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.