was originally fitted to Curtiss JN4 or 'Jenny' training aircraft, as well as to the British DH6, during the First World War. Plain to see are the exposed rockers, each operating both an exhaust and an inlet valve per cylinder, as on the four-pushrod Salmsons and the Fiat with which Nazzaro won the 1907 French Grand Prix. Walker completed the car with a Panhard-Levassor gearbox and other parts, such as the radiator, sourced from the Beaulieu Autojumble.

'

1939 Solar Ford

This is a photograph that I took at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Centre in Manchester in August 1994.

It's a 1939 Solar Ford used in midget car racing which originated in the USA in the 1930s. The cars compete on ¼ or ½ mile dirt or paved tracks with 4-cylinder engines of less than 2 litres and the races are normally for not more than 25 miles.

1969 Lola T142

This is a photograph that I took on the approach to Lodge Corner during the HSCC Historic Formula Racing Car Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1992.

It's the 1969 Lola T142 of Nick Buttress and is thought to be chassis SL142/37. Formula 5000 was introduced in 1968 as an open-wheel single seater Formula for cars with a maximum capacity of 5,000cc, and most cars had American V8 engines of that size with Chevrolet being the most favoured unit.

1955 Lotus Mk VI

All the Lotus cars prior to the Lotus Mk VI were "one-off" models, but the Mk VI was the first "production" model, about 100 being built between 1953 and 1957. Here is one that I photographed at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone  in July 2000.

It didn't take part in any of the races, but I have a photograph that I took at an HSCC meeting at Oulton Park in 1992 where it was driven in one of the races by Chris Smith. The Mk VI was generally sold as a kit car into which the owner would fit his preferred engine, usually a Ford, MG or Coventry Climax unit. The DVLA record says that this car has a 1350cc engine and I don't know if I've remembered this correctly, but I seem to recall that the bulge on the bonnet indicated an MG engine.

1923 Ford Model T

I took this photograph at the Pallot Museum in Jersey which we visited during a holiday on the Island in May 2013.

It's a 1923 Ford Model T one ton truck owned and restored by Sam Pollet, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,896cc engine.

1937 Delahaye 135

This car is listed in the programme of the event as competing in three scratch races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

The only information about it in the programme is that it was the 1937 Delahaye of R.W.S. Matthews and has a 3557cc engine. The Delahaye 135 was produced from 1935 to 1954 with a 6-cylinder inline engine, initially of 3,227cc, later increased to 3,557cc. I have been unable to find out any further information about Mr Matthews except that his first name is Robert.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the cars on view at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 1995 Ferrari F355 Berlinetta, one of 4,871 cars produced between 1994 and 1999. It has a 3,496cc V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts on each bank of cylinders and 5 valves per cylinder. The F355 replaced the Ferrari 348 and was itself replaced by the Ferrari 360. From 1997 the F355 became the first-ever road car to have the paddle operated F1 style gearbox transmission system.

1950 Albion FT21N

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

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it took part in the 1996 Rally, when the programme of the event had the following note:

 

Albion FT21N, 1950                                                                           HSR 112

 

Entered by J Butterworth, Littleborough

 

Originally operated by Angus & Kincardine County Council as a Library van for delivery of new books to schools, etc. Afterwards used as a Horse Box in Wetherby, then fitted with the drop-side body now carried. Bought in a run down state by the present owner, it was re-painted in Ripponden & District livery in 1992. The owner being a Ripponden & District driver.

1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk I

I took his photograph at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.

It's a 1953 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk I and has the 2,580cc version of the 6-cylinder inline Lagonda engine. The Aston Martin DB2/4 replaced the DB2 and was in production from 1953 to 1957, first with the 2,580cc version of the engine which was replaced by a larger 2,922cc engine in October 1954. This car is chassis LML/516 and it has since been repainted in the traditional Aston Martin metallic green colour.

1963 Aston Martin DP214

This was one of the competitors in the Coys of Kensington GT Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Simon Draper's 1963 Aston Martin DP214 in which he shared the driving in the race with David Clark. This was one of two Project 214 cars built (the other being completely destroyed in an accident at the Nürburgring in 1964) and was based on DB4GT chassis 0194/R with the 3,670cc straight-6 engine bored out to 3,750cc.The car ran in the Le Mans 24 Hour race twice, retiring after 11 hours with a broken piston when in third place in 1963 driven by Bill Kimberley and Jo Schlesser, and in 1964 it was driven by Mike Salmon and Peter Sutcliffe but was disqualified after 18 hours for topping up with oil before the permitted time. It was in eleventh place at the time.

1911 Hurtu

This was one of the cars taking part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1976.

It's the 1911 Hurtu of Mr C J Waring of Blackpool and the programme of the event said this about the car:

22 Mr C.J. Waring, Blackpool

       1911 Hurtu

Made by Compagnie des Autos et Cycles Hurtu, Albert, Somme, Neuilly, Seine Rueil, Seine et Oise, who were in business from 1896-1930. Like Opel in Germany, Hurtu progressed from sewing machines through bicycles to cars. They made a few hundred Bollee voitures for that concern, then went into car manufacture on their own account. They began by copying an established machine, the belt-driven single cylinder Benz, and when this model was superseded in 1900 by a more modern car, the latter was a voiturette with a single cylinder 3½ h.p. De Dion engine and shaft drive. Single, two and four-cylinder Aster engines were also fitted. The firm never departed far from standard practice, for even the dashboard radiator used on smaller models from 1907 to 1920 was a common sight. They continued to specialise in light cars until 1914, their most popular offering being a 10 h.p. machine of modern design with a monobloc 4-cylinder engine and unit construction of engine and gearbox. This particular car is an excellent example and is believed to be the only one in the country.

1989 Audi 90 Quattro IMSA GTO

This is one of the cars that Audi took along to the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001, together with the Auto Union C-Type and D-Type pre-war Grand Prix cars. The car is seen at Coppice Corner during one of the demonstration runs.

It's the 1989 Audi 90 Quattro IMSA GTO that took part in the North American IMSA GTO Championship in that year and was driven by Hurley Haywood, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Scott Goodyear and Walter Röhrl.

1954 Cooper MkVIII

This car is passing under the Clay Hill bridge just after the Knickerbrook corner during the  500cc Formula Three Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1994.

It's the 1954 Cooper Mk VIII of Andrew Garner, one of the cars which dominated Formula 3 racing in the early postwar years. Many people found that the home-built cars with a 500cc motor cycle engine was an inexpensive way to compete in motor sport and Charles Cooper and his son John started to produce these cars in 1946, firstly for themselves but later making them for other people and eventually they formed the company that led to the Cooper Climax T51 with which Jack Brabham won the World Drivers' Championship in 1959.

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 Englebert Stieger's 1970 Ferrari 512M with a 4,992cc V12 engine, chassis #1018, originally a 512S Spider model but converted to a 512M Berlinetta in 1971. It was driven in the race by his son Patrick.

1954 Citroën Big 15

This is one of the cars displayed at the Northern Classic Car Show at G-Mex, Manchester in August 1987.

It's a 1948 Citroën Big 15, built at Slough in the UK, and has a 1,911cc 4-cylinder inline engine. It's the English equivalent of the French-built Citroën 11 - the difference in the numbering being caused by the way the horsepower of the engine is calculated in England and in France. The 'Big' in the name of the car denotes that it is a long wheelbase vehicle, and the chevrons on the front of English-built Citroëns are behind the radiator grille whilst on French-built cars they are in front of the grille. This car is still registered with the DVLA who say that the colour of the vehicle is now red.

1959 Lotus 16

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

It’s Bruce Halford in his 1959 Lotus 16 which has a 2,495cc straight-4 Coventry Climax FPF engine. Bruce Halford raced in Formula One from 1956 to 1960, firstly with a Maserati 250F, then a Lotus 16 in 1959 and with Cooper T45 and T51 in 1960. In the mid-1970s he bought this Lotus 16 and competed at Historic meetings himself for several years. The Lotus 16 was raced by Team Lotus, and private entrants, from 1958 to 1960 with little success in World Championship races. Colin Chapman had to wait until the Monaco Grand Prix of 1960 for his first Lotus victory, achieved by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's Lotus 18.

1954 Maserati 250F

This was one if the competitors in the Chopard HGPCA Pre '61 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It’s the 1955 Maserati 250F of Jeffrey Pattinson and has a 6-cylinder inline 2,490cc engine. The chassis number is 2508 and it was originally owned and raced by Stirling Moss.

1972 MGB GT

I came across this car recently in Hyde just around the corner from where I live when I was on the way to buy my morning paper.

It's a 1972 MGB GT and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,798cc BMC B-Series engine.

The MGB GT was introduced in 1965, two years after the Roadster and it was produced from 1965 to 1980.

1927/39 ERA Delage

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

It's Ray Potter's ERA Delage which appeared alongside ten ERAs in the 29 car field for this race. The car had a 6-cylinder 1,488cc ERA engine with two-stage Roots supercharging, and the programme of the event said this about the it:

 

'Ray Potter's ERA-Delage has the engine from one of the ill-fated E-type ERAs in a 1927 GP Delage chassis.'

 

The Delage was one of Albert Lory's 1927 Delage 15 S8 cars which had dominated the 1927 season, winning all four of the European Grand Prix races.

1972 Leyland Atlantean

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 1990.

It's a 1972 Leyland Atlantean and the programme of the event had this note about it:

'Leyland Atlantean, Northern Counties, 1972                                                                           NEK 9K

Wigan Corporation

Entered by S Owen, Wigan, Lancashire

One of the last buses to enter service with Wigan Corporation before it was absorbed by Greater Manchester Transport in 1974.'

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 2007 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano which has a 5,999cc V12 F140B engine. It's named after Ferrari's Fiorano test track at Maranello and was produced from 2006 to 2012.

1972 Leda LT27

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park on practice day for the Gold Cup meeting in May 1972.

It's the 1972 Leda LT27 which was driven in the European F5000 Championship race at this meeting by Trevor Taylor but retired after 5 laps with an oil seal problem. The car is chassis number 003 and was powered by a 5 litre Chevrolet engine.

1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost

This is a photograph I took before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.

It's the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost of Kenneth Neve and the programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

'35. Mr Kenneth Neve, Aston-by-Budworth, Cheshire

       1911 Rolls-Royce "London-Edinburgh" Silver Ghost, 45 h.p.

In 1911 Rolls-Royce won a Challenge from Napier. The late Lord Hives, at that time Mr. Hives and the company's chief tester, drove a Silver Ghost with underslung cantilever rear springs, enlarged carburettor and higher compression ratio from London to Edinburgh in top gear. The journey was completed at a fuel consumption of 24.3 m.p.g. and then to prove that the axle ratio was not absurd, the car was taken to Brooklands where it clocked 78.3 m.p.h. Thus did the first sporting Rolls-Royce get the name "Type London-Edinburgh", and R1075 was the car that made the historic journey. In 1963 Mr. Kenneth Neve recognised a dejected chassis in Hampshire for what it was. Now, some 5,000 working hours later, the first "London-Edinburgh" is just as it might have been seen more than 60 years ago, serenely whispering its way on the Great North Road in top gear and heading for the Scottish capital.'

Kenneth Neve was at one time President of the Vintage Sports Car Club.

1937 Mercedes-Benz W125

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1972. 

It's the 5,663cc straight-8 supercharged 1937 Mercedes-Benz W125 with which Colin Crabbe took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race and 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.

1953 Tojeiro Bristol

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting of July 1998 marked 50 years of motor racing at Silverstone and there was a display of cars marking each of those years.

This is the Tojeiro Bristol of Jeremy Agace which represented the year 1953. In the 1950s Cliff Davies, a London car dealer and enthusiastic club racing driver, asked John Tojeiro to provide him with a chassis into which he could fit a 2 litre Bristol engine. This chassis was given an aluminium body which was very similar in style to the 'Barchetta' bodies which had been popularised by Ferrari, and the car pictured above was the result. It's the car that John Tojeiro showed to the directors of AC Cars Ltd in Thames Ditton who were so impressed that they used the design as the basis for the AC Ace, which later evolved into the AC Cobra.

1955 Connaught B-Type

This is a photograph that I took at the Donington Park Museum in October 1989.

It's a 1955 Connaught B-Type, chassis B7, and the book 'Great Racing Car of the Donington Collection' says this about it:

The non-Championship Syracuse Grand Prix, held in Sicily late in 1955, forms an historic landmark in racing history. The amateur driver C.A.S. 'Tony' Brooks took on the might of the works Maserati team in his unrated 2½ litre Alta-engined Connaught, and beat them on their home soil!  It was the first time that a Continental 'Grand Prix' had been won by a British car and driver since Henry Seagrave had won the San Sebastian in a Sunbeam in 1924. Rodney Clarke and Kenneth McAlpine (of the famous building family) had founded Connaught Engineering in 1947, to build a sports car for McAlpine to race. In a small works at Send in Surrey, they built a prototype powered by a modified 1767cc Lea-Francis engine, and its results prompted a production batch of the cars, financed by McAlpine.

Engineer Mike Oliver drove one of the cars successfully, and in 1950 he assisted in building a prototype Formula 2 Connaught, using the existing engine in a modified form. For 1951 nine F2 cars were built with Connaught 1864cc engines - still 'Leaf'-based but now developed almost beyond recognition as such. Between 1952 and 1953 the Connaughts never achieved major success; they lacked power although their road-holding and handling were as good as any.

The B-Type Connaught was prepared for 1954 Formula 1 racing with a special 2½ litre  four-cylinder Alta engine and initially all-enveloping streamlined central-seat bodywork. This was replaced for practical rather than technical reasons by a more normal 'slipper' body and it was one of these cars which made history in 1955.

During 1956 Connaught were a force in Grand Prix racing, but success - and real power - still eluded them. A C-Type car of advanced design was laid down for 1957, but McAlpine decided that the financial strain was too much to be borne alone and, when outside sponsorship was not forthcoming, he withdrew, and Connaught tragically collapsed.

1952 Cooper Bristol

This car is making its way through a typically wet Oulton Park paddock to take part in a practice session for the Allcomers Race for Historic Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1971.

It's the 1952 Cooper Bristol MkI of John Roberts which has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971 Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol MkI (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the MkI, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1959 Ferrari Dino196S of Kerry Manolas which has a 1,984cc V6 engine and is chassis #0776S. 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 driven in the race by Spencer Martin.

1956 Leyland Titan PD2

This was one of the vehicles that turned up at a small motoring meet at the top of Werneth Low in Hyde in July 1991.

It's a 1956 ex Portsmouth Corporation Leyland PD2/12 with MCW body. Originally with a closed top and fleet No 106, it was converted to open top for the sea front service from Clarence Pier to Hayling Ferry.