1958 Maserati 250F

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Corporate Jets Historic Grand Prix Car race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Leading is Lindsay Owen-Jones in his 1958 Maserati 250F #2534 followed by Martin Stretton in David Duffy's 1955 Connaught B-Type and what looks like Nigel Corner's 1957 Maserati 250F. In the background is Robin Lodge in the ex-Gilby Engineering Company's 1954 Maserati 250F.

1910 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1979.

It's the 1910 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost of D. Marquis and is pictured in the assembly area prior to the start of the Run. The information in the programme of the event about this car is very sparse, being just details of the car model and the entrant:

27          Mr D. Marquis, Lytham

              1910 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost, 6 cylinder 40/50 hp

 

1938 ERA Parnell Challenger

I took this photograph at Druids Corner during one of the races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Formula Vintage meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

It's Duncan Ricketts in the ERA Parnell Challenger which was conceived by Reg Parnell for the 1½ litre Formule Internationale which was expected to be introduced in 1941 - events in 1939 obviously stopped that from happening. It was apparently intended to be fitted with an MG engine, but its only appearance before the war was at Prescott in early 1939 when it had an ERA engine. After the war Reg Parnell fitted it with an 8-cylinder inline Delage engine, but lost interest in the project after acquiring a Maserati 4CL. It was driven by David Hampshire in a couple of events with the Delage engine in 1947 and more recently came into the ownership of Duncan Ricketts who restored the car with a supercharged 1,488cc ERA engine.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a 2001 Ferrari 360 Spider and has a 3,586cc V8 Tipo F131 engine with twin overhead camshafts and five valves per cylinder. The Ferrari 360 was produced from 1999 to 2004, and 7,565 examples of this Spider model were made.

1936 Albion K127 Dropside Lorry

This was 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 1988.

A note in the programme of the event reads as follows:

 

BTB 429 Albion K127 Dropside Lorry. 1936. Entered by D. Huffer, Manchester.

Originally supplied to special specifications to Messrs. Pincroft – Dyers & Finishers of Adlington, Lancs.

1974 Chevron B26

I took this photograph during the Saturday practice and qualifying sessions of the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2018.

It's John Burton in his 1974 Chevron B26 at Lodge Corner during the qualifying session for the HSCC Pre,80 Endurance Challenge race. The B26 was a replacement for the B23, and as well as revised suspension and a rear wing it had an aluminium monocoque tub instead of the spaceframe chassis of all the earlier Chevron sports racing cars. It had a 4-cylinder inline 1,998 Ford engine with an aluminium block, which had been designed by Brian Hart and re-engineered by Cosworth. Only 9 of these cars were made, mainly due to lack of demand because of the 1973 oil crisis in the UK.

1937 Alta 2 Litre Sports

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It’s not listed in the programme of the event, but it’s a 1937 Alta 2 Litre Sports then owned by John Ruston. Geoffrey Taylor formed the Alta Car and Engineering Company and produced his first car in 1929, the name 'Alta' apparently being chosen when he read a novel which referenced the town of Alta in Alberta, Canada and the name appealed to him. He produced a number of cars in the 1930s, firstly with a twin overhead camshaft 4-cylinder inline 1,074cc engine which was later increased to 1,496cc and then 1,960cc. John Ruston's car has a supercharged 1,960cc engine and was once driven by George Abecassis and Tony Gaze.

1980 Peugeot 504

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 1980 Peugeot 504 Series 2 Coupé with a 2,664cc V6 fuel injection engine.

1961 Porsche 718

This is a photograph that I took at the Aintree 200 race meeting at Aintree in April 1962.

It's Wolfgang Seidel's 1961 Porsche 718 with the 1,498cc 4-cylinder boxer engine. He started in 14th position on the grid, but retired after 10 laps with a broken differential.

1953 Jaguar C-Type

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the Jack Fairman Cup race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It's David Brazell in his 1953 Jaguar C-Type which has the 3,442cc 6-cylinder inline Jaguar XK engine. It's actually a replica based on a 1952 Jaguar XK120, chassis no. 672178.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a Ferrari F12 Berlinetta and has a 6,262cc V12 Ferrari F140 FC engine with an output of 740PS at 8,250 rpm. It was in production from 2012 to 2017.

Audi Sport Quattro S1

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 an Audi Sport Quatro S1 which was a variant of the Quattro and was developed for homologation for Group B rallying in 1984.  It had an all-aluminium 5-cylinder inline 2,133 cc engine with twin overhead camshafts and 4 valves per cylinder, Bosch fuel injection and a KKK K27 turbocharger.

1959 Tec-Mec F415

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 and is pictured here leaving the pit lane during the morning qualifying session.

Shown in the programme of the event as a TecMec it's the 1959 Tec-Mec F415 designed by Valerio Colotti as a lightweight version of the Maserati 250F. Colotti was employed by Maserati and was working on the design when Maserati pulled out of racing at the end of the 1958 season. He set up his own company, Studio Tecnica Meccanica, and Italian racing driver Giorgio Scarlatti encouraged him to continue with this work and bought shares in the company. American Gordon Pennington then persuaded Scarlatti to sell him the shares and arranged for Camoradi's Lucky Casner to run the team for what had now become Tec-Mec Automobili. When finished the car was entered for the 1959 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and Brazilian driver Fritz d'Orey was chosen to drive it. The car had clearly not gone through sufficient testing and Fritz d'Orey only qualified it in seventeenth place. It only lasted for six laps in the race before it retired with a serious oil leak and that turned out to be the only World Championship appearance by the car. It lingered in a Miami garage until 1967 when it was acquired by Tom Wheatcroft who brought the car back into working order and it was in his museum at Donington Park for many years. It was eventually sold to Barrie Baxter who drove the car at this Silverstone meeting and raced it successfully before eventually passing the car on to Barry Wood.

1971 Brabham BT36

I took this photograph at Brittens chicane during the FIA Historic Formula 2 International Series race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2017.

It's Luciano Arnold’s 1971 Brabham BT36 which has a 4-cylinder inline 1,596cc Ford Cosworth engine and is chassis #BT36/11, originally owned and campaigned by Silvio Moser.

1916 American LaFrance

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

It's a 1916 American LaFrance that was owned by local businessman Clive Williams and has a 6-cylinder inline 15 litre engine. La France is best known as a manufacturer of fire engines and other emergency vehicles for over 100 years from the early 20th century, but also built a number of passenger cars in the early years.

1914 Crossley RFC Staff Car

I took this photograph just after the start point on the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1978.

It’s not listed in the programme of the event, but the programme for the 1987 event has this note about the car:

 

26     1914 Crossley Staff Car,

Reg: AE 28, 4 cylinder 20/25 hp

(C R Unsworth, Ashton in Makerfield)

Only two of these unusual Crossleys are known

to be in existence - each is fitted with double

back wheels, and both are on this Run for the

first time.

2011 Aston Martin Rapide

This is a car that I photographed in the paddock at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017.

It's a 2011 Aston Martin Rapide with a 5,935cc V12 engine and was in production from 2010 to 2020.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph during the Coys of Kensington Pre-1964 GT Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

The leading car is a Ferrari 250 GT, but it was obviously a late entrant as the programme of the event doesn't show a number 22. There was also a Ferrari Challenge race at this meeting, but there's no car number 22 in that race either. I've tried looking at details of all the Ferrari 250 GTs and I can't find the chassis number of this car, so all I can say about it is that it has the Gioacchino Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine which powered most of the Ferrari 250 series of cars. The following car is the 1961 Lotus Elite of Christopher Ross and behind that is the 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO of Paul Pappalardo, chassis 5111GT.

1967 Leyland Titan PD2

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

It's a Leyland Titan PD2A/27 with East Lancs H37/28R body and was provided new to St Helens Corporation Transport with fleet number 54 in May of 1967. A note in the programme of the event says this about the vehicle:

 

Leyland Titan PD2A/27, East Lancs H65R, 1967                                              MDJ 554E

St Helens Corporation 54

Entered by R. Hughes, Warrington

Purchased by the present owner in 1991 and restored to its original red and cream livery.

Ducati 899

This was a competitor in one of the races at the NG Road Racing meeting at Oulton Park in April 2017.

It's the Ducati 899 of Sam Middlemas with a V-twin 898cc engine and is pictured in the pit garage before the start of the meeting.

 

1957 Maserati 300S

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

It's the 1957 Maserati 300S, chassis #3074, of Mark Knopfler and has a 2,991cc 6-cylinder inline engine that was based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a longer stroke, and took part in the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1957. The car was originally bought by Brazilian driver Antonio Mendes de Barros and stayed in South America till the 1970s when it was acquired by Australian Bruce Spicer, then via Bob Jane and John R Sheppard to Kerry Manolas. In 1994 it was bought by Mark Knopfler. The white number 11 car behind the Maserati is the Don Law Racing 1954 Jaguar D-Type which was driven in the race by Win Percy, and beyond that is Paul Pappalardo’s 1959 Ferrari 250TR59/60.

1959 Austin A35 Countryman

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

It's a 1959 Austin A35 Countryman and has a 4-cylinder inline 948cc engine. The A35 replaced the A30 and over 280,000 Austin A35s were produced between 1956 and 1959. The external differences between the two cars were that the A35 saloon had a larger rear window and a painted grille instead of the A30's chrome one. The A30 also had semaphore trafficators in the B pillars whilst the A35 had front and rear flashing lights.

 

1926/30 Hispano Delage

This car competed in the Boulogne Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's the 1926/30 Hispano Delage 500CV of Anthony Howat, a comparatively recent construction using the chassis of a 1926 Delage and a 500hp 1930 V12 Hispano Aero engine of 27 litres.

1953 Cooper Bristol Mk2

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

The book 'Great Racing cars of the Donington Collection says this about the car:

The Cooper-Bristol

Front-engined Formula 2

 

Easter Monday, 1952, was an electrifying day for British racing enthusiasts. It was the day on which a new Formula 2 car and a new young driver burst into the headlines. The car was the Cooper-Bristol, and the driver was twenty-three-year-old Mike Hawthorn.

Three of these brand-new cars had appeared at Goodwood, and had won three of the day’s main events. Hawthorn won two, Alan Brown the third, and then the blonde young ‘Farnham Flyer’ was second to Gonzales’ fearsome 4½-litre Ferrari in the last event of the meeting.

For the rest of the 1952 season Hawthorn went from strength to strength. Headline-writers discovered he was known as ‘Mike’, not ‘Mick’, and his Cooper-Bristol season earned him a French Grand Prix-winning works Ferrari drive for 1953.

Charles and John Cooper had taken the BMW-based sports Bristol engine and gearbox, mounted it in a box-section, transverse rear spring, independently-suspended chassis, and had produced a light, easy to drive and manoeuvrable Formula 2 car. Design was based on knowledge gained from their mid-engined F3 cars, but the proprietary engine and gearbox made a front-engined layout more practical for the 2-litre class.

For 1953, a Mark 2 tubular-chassised version was developed, which proved very popular with such private entrants as Ken Wharton, Alan Brown and Écurie Écosse – for whom Jimmy Stewart, Jackie’s elder brother, drove at times. The Cooper-Bristols could never challenge the Italians on equal terms, but they have a vital place in the story of Britain’s rise to Grand Prix dominance.

Later in the book there's this note about the exhibit:

Cooper-Bristol Mark 2

Chassis ‘OBMK 2/9/53’ – Collection property – believed to be the car taken to Australia by Reg Hunt, later owned and raced by Len Lukey of ‘Lukey Muffler’ exhaust fame. To Eddie Clay, fitted Holden engine when the Bristol burst. Believed sold to Peter Menere. A Collection rebuild.

The Cooper Bristol Mk2 was later renamed as the Cooper Bristol T23.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph I took at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2014.

It's a 1985 Ferrari 328 GTS and has the F106AB 2,927cc 32 valve V8 engine with twin overhead camshafts per bank. The Ferrari 328 was produced between 1985 and 1989, a total of 7,412 cars - 1,344 of the GTB and 6,068 of the GTS. It replaced the 308 model and was superseded by the Ferrari 348.

The numbering of this car, and its predecessor and successor, followed the then Ferrari convention of using the engine capacity then the number of cylinders. Hence the Dino 246 was 2.4 litres and 6 cylinders, the 308 was 3.0 litres and 8 cylinders, and the 328 was 3.2 litres and 8 cylinders.

1963 Lotus 23B

This car competed in the Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers Sports Racing Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's Marshall Bailey's 1963 Lotus 23B. The Lotus 23 was introduced in 1962 to compete in the smaller classes of sports car  racing and was used with engines with capacities ranging from from 750cc up to 1600cc. It proved to be an extremely successful car and about 130 examples of the Lotus 23, 23B and 23C were produced between 1962 and 1963.

1931 Bentley 4½ litre

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Taylor Woodrow Pre-War Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1931 Bentley 4½ litre of Paul Benton which was driven in the race by Soames Langton. Despite being called a 4½ litre car, the capacity of the 4-cylinder inline engine of the Bentley 4½ is only 4,398cc. The DVLA record of GT8771 says that the car has been untaxed since December 1995.

Drag Racing 1965

In 1964 and 1965 the US National Hot Rod Association in conjunction with the British Drag Racing Association organised an exhibition tour of Britain which in 1965 included a drag race meeting on the runway of RAF Woodvale near Southport. This is a photograph of one of the American dragsters that took part.

I don't recall having a programme at the event but there were 8 of the US dragsters at this meeting and I think that this is Bob Keith’s car, in which case it has a 494 cu in Chrysler engine.

1923 Vauxhall Rowley Special

This car competed in the Boulogne Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's the 1923 Vauxhall Rowley Special of Geoffrey O’Connell, a car that was built in 1978 with a 14-40 chassis and a 30-98 engine by John Rowley and Julian Ghosh. The car then had the registration number DS 7502 and was driven in VSCC races by Julian Ghosh, who later became President of the VSCC. In the early 1980's the car's chassis was shortened and a different engine fitted, and in the late 1980s the car passed to James Warne then soon afterwards to David Biggins. David Biggins competed with the car for about 15 years and it has had a few different owners since then, including one in Northern Ireland where it acquired a GIG 8664 registration number. The programme of the event says that its engine capacity is 4,224cc, presumably the Vauxhall OE engine.

1938 ERA E-Type

This is a photograph I took in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 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.

 

It was owned by Duncan Ricketts but didn’t take part in this meeting, though Duncan drove Julian Mazjub’s 1938 Alfa Romeo 308C in the HGPCA Pre-1952 Grand Prix Car Race.

1928 Amilcar CGSS

This is a photograph I took in Mount Street, Manchester just after the start point for the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1977.

It's the 1928 Amilcar CGSS of R.C. Stafford, and apart from that there's no information about the car in the programme of the event. The CGSS was produced by the Amilcar Company between 1926 and 1929 and had a 4-cylinder inline 1,074cc engine. The DVLA record says that YX15 is 'Not taxed for on road use'.