1955 Mercedes Benz 300SL

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

It’s a 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, a car that was produced from 1954 to 1963 and was a development of the W194 that won the 1952 Le Mans 24 Hour race. Its distinguishing feature was the gull-wing doors, and it was powered by the 2,996cc straight-6 M198 engine with Bosch fuel injection.

1924 Rolls Royce

This was one of the cars that took part in a vintage car show and a run from Stockport to Matlock in July 1985 organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport.

It appears to be a Rolls Royce 20 Open Touring which should have a 3,127cc engine, but the DVLA record say that it’s a 1924 Rolls Royce with a 6,283cc engine. The only other model Rolls Royce produced in 1924 was the  40/50 Silver Ghost with either a 7,036cc or a 7,428cc engine.

1939 Maserati 4CL

This car competed in the Historic Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1985.

It’s the 1939 Maserati 4CL of Dan Margulies, chassis 1582, which  has a 4-cylinder inline supercharged 1,489cc engine, and I have come across this brief history of the car:

 

Maserati 4CL [1582] (Toni Branca): Delivered 31 July 1946 to Guido Barbieri from Reggio Emilia, and raced in the 1946 Turin and Milan GPs. It is possible that the chassis was then used by Barbieri in his 1.5 litre Maserati 6C Sports Special, which first appeared in October 1946. The car reappeared in normal 4CL form in 1949 in the hands of Swiss Anton Branca, who raced it throughout 1949 and 1950. The car then passed through a variety of Swiss owners’ hands, at one stage fitted with a Ford V8 engine, before being campaigned in historic racing by Dan Margulies for more than 20 years, and being owned most recently by Klaus Edel and then Oliver Maierhofer.

1948 Bedford OB Plaxton

This is a photograph that I took in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1990 at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally.

It's not listed in the programme of the event but it's a 1948 Bedford OB Plaxton, one of only 2 Plaxton bodied Bedford OB's thought to have survived. It was apparently new to Howard of Whitby in February 1948 and in 1990 looks to have been owned by Bee Coach Hire of Manchester.

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.

1952 Connaught A-Type

This was one of the competitors in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's Gerry Walton's 1952 Connaught A-Type with a 1,960cc engine based on the Lea Francis 4-cylinder 1,767cc unit, and is chassis A8. Ten Connaught A-Types were built and A8 is one of only two that  featured a Hilborn-Travers fuel injection system instead of the Amal carburettors that were fitted to the other eight cars. It was mainly driven in period as a works car by John Coombes, Stirling Moss and Prince Bira. A later owner, Mike Young, sold the 2 litre engine and installed a 2½ litre HWM-Alta engine in 1955 to take part in Formula One racing and later took the car to South Africa. Phil Bowker subsequently bought the car and Gerry Walton sourced the Lotus 10 with the original engine which was reunited with A8. Gerry Walton acquired the car in the late 1960s and fully restored it to its 1953 state, competing with it until 1988.

1957 Cooper Mk XI

This is a photograph that I took at McLeans Corner during the Scratch Race for Formula 3 (500cc) Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

Leading is Nigel Ashman in a 1957 Cooper Mk XI, closely followed by Richard Ellingworth’s 1954 Kieft F3.

1972 Leda LT27

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

It's the 1972 Leda LT27 which was driven in the European F5000 Championship race at this meeting by Trevor Taylor but retired after 5 laps with an oil seal problem. The car is chassis number 003 and was powered by a 5 litre Chevrolet engine.

1950s Sports Car Racing at Silverstone

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield Corner during the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

The number 35 car is the 1960 Cooper Monaco of John Harper and it’s being closely followed by James Shead in his 1959 Lotus 15. Behind them are two Lister Jaguars, and the red number 10 in the background is Martin Stretton in Peter Scott’s 1955 Maserati 300S.

1913 Crossley

This is one of the vehicles that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1983.

It’s a 1913 Crossley and the programme of the event had this note about the car:

 

22       1913 Crossley,

            Reg. NA 557 4-Cylinder 4500cc

            (Mr John Levaggi, Stalybridge, Cheshire)

This Royal Flying Corps staff car is one of only two of these Manchester built Crossleys known to exist in Britain. Has twin tyred rear wheels.

1914 TT Humber

This car competed in two handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1970.

It's Kenneth Neve's 1914 TT Humber, the only survivor of the three Humbers that took part in the Tourist Trophy race in the Isle of Man in that year and it has a 4-cylinder inline 3,295cc engine.

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 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.

1966 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII

This was one of the participants in a Vintage and Historic Vehicle Display & Run organised by the Saddleworth Museum in June 1988.

It’s a 1966 Austin Healey 3000 MkIII which has a 6-cylinder inline 2,912cc engine. 17,712 of the MkIIIs were produced between 1964 and 1967. The DVLA say that the car is still taxed, but now shows the colour to be blue.

1946 Leyland Beaver

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 1988.

It's a 1946 Leyland Beaver and the programme of the event had this note about it:

AHL 622 Leyland Beaver. 1946. Entered by D.Canavan, Littleborough.

Purchased new by Beverley Bros., Eagle Brewery, Wakefield, it was used with a draw bar trailer until 1967. After sale it remained out of use until 1983 when it was acquired by the present owner  for preservation.

1927 Amilcar

This was one of the cars entered in the Concours d’Elegance at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1961.

It’s a 1927 Amilcar and the only information about it in the programme of the event was that it was entered for the Concours by H.C.Balfour and had a 1,089 cc engine.

1955 Lister Bristol

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

It's Stephen Bond's 1955 1,991cc Lister Bristol 'Flat Iron', chassis BHL9, formerly John Horridge's Ecurie Bullfrog car. The car began life with a Riley engine and was driven by John Horridge and Geoffrey Beeson in the 1955 Bol D'Or 24-hours Grand Prix de Paris but failed to finish. It was given a 1,991cc Bristol engine the following year and raced at national and international level before crashing heavily at Snetterton in July 1957. Subsequently the car was rebuilt by the Works with new 'flatiron' bodywork.

Maseratis

The featured marque at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005 was Maserati with particular emphasis on the 250F and twelve of these cars are listed in the Celebration Maserati Invitation Race with a further four being shown as static display or track demonstration cars. This is a photograph that I took at McLean’s corner during that race.

Leading is Klaus Edel in the ex-Gilby Engineering Company's Maserati 250F, with the replacement chassis #2507/2 given to the car after an accident at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in 1954. Behind it is the 1934 Maserati 8CM, chassis #3009, of Sean Danaher and the car in the background seems to be Stefan Rettenmaier's 1956 Maserati 250F, chassis #2520.

1971 Gilbern Invader

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in May 2019.

It’s a 1971 Gilbern Invader, 603 of which were produced between 1969 and 1973. It has a 2,994cc V6 Ford Essex engine.

Friday's Ferrari

Ferrari uses the Corse Clienti Ferrari Racing Days meetings at various circuits to allow a group of specially selected customers to test limited edition cars developed exclusively for the track and to race the latest of the Challenge series of cars providing feedback on the performance of the cars to Corse Clienti engineers, thus helping Ferrari to develop its cars for the future. This is a photograph that I took at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017 where various of the Challenge cars were on display in the paddock.

It’s a Ferrari 360 Challenge model, a modified version of the 360 and was produced from 2000 to 2005 specifically for the Ferrari Challenge race series. It has a 3,586cc V8 engine.

2004 Buick Rainier

This is a photograph that I took in September 2019 – I don’t remember taking it but it looks like it was in a car park near to Tameside Hospital in Ashton-under-Lyne.

It’s a 2004 Buick Rainier, an SUV vehicle that was produced from 2004 to 2007 and had a choice of a 6-cylinder inline 254 cu In (4,160cc) engine, or a V8 with a capacity of 325 cu In (5,328cc). The DVLA record says that the ‘vehicle details could not be found’.

1993 Vauxhall Cavalier ST

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock on the Saturday testing and qualifying for the Bank Holiday weekend’s Gold Cup races in August 2018.

There’s no mention of this car in the programme of the event, but it appears to be one of several cars in the paddock that had taken part in the British Touring Car Championship races in the 1990s. I’ve not been able to find out much about the car except that it’s a Vauxhall Cavalier, and the name ‘Jones’ on the side window seems to point towards Josh Jones who competed in a Vauxhall Cavalier in the 1993 season.