Cooper Monaco

This is a photograph I took at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992

It's a Cooper Monaco but the programme of the event doesn't show it as appearing in the HGPCA Sports Car Race, the only Coopers being two Cooper Jaguars and two Cooper T39 Bobtails. There were three versions of the Cooper Monaco, the T49 of 1959, the T57 of 1960 and the T61 of 1961. These three cars look very similar, but I think that this one is a T49.

1957 Maserati 250F

The SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005 produced probably the largest gathering of Maserati 250Fs that has ever been seen in this country - I understand that there were 24 in all. This is one of those cars, photographed at McLean's Corner during a track demonstration by a number of Italian cars.

It's Nigel Corner in the car that was campaigned mainly by Jean Behra in the 1957 season, but also driven that year by Juan Fangio and Harry Schell, and is chassis #2528. This car has been owned and raced by the Corner family, Nigel and his father Neil, since 1972.

1914 Sunbeam Tourist Trophy

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

There's no number 201 listed in the programme of the event (and number 15 is a 1959 Cooper), but it's a 1914 Sunbeam Tourist Trophy, one of three cars that Louis Coatalen entered for the 600-mile, two-day 1914 Isle of Man TT race. The car was not designed by Louis Coatalen, but he borrowed a 1913 Peugeot and copied it, the only significant difference being an increase in engine capacity to 3,255cc to bring it close to the 3.3 litres allowed by the rules. Two of the cars dropped out of the race but the third car, driven by Kenelm Lee Guinness, went on to win at 56.44 mph from two of the Minervas. His race time was a formidable 10 hr 37 min 49 sec.

The car is currently taxed up to June 2026, but the DVLA record shows that it is now coloured black.

1926 Rolls Royce Twenty

This is one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Car Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1979.

It's a 1926 Rolls Royce Twenty pictured in Manchester before the start of the run, and the programme of the event had this note about the car:

163     Mr E. Marshall, Glazebury, Nr. Warrington, Lancs.

            1926 Rolls Royce Twenty, 29 h.p. 6-cylinder.

1926 Barker Sedanca Cabriolet. Long body with two occasional seats.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at Club corner during the Corse Clienti Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017 where there were a series of Ferrari Challenge races, and track demonstrations by F1 cars.

This is a 2002 Ferrari F2002, a car that was raced by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in the 2002 season and the first four races of the 2003 season, and was powered by the 3,000cc Ferrari V10 Tipo 051 engine. In 2002 Michael Schumacher won the World Drivers' Championship by winning eleven of the seventeen races with Rubens Barrichello winning four of the remaining races. The Ferrari team won the World Constructors' Championship and scored more points than all the rest of the teams put together.

1937 BMW 319

I took this photograph at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It was one of the entrants in the Concours d’Elegance and shown in the programme of the event as the 1937 BMW 319/55 of M.Garfit. HJ Adlington had arranged for Frazer Nash to import BMW cars into the UK in 1935, marketing them as Frazer Nash BMWs, and of the 102 BMW 319s built 26 were imported to the UK. They had a 1,911cc straight-6 engine and were badged here as Frazer Nash BMWs. The DVLA record shows that the car is still taxed and shows it as a 1937 Frazer Nash. The '55' after the '319' apparently refers to its 55hp which is more powerful than the standard 319 model.

1951 AEC Regent III

This is a photograph that I took in September 1988 in Heaton Park, Manchester at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally.

It's a 1951 AEC Regent III and the programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

KDT 393 A.E.C. Regent 3, ROE. 1951. Doncaster Corporation.

Entered by A. Peart, Doncaster, South Yorkshire. An experimental vehicle built for Doncaster Corporation, passing to Blue Ensign in 1955, to driver training in 1967 and for preservation in 1971.

1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre '52 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 of Paul Grist and has an 8-cylinder 3,822cc engine with twin overhead camshafts. It was built to challenge the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars but rarely managed to get the better of them. The Alfa Romeo 8C-35 was introduced when the Tipo B Monoposto – or P3 as it is more popularly known – became overdue for replacement.  The P3 had itself been derived from the Monza and had flown the Alfa flag with great success between 1932 and 1935. The 8C-35 never beat the German cars in a top level Grand Prix, but did succeed in doing so in a number of smaller races, in the hands of Tazio Nuvolari.

 

1959/60 Lola MkII FJ

This car competed in the Lenham Storage Formula Junior Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.

It's the 1959/60 Lola MkII Formula Junior car of Tony Steele and appears to have a 4-cylinder online Ford Kent 1,098cc engine. Formula Junior was introduced in 1959 as a class of racing where younger drivers could be introduced to single-seater racing. It ended when Formula 2 and Formula 3 were re-introduced to the racing scene for the 1964 season and Formula Junior has continued to be featured at historic racing events.

1934 Buick

 I took this photograph at a classic car show organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport in July 1987.

There was no list of the cars taking part in the car show, but the DVLA record says that this is a 1934 Buick with an engine capacity of 4,303cc. The nearest match I can find is the 1934 Buick Series 60 with an 8-cylinder inline 4,556cc engine.

1955 Chevrolet Bel Air Custom Car

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

I don’t remember there being any information about the car at the show, but it’s obviously a customized Chevrolet Bel Air. It’s got the ‘Ferrari-inspired’ front grille of the second-generation Bel Air that was only available in 1955, the first year of production. It seems that a large number of potential customers wanted a more conventional full-width grille so the car was given a facelift for 1956.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph 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.

1954/56 Emeryson F3

These are photographs I took of a car that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1985.

It's the 1954/56 Emeryson 500cc Formula 3 car of P Spencer which competed in a 4 Lap Handicap Including 500cc Race at the meeting. There's no note in the programme of the event about the car and neither can I find out anything about the owner, P Spencer. I remember seeing Paul Emery driving one of these cars in Formula 3 races in the 1950s.

1988 McLaren MP4/4

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

It's a 1988 McLaren MP4/4, the car that dominated the 1988 Formula 1 season driven by Ayrton Senna an Alain Prost. It was designed by Steve Nichols, and was powered by the 1,494cc turbocharged V8 Honda RA168E engine in place of the previous season's TAG Porsche unit. Ayrton Senna won 8 of the 16 races that year and Alain Prost 7, the remaining race being won by Ferrari's Gerhard Berger - appropriately the Italian Grand Prix. Senna and Prost finished first and second in the World Driver's Championship with Berger a long way behind in third place. McLaren, of course, won the World Constructors' Championship, scoring only two points less than the combined total of all the other teams.

1928 Mercedes Benz SS

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

It's the 1928 Mercedes Benz SS of Peterheinz Kern which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 7.1 litre engine. The following car appears to be the 1935 MG PA of Hamish McNinch.

1962 Lola Climax Mk 4

This a photograph that I took at the Waterway corner with my Kodak Brownie 127 on practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

It's John Surtees in the Bowmaker-Yeoman Racing Team Lola Climax Mk 4. The Lola Mk 4, like several of the other teams, used the 1,496cc V8 Coventry Climax FWMV engine. Three of these cars were apparently built with John Surtees driving chassis BRGP42 in the race and Roy Salvadori chassis BRGP43. John Surtees qualified in second place on the grid behind Jim Clark's Lotus 25 and those two drivers finished the race in that order. Roy Salvadori qualified in eleventh place on the grid but failed to finish the race, retiring after 35 laps with ignition problems.

1935 Austin 7 Twin Cam

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1935 Austin 7 Twin Cam of S.A.Wood that took part in a handicap race at the meeting. There was at one time a similar car in the Donington Park Museum which displayed the following description:

‘These lovely little single seaters were Sir Herbert Austin’s reply to the successful M.G. Midgets fielded by Sir William Morris in the 1930s. Designed by T. Murray-Jamieson, well known for his work on super chargers, and assisted by W.V. Appleby & T. Brown, the cars had a troubled debut in 1936, with most of the testing and development carried out here at Donington Park. With teething troubles rectified, these cars went from strength to strength during the 1937/38/39 seasons. Usually driven by L.P. Driscoll, C.L. Goodacre & “Bert” Hadley they competed in everything from speed trials and hill climbs through to 500 mile races at Brooklands. The two “twin cams” made many appearances at Donington Park winning, along with numerous sprints and handicap races, the Coronation Trophy here in 1937, the British Empire Trophy race here in 1938 and the Imperial Trophy at Crystal Palace in 1939. Not only were these cars pretty to look at, the 747cc engine was an engineering masterpiece, very highly stressed And reputedly capable of revving to 12,000 R.P.M.'

1907 Rover Roi-des-Belges

This is a photograph that I took before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1978.

It's a 1907 Rover 20 with a Roi-des-Belges body, a car that was produced from 1907 to 1910 and had a 4-cylinder inline 3,251cc engine. The programme of the event had this note about the car (with the original spelling error);

12     Leyland Motors Historic Vehicles Ltd., Longbridge, Birmingham.

         1907 Rover, Roi de Belge Tourer, 20 h.p.

This model was originally announced in 1905 as the 16/20 h.p. car. Cylinder dimensions of 95mm x 110 mm were the same as those of the 1905 6 h.p. car and several components were common. The model achieved fame by winning the Tourist Trophy Race in the Isle of Man during 1907 driven by Ernest Courtis, who was Rover's Chief Tester at the time. His average speed was 28.8 mph for six laps of the 40.3 mile circuit. The car's normal maximum in "as sold" condition was about 45 mph and the chassis price was £375.

I understand that this car is now in the British Motor Museum in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

 

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 2003 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.

1929 Napier Bentley

This is a photograph that I took at Lodge Corner at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's Peter Morley in the 1929 Bentley Napier, a vehicle that he and David Llewellyn 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.

Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A

Uppermill is a village which is in the civil parish of Saddleworth, part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and lies in a valley of the South Pennines about 4½ miles east of Oldham. Saddleworth Museum is in the middle of Uppermill, only a small museum but well worth a visit if you're in the area. Here are two photographs I took there in October 1983.

It's a 1928 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A and 950 of these were produced between 1924 and 1931. It has a 6-cylinder inline 9,370cc engine, though the DVLA record says that it's 5,830cc.

1930 Alvis 12/50

I took this photograph in the paddock (when it was a paddock and not a tarmac strip) at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's Frank Spencer's 1930 Alvis 12/50 which competed in a handicap race at the meeting. The Alvis 12/50 was produced from 1923 to 1932 and 3,705 were built, with a choice of 3 different sizes of the 4-cylinder inline ohv engine. Frank Spencer's car had the 1,645cc unit.

 

Jaguar C-Type

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It looks like a Jaguar C-Type from 1951-53 but the traffic indicators and the spotlight behind the grille suggest that it’s a replica, but a very nice one. The DVLA record shows the date of manufacture as 1955.

1975 Daimler Fleetline

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

The programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

 

Daimler Fleetline, Northern Counties, 1975

Entered by M. Forrest, Bolton

One of the more unusual treatments applied to former stalwarts of the Greater  Manchester Transport fleet in the days before deregulation. There are no plans to convert any more of the fleet.

Toyota Corolla KE20

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

It's a Toyota Corolla KE20, a second generation of the Corolla E20 which was produced between 1970 and 1974. It was available with a 4-cylinder inline engine of 1.2, 1.4 or 1.6 litres.

Friday's Ferrari

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

It's a 2009 Ferrari F430 Challenge and was driven in the 50 minute long race by Richard Cook and Harvey Stanley. The Ferrari F430 Challenge, which has a 4,308cc V8 engine, replaced the 360 Challenge and was produced from 2007 to 2010, being succeeded by the 458 Challenge.

1963 ATS 100 GP

The Coys International Historical Festival meeting of July 2000 marked 50 years of the Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers with a display of cars covering that period, this car being one of those representing the 1960s.

It's the 1963 ATS 100 GP of Philip Walker and it also took part in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix & Tasman Cars during the meeting. The car and its 1,495cc V8 engine were designed by former Ferrari chief engineer Carlo Chiti and was the only F1 car produced by ATS. Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti were the drivers, and the cars only started in five Grand Prix races (all in 1963), both cars retiring in the Belgian, Netherlands, USA and Mexican races, and finishing in eleventh and fifteenth places respectively in the Italian Grand Prix. Carlo Chiti was involved in designing the 1961 Ferrari Dino 156 that had won the World Championship for Phil Hill that year, but he and several other personnel had walked out of Ferrari in October 1961 due to a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari and later formed the ATS racing team.

 

The display was in a large marquee where the main source of illumination was the light coming through the canvas of the marquee behind the cars which doesn't help if you're taking photographs.

1961 Lotus 21

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

It’s a 1961 Lotus 21, and the book ‘Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection’says this about it:

 

The Lotus 21

Chapman’s slimline

 

For 1961 and the new 1½-litre Formula, Lotus produced a Formula Junior-based car which was a great improvement on the Lotus 18 both technically and aesthetically.The sleek Formula Junior 20 was in full production by the time the Lotus 21 made its debut in the Monaco Grand Prix. The new car was very small and sleek, although the body had a larger cross-section than the Junior to house 30 gallons of fuel; also bigger wheels were fitted to cope with its greater performance potential.

The front suspension was new, with coil-springs and dampers tucked away within the bodywork, and at the rear the drive-shafts were relieved of their wheel location duties. The four-cylinder Climax engine was canted at 18 degrees to reduce its overall height, and German ZF all-synchromesh transmission was adopted.

Team Lotus raced their 21s throughout the season, and although Innes Ireland had a bad crash first time out in the tunnel at Monaco, he won the United States GP at Watkins Glen right at the end of the year, and also won non-championship races in Austria and Germany. At last Team Lotus had won a major Grand Prix in their own right.

1971 McLaren M19A

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

It's Denny Hulme in his 1971 McLaren M19A, chassis M19A/1, and he qualified for the race in second place to Peter Gethin's BRM P160B, though he won the race the following day ahead of Emerson Fittipaldi's Lotus 72 and Tim Schenken's Surtees TS9. The McLaren M19A was designed by Ralph Bellamy and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine. In the 1972 World Drivers' Championship Denny Hulme finished in third place to Emerson Fittipaldi and Jackie Stewart, winning just the South African Grand Prix, McLaren also finishing in third place in the World Constructors' Championship.

1959 Maserati T61

This was one of the entrants in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Nick Mason's 1959 Maserati T61, chassis #2457, and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2457 started off life in the USA. After passing through various hands it was acquired by Nick Mason in the 1980s. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.