1954 Cooper-Norton

I took this photograph during the Scratch Race for 500cc Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Paul Schroeder in what the programme of the event says is a 1954 Cooper-Norton, probably a MkVIII.

1937 Lagonda LG45

This car took part in one of the Handicap Races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's David Hine in his 1937 Lagonda LG45 pictured on the approach to Lodge Corner during the race. The LG45 was produced from 1935 to 1937 and has a 6-cylinder inline 4,453cc engine which is a modified Meadows unit. The Lagonda Club has this information about the LG45.

1954 Maserati 250F

The races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982 were run on the short circuit omitting the loop from Cascades to Knickerbrook, and I took this photograph on the exit from Foster's corner, just before Knickerbrook.

It's the Hon. Amschel Rothschild in his 1954 Maserati 250F, the ex-Gilby Engineering Company car with the replacement chassis 2507/2 given to the car after an accident at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in 1954. It was campaigned by Roy Salvadori for the Gilby Company during 1954, 1956 and 1957. The Maserati 250F was produced by Maserati from 1954 to 1957 with a 6-cylinder inline 2,490cc engine and raced throughout the 2½ litre Formula 1 years from the first race in 1954 to the last race in 1960.

1936 Bugatti T57

I photographed this car on the approach to Lodge Corner during a 5 lap handicap race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Mrs Averil Scott-Moncrieff in a 1936 Bugatti T57, chassis 57176, which has a twin overhead camshaft 8-cylinder inline 3,257cc engine. A Bugatti T57G Tank with a streamlined all-enveloping body won the 1937 Le Mans 24 Hour race driven by Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist, and Jean-Pierre Wimille and Pierre Veyron repeated that feat in a similar Bugatti T57C Tank in 1939.

1953 Cooper Bristol MkII

This was one of the competitors in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's the 1953 Cooper Bristol MkII of H S Clifford and the photograph was taken at the exit of Foster's Corner on the short circuit at Oulton Park, which is just before Knickerbrook. The car has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971 Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol MkI (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the MkI, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

Cascades corner, Oulton Park

I took this photograph from close to Knickerbrook corner during the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting Oulton Park in June 1982.

The silver car on the inside is a 1953 Cooper Bristol driven by D.M.Vine followed on the outside by H.S.Clifford in a 1953/55 Cooper Bristol. Bringing up the rear is the 1954 Maserati 250F, chassis #2513, of David Sankey. This car was supplied to Vandervell Engineering in 1954 as a rolling chassis, without engine or body, when they were developing the first Vanwall car. It was acquired by David Sankey in 1970, and in 1976 was completed with the correct 2½ litre 250F engine and 1957 style body.

1929 Napier-Bentley

This photograph was taken on the straight just before Lodge Corner at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Peter Morley in the 1929 Napier-Bentley, 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. It originally had a Bentley radiator cowling, as seen in the photograph I showed on 30 September 2018 of David Llewellyn driving the car at Oulton Park in 1973.

Austin Healey 100

I photographed this car at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's a 1956 Austin Healey 100 with the 2,660cc 4-cylinder inline engine that had been used for the earlier Austin A90. Two versions of the Austin Healey 100 were produced, the BN1 from 1953 to 1955 and the BN2 from 1955 to 1956, the main difference being that the BN2 had a 4-speed gearbox instead of the 3-speed one of the earlier model. The car is chassis number 231197 and still exists, but it's now a metallic blue colour.

Connaught A Type

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's the 1952 Connaught A Type of Gerry Walton, chassis A8, and is pictured here at Knickerbrook Corner during the race. The car was designed and built by Connaught Engineering's Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver with a 1,960cc engine based on the Lea Francis 4-cylinder 1,767cc unit, and competed in 1952 and 1953 Grand Prix races which were run under the 2-litre capacity formula. 

On 30 May 2016 I showed a photograph of the car in the paddock at this meeting.

Bentley 3/8

This was one of the competitors in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Tim Llewellyn approaching Lodge Corner in his Bentley 3/8, a 1926 Bentley 3 litre, chassis LM1338, with a 1930 8.3 litre engine.  This was 36 years ago, and as far as I'm aware he's still racing the car today.

Lotus, ERA, Cooper Bristol

The VSCC's Richard Seaman Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982 was run on the short circuit which leaves the main circuit just after the Cascades corner, and rejoins it just before Knickerbrook. This photograph was taken during the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at Fosters corner which is between Cascades and Knickerbrook.

In the lead here is Bruce Halford in a 1959 Lotus 16 with a 2,495cc straight-4 Coventry Climax FPF engine. Bruce Halford raced in Formula One from 1956 to 1960, firstly with a Maserati 250F, then a Lotus 16 in 1959 and with Cooper T45 and T51 in 1960. In the mid-1970s he bought this Lotus 16 and competed at Historic meetings for several years. Behind the Lotus is the 1936 ERA R5B 'Remus' of the Hon. Patrick Lindsay with the Straight-6 1,982cc supercharged version of the ERA engine. I showed a photograph of this car, and other ERAs competing at this meeting, on 29 October 2012. Bringing up the rear is Roddy MacPherson in a 1,971cc straight-6 Bristol engined Cooper MkII (or T23). On 30 April 2014 I showed photographs that I had taken at this meeting of three Cooper Bristols, including one of this car.

ERA R14B

This was one of the competitors in the Historic Trophy Race at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Donald Day's 1937/36 ERA R14B, originally built for pre-war voiturette racing with a supercharged 1½ litre straight-6 engine based on the one that powered the Riley 9, but later changed for a 2 litre supercharged engine. The programme of the event said this about the 11 ERAs that contested this race:

'All being well one foresees a closely fought struggle for the lead in this race between the Hon. Patrick Lindsay's 2 litre ERA Remus, second in the Historic Race at Monaco last month and the first prewar car to finish, Martin Morris's R11B, which he calls Humphrey, Donald Day's R14B, the last B-type ERA made, and R4D, the highly developed ex-Raymond Mays car belonging to Anthony Bamford and driven by Willie Green. Donald is ex-Navy and Willie is fairly outspoken, so what they call their cars is probably not printable.

Sir John Venables-Llewelyn, whose early car R4A also has a 2 litre engine like the above, should go equally well when its engine is properly run in, which it patently wasn't at Donington last month. Patrick Lindsay in  Remus and Martin Morris in Humphrey have each won the Historic Seaman Trophy seven times in the past.

Of the 1½ litre ERAs of Messrs Morris, Marsh, Mann, Classic, Spollon and Tony Stephens, the last three have the possibly doubtful advantage of independent front suspension, not that this is intended as a criticism of the cars the majority of spectators have turned up in today. Bill Morris caused a sensation in the Historic Race at Monaco by stopping in the Casino Square during the race, getting out and borrowing a tool from one of the firemen, mending his car, and then getting in again after starting his engine by swinging the starting handle.'

NB: The 1½ litre cars listed above were respectively R12B, R1B, R9B, R2A, R8C and R12C.

I've previously shown photographs of R14B on 22 May 2016 and 20 September 2016.

Alfa Romeo RLSS

This car is approaching Lodge Corner in a handicap race at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's David Black's 1924 Alfa Romeo RLSS, a car that was produced by Alfa Romeo from 1922 to 1927. It had an in-line 6 cylinder engine with a capacity of 2,996cc.

Talbot Lago T26C

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Chris Mann's 1950 4½ litre Talbot Lago T26C. These cars competed in the World Championship for Drivers in its first two years, 1950 and 1951, but the cars were generally outclassed by the 1½ litre supercharged Alfa Romeos. The blue car behind the Talbot is Hamish Moffatt's 1926 Bugatti T35B.

Here's Chris Mann during the race at Knickerbrook corner.

Bentley 8 litre

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Gordon Russell's 1930 Bentley 8 litre and the programme of the event, talking about the Bentleys in this race, says: 'Gordon Russell's had a 4-litre single-seater chassis with an 8-litre engine and a single-seater body'.

Two Maseratis

I took these photographs at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

Number 31 is the 1939 Maserati 4CL of Dan Margulies and 25 is the 1954 Maserati 250F of David Sankey.

The Maserati 4CL is chassis number 1582, 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. The car was for sale in early 2007.

Here's David Sankey at Knicker Brook in the Maserati 250F which is chassis number 2513, and you can read some of its history here.

Connaught A Type

This car competed in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomer Race at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Gerry Walton's Connaught A Type, chassis number A8, and you can read the history of the car in this description of the car issued by H&H Auctions when it was entered for auction in May 2002.

AC/GN

This is a car which competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the VSCC meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's a 1925 AC/GN, known as the Cognac Special, and was driven in the race by Ron Footitt. This is one of several Specials that were constructed in the 1920s and 30s using the chassis of a GN Cyclecar and either an AC or a Frazer Nash engine. The programme of the event said this about the car:

'In pole position is Ron Footitt's AC-engined GN, the Cognac Special, which had the bad luck to retire when leading the John Holland Trophy race at Donington Park last month while fleeing from hordes of thundering Bentleys. It was the GN, not the AC, part which went wrong when vital parts of the transmission failed to transmit.'

This is Ron Footitt during the race and I think it's on the straight approaching Lodge Corner.

Straker Squire

This is one of the cars entered in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy race at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's a 1919 Straker Squire, a 4-litre, 6-cylinder engined car that was originally driven at Brooklands by Bertie Kensington-Moir. It was driven at this meeting by Adrian Liddell, seen here approaching Lodge Corner.

MG Montlhery & J2

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting in June 1982.

Both the MGs featured here took part in the first race of the day, a 5 lap handicap race. The car in the foreground is the 847cc 1932 MG J2 of Duncan Cotter, and behind it number 115 is the 747cc MG C-type Montlhery of Barry Foster. Oulton Park paddock looked a far more homely place then than it does now it's been covered with tarmac, though I suppose it's better for everyone now when it rains.