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Friday, 23 January 2026

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph I took at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.
The  two cars took part in the Magneti Marelli UK Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars and are setting out from the pit lane during a practice session. Leading is the 1954 Maserati 250F of Dieter Streve-Mülhens which has a 6-cylinder inline 2,490cc engine. It was originally chassis 2501 but with the Maserati team's habit of swapping chassis numbers around it was later 2526, then 2523, 2504 and back to 2523 again. Following it is the1960 Neil Corner’s Ferrari Dino 246 F1 car which escaped Ferrari's annual demolition of obsolete Grand Prix cars at the end of that season and was sold to New Zealander Pat Hoare. It's the car with which Phil Hill won the 1960 Italian Grand Prix but was modified for Tasman Series racing with the 2,417cc F1 engine replaced by a 2,953cc engine as used in the Ferrari 250 TR sports cars. The chassis number was changed from #0007 to #0788.

Thursday, 22 January 2026

1968 Leyland PD2/47

I took this photograph at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1988.
It's a 1968 Leyland PD2/47 and the programme of the event had this note about the Vehicle:
 
JTF 217F LEYLAND PD2/47, EAST LANCS. Entered by T. Sharples, Preston, Lancashire. Delivered to Darwen Corporation, No. 39 was intended for use as a one man operated vehicle but only ran as such with the top deck blocked off.

Wednesday, 21 January 2026

1958 Lister Jaguar

This is a photograph that I took at Lodge Corner during the Guards Trophy GTSR Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008.
It's Bob Gilbert in his 1958 Lister Jaguar which has the 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc Jaguar XK6 engine. The car was actually built with genuine Lister Jaguar parts in the early 1990s for the Yoshiyuki Hayashi Collection.

Tuesday, 20 January 2026

1972 BRM P180

This is a photograph that I took at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.
It's a 1972 BRM P180, a car that was designed by Tony Southgate and had a 2,998cc V12 BRM P142 engine. The car was hardly used, BRM preferring the earlier P160 and the only race finish by the P180 was Jean-Pierre Beltoise's eighth place in the Italian Grand Prix.

Monday, 19 January 2026

1960 Cooper T53

This car took part in the Innes Ireland Trophy Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix & Tasman Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.
It's the 1960 Cooper T53 of Allan Miles, described in the programme of the event as having a 2,459cc engine, presumably the Coventry Climax FPF unit. It appears to be chassis F1-9-61, a car built for French driver Bernard Collomb to use in the 1961 season and was eventually wrecked in practice for the 1962 Brussels Grand Prix. Some parts of the car were acquired by John Harper in the late 1970s and it was reconstructed, later going to Allan Miles who raced it in historic events from 1988 to 1999. The car is painted dark blue with a white nose band, the colours of Rob Walker who had a Cooper T53 in 1961, chassis F1-7-61, that competed in some non-championship events in the early part of that season.

Sunday, 18 January 2026

1927/35 Invicta 3/4½ litre

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in July 2015 where it competed in the VSCC Team Relay Race for Pre-War Sports Cars.
The programme of the event says that it’s Trevor Swete’s 1927/35 Invicta 3/4½ litre with a 4,429cc engine.

Saturday, 17 January 2026

1969 Ford Mustang

This is a photograph that I took at the local Shell filling station in Hyde in September 2019.
It’s a 1969 Ford Mustang, a First Generation car which was produced from 1964 to 1973. It has the 6-cylinder inline 200 cu in (3,277cc) engine.

Friday, 16 January 2026

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.
It's a 2005 Ferrari F430 which replaced the Ferrari 360 and was itself succeeded by the Ferrari 458. It was produced between 2005 and 2009 and has the 4,308cc Ferrari F136 E V8 engine.

Thursday, 15 January 2026

1896 Lutzmann Victoria

This is a photograph that I took amidst road works on the Crescent, part of the A6 in Salford, during the Lancashire Automobile Club’s Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.
It's an 1896 Lutzmann Victoria., one of two such cars taking part in the run, and this one was entered by the St. Annes Motor Museum. A note in the programme of the event covered both cars and this is what it said:

1.     St Annes Motor Museum, St. Annes, Lancashire.
        (Driver - Mr. N.E.J. Bradshaw)
        1896 Lutzmann Victoria, 4 h.p.

2.     Mr Bernard W. Garrett, Hurst Green, Oxted, Surrey.
        1896 Lutzmann Victoria, 4 h.p.
These two rare examples of the single-cylinder (2,370 c.c.) Lutzmann "gentleman's carriage" are the only known models still in running order to survive from the Lutzmann automobile works at Dessau in what is now East Germany. Which is the elder brother is a fine point of discrimination not easily decided, but both have common link in one-time ownership. It is known that both were imported into this country by a Mr. Cousons (or Koosens) of Southsea in Hampshire, who must have been most impressed by the reports of their performance on the Kaiser's roads - long before Hitler's autobahns. The fact that they are still in road-worthy order despite their great age and years of neglect is certainly most impressive by present-day manufacturing standards. Without making an issue of it, Mr. Garrett has an authority from the Veteran Car Club dated November 1956 stating that his entry is the earliest known Lutzmann. On the other hand, Mr. Nigel Bradshaw thinks that his model was the first brought into this country. It matters little. The splendid old Lutzmann machines, which incidentally are the great grandfathers of the present Opel car, are certainly the oldest veterans ever to take part in the Manchester - Blackpool Run. Both were entries last year, but brake trouble forced Mr. Garrett to be a non-starter.

Wednesday, 14 January 2026

1971 Aston Martin DBS V8

I took this photograph at the Knickerbrook chicane during the 45 minute long AMOC Intermarque Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in May 2015 where it was driven by Paul and Clive Hipwell.
It's a 1973 Aston Martin V8, with a 5,340cc V8 engine designed by Tadek Marek. Introduced in 1969 as the DBS V8, 4,021 cars were produced between then and 1989, the name changing in 1972 to the Aston Martin V8 and eventually to the AM V8.

Tuesday, 13 January 2026

1953 Aston Martin DB3 Coupe

This car competed in the Woodcote Trophy Race for Pre 1956 Sports Cars at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It’s Arlette Müller’s 1953 Aston Martin DB3, one of 10 cars built and is chassis number 7 with the 2,580cc 6-cylinder inline Vantage engine. The first owner was Tom Meyer.

Monday, 12 January 2026

1951 Guy Arab III

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 1951 Guy Arab III with a Roe C35F body, and was part of the Lancashire United Transport fleet from new until it was withdrawn from service in 1965. It's not listed in the programme of the event, but was at the 1996 Rally when a note in the programme read as follows:

Guy Arab Mk III, Roe Body, 1951                                                                     MTJ 84
Entered by      S.M.Torres, c/o Ebor Trucks, Acaster Malbis, York
Former Operator - L.U.T.  Ex. Lancashire United 440, this vehicle was repainted over the winter and appeared at The Museum of Transport's L.U.T. weekend in May this year.

Sunday, 11 January 2026

2004 Williams FW26

This is one of the Williams F1 cars that were in the Donington Park Museum on the last time I went there in September 2014.
It's a Williams FW26 which was campaigned by the Williams team in the 2004 season. The car was designed by Patrick Head, Gavin Fisher and Antonia Terzi, and had a 2,998cc V10 BMW engine. It was driven by Juan Pablo Montoya in all 18 races while the driving of the second car was shared by Ralf Schumacher, Antonio Pizzonia and Marc Gené. Juan Pablo Montoya finished in fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship winning the last race of the season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, while Ralf Schumacher had a second place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix to end up in ninth place in the Championship. Williams finished in fourth place in the World Constructors' Championship. The car pictured has the narrower nose that was used towards the end of the season.

Saturday, 10 January 2026

1959 Cooper Monaco

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.
It's the 1959 Cooper T49 Monaco of Paul Wolley and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,990cc Coventry Climax engine. The name 'Monaco' was given to the car to mark Maurice Trintignant's win in the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix in a Cooper Climax T45. It was the successor to the smaller centre-seat Cooper T39 'Bobtail' that the company had produced since 1954.

Friday, 9 January 2026

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.
It’s a 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso which is powered by the Ferrari F140ED 6,262cc V12 engine and has 7-speed dual-clutch transmission with four-wheel drive and a four-wheel steering system. It was introduced in 2016 and ceased production in 2020.

Thursday, 8 January 2026

1962 Porsche 804

I took this photograph in the paddock at Aintree in July 1962 during practice for the British Grand Prix.
Number 8 is the 1962 Porsche 804 of Dan Gurney in which he qualified in sixth position on the grid and finished the race in ninth position. Number 10 is that of his team mate Joakim Bonnier who took seventh place on the grid but he retired after 27 laps of the 75 lap race.  Porsche had first built a single seat racing car in 1959, the 718, using the 1,498cc flat-four boxer engine from their sports car to create a Formula 2 car. In 1961 the engine capacity for Formula 1 cars was reduced to 1½ litres and the Porsche 718 was able to compete in Formula 1 races that season. The Porsche 804 was built to compete in Formula 1 races in the 1962 season using a new Flat-eight engine of 1,494cc, and with this car Dan Gurney won the French Grand Prix and finished in third place in the German Grand Prix to end the season in fifth place in the World Drivers' Championship. Jo Bonnier's best finish was fifth place in the Monaco Grand Prix and he finished in fifteenth place in the Championship. Porsche finished in fifth place in the World Constructors' Championship. That first place in the 1962 French Grand Prix is Porsche's only Grand Prix victory.

Wednesday, 7 January 2026

1904 Ransomes, Simms & Jefferies traction engine

This is a photograph that I took at the Pallot Steam, Motor & General Museum in Jersey in May 2013.
It’s a 1904 Ransomes, Simms & Jefferies traction engine, and the Pallot Museum website has this to say about 'Dolly May' - named after the wife of Lyndon Charles 'Don' Pallot:
 
'This engine was brought over to Jersey soon after the Occupation, to be used for soil sterilization at La Valeuse Farm, St Brelade.  Fortunately, the ‘workings’ remained intact and eventually it was ‘put out to grass’.  It was only when the scrap man had been contacted on several occasions in the 1960’s and had failed to collect the machine that, in desperation, the owners got got in touch with the late Don Pallot, founder of the Steam Museum, and a deal was agreed for the sum of £12.10 shillings.'

Tuesday, 6 January 2026

1965 Lancia Flavia Zagato

This is a photograph that I took at tha exit of Lodge Corner during the HSCC Historic Roadsports Championship race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.
It's Mark Hoble in his 1965 Lancia Flavia Zagato which has the 1.8 litre version of the 4-cylinder boxer engine.

Monday, 5 January 2026

1971 Brabham BT34

This was one of the competitors in the F.O.R.C.E. Pre-1972 Classic Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.
It's the 1971 Brabham BT34, a car designed by Ron Tauranac who placed the car's radiators in front of the front wheels in order to fit a wing to give downforce at the front. Because of the unusual look of the bulky radiators at the front of the car the BT34 was dubbed the 'lobster claw'. Only one BT34 was built and it was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Graham Hill drove the car in the 1971 season without much success, his best result being fifth place in the Austrian Grand Prix, although he did win the International Trophy Race at Silverstone. In 1972 the car was driven by Carlos Reutemann and Wilson Fittipaldi, the best result being Carlos Reutemann's win in the non-Championship Brazilian Grand Prix. It was driven in this race at Silverstone by Ean Pugh.

Sunday, 4 January 2026

1930 Rolls Royce 20/25

This is a photograph that I took on Salford Crescent during the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1966.
It's a 1930 Rolls Royce 20/25, a car that was produced from 1929 to 1936 with a 6-cylinder inline 3,669cc engine. The programme of the event had this note about the car:

153.  Modern Age Motors, Preston. (Driver - J.D. Fildes).
         1930 Rolls Royce Open 4-seater Tourer 25.3 h.p.

Saturday, 3 January 2026

1913 Sunbeam 25/30 Torpedo

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.
It's a 1913 Sunbeam 25/30 Torpedo, chassis 5320, with a 6-cylinder inline 6,098cc engine. It looks like it should be one of the cars entered in the Concours D'Elegance, but it's not listed as such in the programme of the event. The DVLA record says that the car has been untaxed since October 2013.

Friday, 2 January 2026

Friday’s Ferrari

I took this photograph of one of the competitors in the Corse Clienti Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli race at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.
It's the Ferrari 488 Challenge of USA driver David Lim, a car which has a 670hp 3,902cc V8 turbocharged engine developed from that of the Ferrari 488 GTB.
 
This is what Ferrari said about the Ferrari Challenge series of races:
 
'Over 1000 drivers have taken part in it, 100s of races have been disputed, while the overtaking, the thrills and the fun are incalculable. We are talking about the Ferrari Challenge, the most renowned single-marque championship, that has been bringing together dream cars and esteemed clients on the world’s most picturesque tracks since 1993. A competition for those who, not satisfied with just driving their Ferraris on the road, feel the urge to compete in top-level sprint races. The Ferrari Challenge is divided into three continental series: Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific series, which celebrated its inaugural season in 2011. A further English national series was added in 2019.Challenge races are always hard fought and battle-filled, allowing the driver to fully savour the excitement that only the track can give.'

Thursday, 1 January 2026

1938 Auto Union D-Type

This is a photograph I took at Donington Park on the straight between the Old Hairpin and Starkey's Bridge in May 2001 at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting.
It's a 1938 Auto Union D-Type which Audi had brought to the meeting together with a 1937 Auto Union C-Type and various other vehicles which were displayed in the paddock, and some of which took part in demonstration runs round the circuit. The Auto Union D-Type chassis was based on the previous year's C-Type, but the engine was of a completely new V12 design. With the displacement limited to just three litres it had a capacity of 2,986cc and a Two Stage Roots-Type Supercharger producing 420 bhp at 7000 rpm. Another major change was the move of a single central mounted fuel tank to two side-tanks, which enabled the driver to sit further back in the chassis. There were only four races in the 1938 European Grand Prix Championship, three of which were won by the Mercedes Benz W154 and one by Tazio Nuvolari in an Auto Union D-Type.