1955 Jaguar D-Type

This is a photograph that I took just outside the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It’s a 1955 Jaguar D-Type and the registration number 774 RW seems to indicate that it is  XKD505, the car with which Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb won the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

1903 Peugeot Fore-car

This is a photograph that I took on a very rainy day in Manchester in June 1984 at the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run.

It's a 1903 Peugeot Fore-car and the passenger at the front must have had an extremely uncomfortable ride that day. The programme of the event had this note about the car:

7.    1903 Peugeot Fore-car, 

       Reg: DS 6469 2-Cylinder 334cc

       ( W. Green, Blackburn)

Bought by its present owner in 1979, it is hoped to have this unusual tricycle ready for this year's Run. Not a lot is known of its history, but from the original logbook, it was apparently first registered in Southampton, and its reg. number then was AA 999.

1927 Salmson Gran Sport

I took this photograph during a handicap race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's D.J.Lee’s 1927 Salmson Gran Sport which has 4-cylinder inline 1,087cc engine. The Gran Sport was produced at Salmson's Billancourt factory from 1924 to 1930.

1935 Austin 7 Twin Cam

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1935 Austin 7 Twin Cam of S.A.Wood that took part in a handicap race at the meeting. There was at one time a similar car in the Donington Park Museum which displayed the following description:

‘These lovely little single seaters were Sir Herbert Austin’s reply to the successful M.G. Midgets fielded by Sir William Morris in the 1930s. Designed by T. Murray-Jamieson, well known for his work on super chargers, and assisted by W.V. Appleby & T. Brown, the cars had a troubled debut in 1936, with most of the testing and development carried out here at Donington Park. With teething troubles rectified, these cars went from strength to strength during the 1937/38/39 seasons. Usually driven by L.P. Driscoll, C.L. Goodacre & “Bert” Hadley they competed in everything from speed trials and hill climbs through to 500 mile races at Brooklands. The two “twin cams” made many appearances at Donington Park winning, along with numerous sprints and handicap races, the Coronation Trophy here in 1937, the British Empire Trophy race here in 1938 and the Imperial Trophy at Crystal Palace in 1939. Not only were these cars pretty to look at, the 747cc engine was an engineering masterpiece, very highly stressed And reputedly capable of revving to 12,000 R.P.M.'

1958 Lotus 16

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting in June 1984.

It's the 1958 Lotus 16 of Simon Phillips which the programme of the event says has a 2,180cc engine , presumably the 4-cylinder inline Coventry Climax unit. The Lotus 16 was raced by Team Lotus, and private entrants, from 1958 to 1960 with little success in World Championship races. Colin Chapman had to wait until the Monaco Grand Prix of 1960 for his first Lotus victory, achieved by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's Lotus 18.

1928 Rolls Royce 20 Tourer

This was one of the participants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1984.

It's a 1928 Rolls Royce 20 Tourer, chassis GXL65, which should have a 6-cylinder inline 3,127cc engine but the DVLA record says it is 3,164cc. The programme of the event had this note about the car:

138 1928 Rolls Royce Tourer,

        Reg. CK 9680 6-Cylinder 20 hp 3164cc

        (Philip McIvor, Barrowford, Nelson, Lancs.)

Originally purchased for Mrs. Yates, of Yates Wine Lodge fame, it was bought three years ago by Mr McIvor in Southampton and driven to Lancashire in 7 hours, and repainted before being used at his daughter's wedding.

1939 Maserati 4CL

This is a photograph I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies race meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's Rodney Felton’s 1939 Maserati 4CL, chassis 1567, and has a supercharged 4-cylinder inline 1,492cc engine. The 1939 racing season was curtailed by the outbreak of the Second World War but when racing recommenced in 1946 it proved to be the most successful of the cars taking part, and even more so in the 1947 season.

1933 Alvis Special

This car competed in one of the handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's Robert Dean's Alvis Special, based on a 1933 Alvis Speed 20 and the programme of the event says that it had a 2,369cc engine. The Speed 20 was produced from 1932 to 1936 and 1,165 were made in that period.

1925 AC/GN Cognac Special

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race and the Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984. It is pictured here on the approach to Lodge Corner during one of these races.

It's the 1925 AC/GN Cognac of Ron Footitt which 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 car was built by a Mr S.A.Cohen and 'Cognac' is an acronym composed from the maker’s name –  Cohen, the fact that it had a GN chassis and an AC engine that gives CO-GN-AC.

1914 Ford Model T

This was one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run on a very wet day in June 1984.

It's not shown in the programme of the event but it's a 1914 Ford Model T.

Singer Owners Club

I took this photograph of cars belonging to members of the Singer Owners Club at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

I didn't make a note of the individual cars at the time, but I've been able to identify the first four. On the left is a 1934 Singer 1½ litre Four Seater Sports Tourer, registration number US 5285 and next to that is a 1½ litre 1934 Singer Le Mans, BGN 1. The third car is a 1937 1 litre Singer 9, CTB 357 and then a 1936 1 litre Singer Le Mans, APW 971.

1939 Lagonda V12

This car took part in a Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1938 Lagonda V12 of D.P. Crow - two of these cars were built for the 1939 Le Mans 24 Hour race, and afterwards several of the short chassis Lagonda Rapide models were converted to Le Mans Replicas. The cars that competed at  Le Mans in 1939 had a 4,479cc V12 engine with 4 SU carburettors and finished in third and fourth places driven by Arthur Dobson/ Charles Brackenbury and Lord Selsdon/ Lord William Walleran respectively.

Bentley

I took this photograph at the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1984.

The Bentley has just left the start point on the Exchange Station car park and gone down Cathedral Approach, which you can see behind those buses, then turned left to go up Victoria Street and across the front of Manchester Cathedral. It then took a sharp left turn into Chapel Street and is passing the Old Ship Hotel on its way to Pendleton and thence to Blackpool.

1954 MG TD

I took this photograph at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

It's a 1950 MG TD and has the 4-cylinder inline 1,250cc XPAG engine. The MG T-Type started with the TA in 1936 and ended with the TF which was produced from 1953 to 1955. The T-Type was superseded by the MGA.

1934 Singer Le Mans

I took this photograph at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

It's a 1934 Singer Le Mans, a special version of the Singer Nine Le Mans car, which originally had a 4-cylinder inline 972cc engine. The 1934 Le Mans Special had a 6-cylinder 1,493cc engine and the cars finished in 7th and 8th place in the Le Mans 24 Hour Race that year. BGN 1 was apparently at one time owned by a colleague of Ian Fleming, Merlin Minshall, and his adventures with the car are recorded by the Singer Owners Club.

1933 MG J2

This is a photograph I took at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

'

It's a 1933 MG J2 Sports and has a 4-cylinder inline supercharged 847cc engine. 2083 examples of the J2 were built between 1932 and 1934.

1929 Bentley Napier

This is a photograph that I took on the straight between Clay Hill and Druids Corner during the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's Peter Morley in the 1929 Bentley Napier, 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. A note in the programme of the event says this about the car:

 

‘Certainly deserving of a win is Peter Morley in the incredible 24 litre Lion engine Bentley, which on occasion can provide more thrills than the rest of the field put together, or at any rate can make as much noise.’

1950 Jaguar XK120

This was one of the exhibits at the Northern Classic Car Show in Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

It's Ian Appleyard's 1950 Jaguar XK120, most famous for its exploits in the Alpine Rally, where it won a Coupe des Alpes (Alpine Cup) in 1950, which was awarded for finishing the event unpenalised. Ian Appleyard repeated this feat with the car in 1951 and 1952, thus being awarded a Coupe d'Or (Gold Cup) for winning a Coupe des Alpes in three consecutive years. He also won the RAC Rally and the Tulip Rally in 1951 with NUB 120.

1905 Rolls Royce 10hp

This was one of the exhibits at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

It's a 1905 Rolls Royce 10hp, a twin cylinder car which was the first produced by the company set up by Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. I no longer have the brochure of the event so I don't know if it contains any more information about the car, but I understand that it is chassis 20154. There are four examples of this car known to exist and this one is owned by Bentley Motors.

1926 Bugatti Type 37

This was one of the entrants in the Concours d'Elegance at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's Barry Parkinson's 1926 Bugatti Type 37 and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,496cc engine. 290 of these cars were produced between about 1926 and 1930.