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Tuesday, 21 July 2026

Emeryson 500cc F3

This car competed in the '500cc Formula 3 Cars' class in the Historic Formula Junior Championship race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.
It's a front-wheel drive 500cc Formula 3 Emeryson but it's not listed in the programme of the event, so sadly I don't know who owned the car or who drove it that day.

Monday, 20 July 2026

1960 Scarab F1

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.
It's a Scarab F1 car which was built by American Lance Reventlow's Reventlow Automobiles Inc to contest the 1960 Formula 1 racing season. Like the Aston Martin DBR4 it was virtually obsolete before it turned a wheel in anger - in the 1959 season, and again in 1960 the old front-engined cars were dominated by the rear-engined ones, and the old 2½ litre Formula was due to be replaced by a new 1½ litre limit in 1961. The car had a 2,441cc 4-cylinder inline engine designed for Scarab by Leo Goossen, formerly of Offenhauser, and only started in two races in 1960, both Lance Reventlow and Chuck Daigh retiring from the French Grand Prix, and the single entry in the USA Grand Prix finished in 10th place driven by Chuck Daigh. At this Silverstone meeting the car was driven by Don Orosco in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars.

Sunday, 19 July 2026

1953 Triumph Mayflower

I took these photographs at a classic car show in Hyde, Cheshire, in October 2022.
It’s a 1953 Triumph Mayflower which was built by the Standard Motor Company and was in production from 1949 to 1953.
Nicknamed the 'Razor Edge' like its big brother the Triumph Renown, it had a 4-cylinder inline side-valve 1,247cc engine.
 It was built in Coventry and  was also assembled in Port Melbourne, Australia and Nyköping, Sweden.

Saturday, 18 July 2026

1935 Lagonda Rapier

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.
It’s the 1935 Lagonda Rapier of I.Rowe which the programme of the event says had a 1,100 cc engine. 470 of these cars were built by between 1934 and 1935 and a further 46 by Rapier Cars who took over the rights to make the Rapier after the Lagonda company failed in 1935. It was originally made with a 4-cylinder inline 1,104cc engine which was later reduced to 1,084cc to allow it to compete in the 1,100cc racing class.

Friday, 17 July 2026

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at Club Corner during 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 Swiss driver Volkan Ekinci, a car which has a 670hp 3,902cc V8 turbocharged engine developed from that of the Ferrari 488 GTB.

Thursday, 16 July 2026

1924 Peugeot Quadrillette

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 1976.
It’s a 1924 Peugeot Quadrillette and the programme of the event had this note about the car:
 
39     G.O. Wallis, Oldham, Lancs.
           1924 Peugeot Quadrillette 5 h.p. 4-cylinder.
“Alexandra” was found last year in a barn in the south of France where she had been since before the war. It is the only Quadrillette known with a wagonette body. This body is predominantly wood and its main purpose in life was undoubtably to take animals to the local market. By the deposits in the back and the smell when found it had obviously not been cleaned since last used. The acetylene lighting is rather poor so let’s hope we finish before sunset.

Wednesday, 15 July 2026

1959 Cooper-Climax T51

This is a photograph that I took at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.
It's a 1959 Cooper-Climax T51 and the book 'Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection has this note about it:
 
The works cars of Brabham and Salvadori began running 2.2-litre Climax engines and Leonard Lee of the Coventry company authorized development of full 2½-litre units for 1959. With 2,495cc, and 240bhp the Cooper-Climax T51s were on a power-to-weight par with the front-engined opposition, and Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren – his youthful New Zealand team-mate – proved them totally competitive. Brabham won the Monaco and British GPs, and when his car ran out of fuel while leading the United States GP at Sebring, McLaren took over to score a victory which assured Brabham and Cooper-Climax of the World Championship titles.
 
There’s also this note about the T51 in the Donington Collection:
 
Cooper-Climax T51
Chassis unnumbered – Collection property – believe to be works No. 2 car, as driven by Bruce McLaren in 1959. To Collection from the late Jo Siffert’s collection of racing cars, Fribourg, Switzerland.

Tuesday, 14 July 2026

Lola Mk1

This is a photograph that I took at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008. It’s a Lola Mk1 but is not shown in the programme of the event nor in the results listing, and the number 14 car in the Sports Racing Cars race is the Piper of Anthony Goddard.
The Lola Mk1 was designed by Eric Broadley in 1958 and was usually powered by a 4-cylinder inline 1,098cc Coventry Climax engine. Around 40 of the cars were built and a variety of engines were used.

Monday, 13 July 2026

1958 Austin A35

This is a photograph that I took at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.
It's Mike Wrigley's 1958 Austin A35 which competed in the Masters FIA Mini with Oldies but Goldies race. The Austin A35 was produced from 1956 and 1959 and had a 4-cylinder inline 948cc engine, though the programme of the event says that Mike Wrigley's car had a 1.246cc engine.

Sunday, 12 July 2026

1961 Leyland Titan PD3.4

This is one of the vehicles that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1990.
It’s a 1961 Leyland Titan PD3.4 and the programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:
 
Leyland Titan PD3.4, Metro-Cammell, 1961                                                   PRN906
Preston 14
Entered by A A Johnson, Northwich, Cheshire
On loan from the Ribble Preservation Group at Lancaster

Saturday, 11 July 2026

1956 Connaught C-Type

Martin Morris drove this car in the Cheshire Building Society's Allcomers race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.
It's a 1956 Connaught C-Type, the eighth and last chassis built but it never competed in a Formula One race. It has the same 4 cylinder 2,470cc Alta engine that powered the Connaught B-type.

Friday, 10 July 2026

Friday's Ferrari

 This is a photograph that I took at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.
It's Ferrari California with a 4,297cc 32 valve V8 Ferrari F136 engine, and body designed by Pininfarina. The California was in production from 2008 to 2017. Behind it is a Ferrari F355 Spyder.

Thursday, 9 July 2026

Morris 14

 I took this photograph at a classic car show organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport in July 1987.
It’s a Morris 14, a car that was produced from 1936 to 1937 and had a 6-cylinder inline 1,818cc engine. The DVLA record says that the vehicle record could not be found.

Wednesday, 8 July 2026

1924 Bentley Blue Label tourer

 
This is a photograph that I took at the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1975 at the junction of Peter Street and Lower Mosley Street.
The programme of the event had this note about the car:

58.         Mr D.C.Y. Dickson, Garstang, Lancs.

               1924 Bentley 3 litre Blue  label tourer 15.9 h.p. 4 cylinder
Jointly owned since 1950 by Mr. Dickson and his brother Mr. J.C.Dickson (No. 57) this car  has been driven alternately by them in every Run except last year when it obligingly stood down for a Rolls Royce! Twice winner of the Daily Telegraph Challenge Trophy; three times winner of the Vauxhall Trophy it has also won the Turner Trophy.
 
NB; Car number 57 in this Run was a 1924 3 litre Red Label tourer driven by Mr. J.C.Dickson.

Tuesday, 7 July 2026

1920 Hudson Series 'O' Super Six Touring Phaeton



This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.
It's not listed amongst the cars that took part in the Concours D'Elegance at the meeting, but was with a group of similar cars near to the paddock. It's a 1920 Hudson Series 'O' Super Six Touring Phaeton and is chassis 34687.

Monday, 6 July 2026

1953 Cooper Bristol Mk II

This is a photograph that I took at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.
It's the 1953 Cooper Bristol of Gregor Fisken and was driven in the Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars race by Peter Bradfield. It is powered by a 1,971cc straight-6 Bristol engine based on the one in the pre-war BMW 328. The original Cooper Bristol was designed as a Formula 2 car, but found itself involved in Grand Prix racing in 1952 and 1953 when the World Championship was run to Formula 2 regulations. Gregor Fisken's car appears to be the ex-Ecurie Ecosse Cooper Bristol MkII (later called the T23) but it should have an air scoop running up the bonnet of the car.

Sunday, 5 July 2026

1939 Bristol K5G

This was an entrant in the 'Double Deck Buses PSV pre 1950' class at the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1988.
It's a 1939 Bristol K5G, provided new to the North Western Road Car Company Limited with fleet number 952 in May 1939, rebodied with a Willowbrook L27/26R body in November 1951 (and given the new fleet number 432), and taken out of service in July 1967. According to the DVLA it has a 7 litre diesel engine - presumably the Gardner 5-cylinder 5LW unit. The programme of the event said this:

AJA 152 Bristol K5G, Williowbrook 1939, Entered by J,Pollock, Marple, Cheshire. Following initial restoration some years ago, this vehicle is now undergoing a further period of renovation.

Saturday, 4 July 2026

1952 Connaught A-Type

This car took part in a 10 lap race for Pre-1961 Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.
It's the 1952 Connaught A-Type of Gerry Porter which has a 4-cylinder inline engine based on the 1,767cc Lea Francis unit with the capacity increased to 1,960cc in line with the then current Formula 2 regulations. It is chassis A4 and one of Connaught's works team cars in 1952, when it was usually driven by Dennis Poore, then in 1953 it went to the Écurie Belge team where the drivers were Johnny Claes and André Pilette. It was driven in this race at Silverstone by Barrie Williams.

Friday, 3 July 2026

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph that I took 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.
It’s 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.

Thursday, 2 July 2026

Jaguar F1 Cars

This is a photograph that I took at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014 and shows the Jaguar cars that competed in Formula One racing from 2000 to 2002, each with a 3 litre V10 Ford Cosworth engine, after Ford had  taken over the Stewart Racing Team in 1999.
On the left is the Jaguar R1 with which the team competed in the 2000 Formula One season but which proved largely disappointing, despite flashes of promise. It generally proved difficult to drive and suffered from an unreliable gearbox. Eddie Irvine, the 1999 championship runner-up could only score 4 points, placing the team ninth overall in the Constructors’ Championship. The R1 was the last F1 car that Johnny Herbert raced, the experienced Englishman retiring at the end of the season. It was also the car in which Luciano Burti made his race debut.
 
On the right is the 2001 Jaguar R2 which was driven for the whole of that season by Eddie Irvine with Luciano Burti driving the second car in the first four races and Pedro de la Rosa taking over that car for the remainder of the season. Eddie Irvine posted the best result for the team with a third place in the Monaco Grand Prix.
 
In the middle is the 2002 Jaguar R3 driven by Eddie Irvine and Pedro de la Rosa, the best finish being third place for Eddie Irvine in the Italian Grand Prix. This particular car was De la Rosa’s regular car during 2002 and was later used in tests in the Pininfarina wind tunnel. The colours show the air pressure around the car – blue for low, green for neutral, and red for high pressure, which created the downforce to keep the car on the road.

Wednesday, 1 July 2026

1970 Lotus 72

This is a photograph that I took at Deer Leap during the HSCC Pre ’71 Single Seater Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club’s Spring Historic Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 1987.
It’s the 1970 Lotus 72 entered by Haslemere Sports Cars and driven by Mary Foulston. It is chassis 72/R4 and belonged to the then owner of the Oulton Park racing circuit (and Brands Hatch and Snetterton), John Foulston. The Lotus 72 was designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe and had the Ford Cosworth DFV 2,993cc V8 engine. Jochen Rindt won the World Driver's Championship in 1970 with the Lotus 72  as did Emerson Fittipaldi  in 1972, Lotus winning the World Constructor's Championship in 1970, 1972 and 1973.