Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 1997 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.

Three Buses

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

All three are from the Transport Society's own collection, and the programme of the event had these notes about them (from left to right):

Leyland Titan PD1/3, Metro-Cammell H30/26R,1949                                                                   JNA467

Manchester City Transport 3166

Entered by P.F.Wotton, Littleborough

Operated by M.C.T. until 1969, this vehicle carries bodywork to Manchester’s own design and is the sole survivor of a batch of 100 identical buses. It operated both North and South of the city during its career.

Bristol K5G, Willowbrook L26/27R, 1939                                                                                      AJA152

North Western 432

Entered by J.Pollock, Marple

The sole survivor of a once numerous batch of pre-war Bristols operated by the Company which were rebodied after the war. This particular vehicle received its new body in 1951. The owners claim they haven’t finished exterior restoration.

Leyland Titan PD2/1, Leyland L27/26R, 1948                                                                               CDB224

North Western 224

Entered by A.Gaskell, Irlams o’th Height, Salford

This lowbridge vehicle ended its days in the training fleet and has subsequently undergone extensive restoration to everything except the steering and the clutch, as anyone who has tried to manoeuvre the vehicle within the confined spaces of the Museum will testify.

1950 Talbot Lago T26 GS

This car took part 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 Richard Pilkington's 1950 4,482cc straight-6 Talbot Lago T26 GS with the offset driving position which meant it could compete in Grand Prix or Sports Car races. It's chassis #110057 and is the car with which Louis Rosier and Juan Manuel Fangio took part in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race, retiring after 9 hours. It was then given an all-enveloping sports car body and ended up in the hands of Georges Grignard in 1953, but after an accident at Montlhéry in 1954 in which his co-driver Guy Mairesse was killed, Grignard locked the wrecked car away in his garage. Richard Pilkington bought the wreckage in 1958 and after racing the car in its sports car form for some years he eventually restored it to its original cycle-wing body form, racing it at historic race meetings in both sports car and vintage GP races.

1960 Porsche 718

I took this photograph at Tom Wheatcroft's Donington Park Museum in October 1989.

It's a 1960 Porsche 718/2, chassis 202, formerly campaigned by Dutch driver Carel Godin de Beaufort and is finished in the orange Dutch racing colours. A book printed in 1974 giving details of many of the cars in the collection says this about the Porsche (which is now in the Porsche Prototyp Museum in Hamburg):

 

The Porsche 718

Germany's Challenger

French driver Jean Behra began Porsche's single-seater venture into Formula 2 in 1958. He had a central-seat version of the RSK sports car built up and it proved very successful. For 1959 the Stuttgart works produced 'proper' singe-seater cars, with similar air-cooled flat-four engines and trailing-link torsion bar front suspension, and when the 1½ litre Formula 1 came into operation in 1961 they were well prepared to enter Grand Prix racing for the first time.

Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier drove the cars, which proved quite competitive, and when the new eight-cylinder was introduced for 1962 the old cars were sold. Two of them went to the giant Dutchman, Count Carel Godin de Beaufort, and he enjoyed himself hugely as one of that rare breed of private owner-drivers in Formula 1. He suffered a fatal accident in one of the obsolete old Porsches during practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix at Nürburgring. He was, as ever, trying as hard as he could to reach a qualifying time, and the loss of this jovial, larger than life character took some much-needed colour from the Grand Prix scene.

 

PORSCHE 718

Engine: 180° 4-Cyls; 2VPC; 2OHC; Air-cooled; 85mm x 66mm, 1498cc; c. 155bhp/7500rpm.

Chassis: Tubular spaceframe.

Suspension: IFS by trailing arms and TBs/IRS by wishbones and CSp.

Brakes: Discs.

1953 Alfa Romeo BAT 5

BAT stands for Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica and refers to a trio of cars built in 1953,1954 and 1955 in a joint project by Alfa Romeo and the Italian coachbuilding firm Bertone, and were a brainchild of Franco Scaglione. Nearly forty years later, at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in 1994, I photographed the three cars when they were part of the auction which Coys held on the Saturday evening of the weekend-long meeting. I showed all three cars in a post on 18 February 2013.

This is another photograph I took that day of BAT 5 being wheeled out for display.

1936 ERA R12B 'Hanuman II'

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

It's the 1937 ERA R12B 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'.

Citroën 2CV Sahara

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a replica of a 1960s Citroën 2CV Sahara and the information note in the windscreen reads as follows:

Citroën 2CV Sahara

1960-1966

 Created as a specialist addition to the 2CV range an intended for oilfield prospecting and similar uses, the Sahara featured four-wheel drive achieved by means of two completely separate engine/gearbox units. It therefore has an engine at both ends and can be driven on either or both – the car has the rare distinction of being able to push-start itself!

The installation of the second power unit is relatively simple due to the 2CV’s chassis construction; the driving controls are linked to ensure that both units operate in synchronization.

This particular car is a replica constructed in 1996; it was built to be visually as close as possible to the original but benefits from the use of later-generation running gear, notably 652cc  Visa engines which provide a mush improved power-to-weight ratio compared with the 1960s original.

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 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.

Beamish Open Air Museum

In August 1996 when returning home from a holiday in Scotland we paid a visit to the Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham and this is one of the photographs I took there.

Apparently it's a replica of a 1913 Daimler motorbus and the Beamish Transport Online website says this about it:

 

'In 1987 a replica of 1913 Daimler CC motorbus J2503 was delivered to the Museum from its builders.  It was based on one of at least fifteen vehicles supplied to the Gateshead & District Tramways and purchased to extend the Gateshead Tramway network of routes beyond their terminals, in particular at Low Fell.  The extension of this route to Chester-Le-Street was a significant as it shortly led to the establishment of the Northern General Transport Company (NGT) in 1913, who took over the bus operations as a separate subsidiary of the parent company, the British Electric Traction Company.  J2503 initially carried the 1913 livery, being overhauled and turned out in NGT livery in 2012, ahead of the NGT centenary the following year.'

1972 BRM P180

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

It's Reine Wisell in the  1972 BRM P180, chassis number P180/02 who started in seventh place on the grid but retired after a collision with Ronnie Peterson’s March on the first lap of the race. The P180 was intended to be a replacement for the P153 and P160 cars that had raced in the 1971 season, sharing the same 3 litre V12 engine. Only two cars were built but were so uncompetitive that they were dropped at the end of the season, being replaced by updated versions of the P160.

1980 Arrows A3

This was one of the competitors in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1966-1985 race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1980 Arrows A3 of Philip Hall, chassis A3/3 and was designed by Tony Southgate and Dave Wass. The A3 was campaigned by the Arrows Racing Team in the 1980 and 1981 racing seasons and had an aluminium monocoque chassis with conventional front nose and rear wing, and a cover over the gearbox to reduce drag. It was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine in common with many of the cars of that era. In 1980 Riccardo Patrese managed a second place in the United States Grand Prix West and a sixth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix together with a series of minor places and retirements. Jochen Maas had a fourth place in Monaco and a sixth place in South Africa, and a few minor places and retirements. In 1981 Patrese had a second place in San Marino, a third place in Brazil then a mixture of minor places and retirements. His team mate Siegfried Stohr failed to qualify in four races and picked up three minor places and a series of retirements.

1909 FN

This was one of the participants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.

It's a 1909 FN and this is the note about the car in the programme of the event:

18. Mr. Frank E. Dell, Long Grove, Seer Green, Bucks.

       1909 F.N. (Fabrique National) Two-Seater, 8 h.p.

The F.N. has been in Mr. Dell's ownership for the past 25 years, and he still finds it a very reliable and pleasing car to drive. It has won awards in rallies all over England.

1952/54 Maserati A6GCM/250F

This car took part in the Allcomers Scratch Race for Historic Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1969.

It's the  Maserati of Dan Margulies, originally a 1952 A6GCM serial number 2038 with a 6-cylinder 1,987cc engine that was a works car in 1952 and acquired the following season by Swiss driver Baron Emanuel (better known as 'Toulo') de Graffenried. Early in 1954 the car was given a 6-cylinder 2,490cc Maserati 250F engine and a new identity as chassis 2510. Toulo de Graffenried raced the car in 1954 before selling it to Australian Reg Hunt who took it 'down under' and raced it in Australia and New Zealand before selling it to Kevin Neal when he acquired Maserati 250F chassis 2516. In 1965 2038/2510 went to the UK and was campaigned by Colin Crabbe and Dan Margulies, and later went to Ray Fielding before ending up in a private Swiss collection.

1934 Bugatti Type 59

This car competed 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 1963.

It’s a 1934 Bugatti Type 59, chassis 59123, originally sold to Earl Howe who kept it in his racing stable until 1936 by which time it was rarely raced as he preferred to use the ERA that he had subsequently purchased. At the end of that season it was sold to South Africa, where it remained until 1962 when it returned to England and into the hands of W.A. F. 'Doc' Taylor, who had the car restored, and it was he who brought the car to this meeting at Oulton Park. The car was driven in the Historic Trophy race by Ronnie Symondson and the owner drove it in the Allcomers race. The car was built with a modified Type 54 chassis and had a supercharged Type 57 straight-8 engine of 3,257cc.

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.

1970 Karrier Bantam Mobile Gas Showroom

This is one of the vehicles that was on display in Heaton Park, Manchester at the Greater Manchester Transport Society’s Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in September 1990.

It’s a 1970 Karrier Bantam modified for use as a Mobile Gas Showroom for the North Western Gas Board. The programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

 

Karrier Bantam Mobile Gas Showroom, 1970

Entered by J. Spencer, New Moston, Manchester

Operated as a supplement to Gas Showrooms mainly in the South Lancashire area. Vehicle houses gas appliances from the 1960/70 period. Restored at the St Helens Workshops at St Helens.

1957 Lotus Eleven

These three cars all took part in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

The number 34 is John Gray's 1957 Lotus Eleven, about 270 of which were built by the Lotus Company between 1956 and 1958. The Lotus Eleven was built with a variety of engines of different sizes from 750cc to 1500cc, and the programme of the event shows John Gray's car to have a 1,460cc engine. Number 60 is 1959 Aston Martin DBR1, chassis DBR1/4, of Simon Draper with the 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc engine and number 61 is the 1956 Aston Martin DB3S of John Romano which should also have the Lagonda 2,992cc engine, though the programme of the event says that the engine size is 2,800cc. It appears to be chassis DB3S/113.

1995 McLaren MP4/10B

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

It’s a McLaren MP4/10B that competed in the 1995 season, mainly driven by Mark Blundell and Mika Häkkinen. The team switched from the Peugeot engines used the previous season to the Mercedes Benz 2,999cc V10 FO110 engine but the car was no more successful than in the 1994 season. Mark Blundell scored 13 points to finish in tenth place in the World Drivers’ Championship whilst Mika Häkkinen did slightly better with two second place finishes to end the season in seventh place with 17 points. McLaren managed fourth place in the World Constructors’ Championship with 30 points.

1966 Triumph GT6 Mk1

I took this photograph during the Equipe GTS race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

It's the 1966 Triumph GT6 MkI of Gethin Chislett and has the 6-cylinder inline 1,996cc engine. Triumph went on to produce a MkII then a MkIII, and 40,926 cars were built between 1966 and 1973.

1917 Dodge Model 30

This is one of the photographs that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It’s a 1917 Dodge Model 30, about 141,000 of which were produced between 1914 and 1921. It has a 4-cylinder inline 212.3 cu in (3479cc) engine.

1958 Bocar XP-5

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane during the 1950's Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's Dean Butler's 1958 Bocar XP-5. The Bocar was a series of limited-production two-seaters developed by Bob Carnes in Lakewood Colorado starting with an experimental X-1 in 1958 which was followed by X-2 and X-3 examples and about five XP-4s. The first real production cars, begun in mid-1959 were the XP-5s which had a glass-reinforced polyester body surrounding a welded moly-tube space frame and a beefed-up Volkswagen rear suspension. The most common engine was a 283 cu in Corvette V8 unit. Dean Butler’s Bocar XP-5  was built by Bocar expert Doug Karon with Mustang front suspension, Jaguar rear suspension and a 383 cu in Chevrolet  small block engine - but the programme of this event says the car has a 4,735cc engine, which equates to 299 cu in.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 1987 Ferrari 328 GTB which has a 3,185cc V8 engine and was successor to the Ferrari 308. It was produced from 1985 to 1989 and superseded by the Ferrari 348.

1975 March 75S

This car competed in the HSCC Pre'80 Endurance Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2018 and I took this photograph during the Saturday qualifying session.

It's the 1975 March 75S of Kevin Cooke, originally with a 4-cylinder inline 1,499cc turbocharged BMW M12 engine, later replaced with a 1,975cc Cosworth unit. It is chassis 75S/3 and was originally bought by French racing driver Michel Pignard.

1929 Austin Seven Special

This is a photograph that I took at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1929 Austin Seven Special which has the 747cc sidevalve engine and started off life as a saloon. Below is the information sheet that was in the windscreen of the car:

1959 Aston Martin DBR4

This car competed 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 the 1959 Aston Martin DBR4 of Tony Smith, chassis DBR4/4. 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, Tony Smith's car had the same 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc engine as the DB3S sports car.

1936 ERA R10B

I took this photograph at Druids corner during the Premier Cru Race for Pre-1941 Standard and Modified Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Hawthorn Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015.

It’s the 1936 ERA R10B of Paddins Dowling which has the 1,488cc supercharged ERA engine.

1932 Ford Model B

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.

It’s a 1932 Ford Model B with what the DVLA say is a 1,915cc engine, though the original car should have had a 4-cylinder inline 3.3 litre engine. The DVLA record says that the car has been untaxed since June 2001.

1970 BRM P153

The 50th Anniversary of the BRM was marked at the Coys International  Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999 by a display of many of the cars and this was one of the cars in the display.

It's a BRM P153 which was designed by Tony Southgate and had BRM's own 2,998cc V12 engine. The P153 was campaigned by the BRM team from 1970 to 1972, but its only victory was in the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix driven by Pedro Rodriguez. The information board behind the car appears to say that it is chassis P153/07.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at Druids Corner during the qualifying session for the GT Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It's a 2007 Ferrari F430 Challenge and was driven in the race by Tony Jones. The car has a 4,308cc V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder.

1914 Belsize

This was one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1966 and is pictured at the roundabout that at one time stood at the junction of the A6 and Cross Lane in Pendleton.

It's a 1914 Belsize, built by a company that began as Marshall and Company - probably Manchester's first car manufacturer, producing its first car at its factory in Clayton in 1897 which was badged as a Marshall. The company became Belsize Motors Limited in 1906 and continued producing cars until it ceased trading in 1925, having been in the hands of the receivers since 1923. A note in the programme of this event reads as follows:

30.   Mr. G.S. Fowler, Altrincham.

          1914 Belsize 2-seater 12 h.p.

This car was manufactured in Manchester and was found in a Belfast scrap yard about 15 years ago. Restored by the owner and has since been to Amsterdam, Galway, Brussels, and has just returned from the International Rally in Southern Eire.

1959 Aston Martin DB4

I took this photograph at Britten’s chicane during the Aston Martin GT4 Cup and V8 Vantage Cup race at the Aston Martin Owners Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015.

Leading is Nicholas King's in his 1959 Aston Martin DB4 closely followed by David Tinn’s 2010 Aston Martin GT4.