1936/39 Delahaye 135

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

 

The only information about it in the programme of the event is that it was the 1936/39 Delahaye of W.D.Fox and had a 3500cc engine. The Delahaye 135 was produced from 1935 to 1954 with a 6-cylinder inline engine, initially of 3,227cc, later increased to 3,557cc. I have been unable to find out any further information about W.D.Fox.

1936 Austin Heavy 12/4

This is a photograph that I took at a vintage car show and a run from Stockport to Matlock in July 1985 organised by car dealers Gordon Ford of Stockport.

It’s a 1936 Austin Heavy 12/4 and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,861cc engine.

1955 HWM Jaguar

This car competed in the Pre and Post War Single Seater and Post War Sports Cars Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1985.

It's the 1955 HWM Jaguar of Kirk Rylands, one of a handful of sports cars produced by the Hersham and Walton Motors company of John Heath and George Abecassis, and has the 3,781cc 6-cylinder inline Jaguar XK engine.

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.

1911 Ford Model T

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’s a 1911 Ford Model T and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,950cc engine. The DVLA record shows that it is currently taxed up to the end of February 2026.

1935 SS Jaguar 90

This is a photograph that I took in September 1985 at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester.

It's a 1935 SS Jaguar 90 which has a 2,663cc six-cylinder inline Standard engine. In 1936 the SS60 was replaced by the SS100 and car production stopped in 1940. In 1945 'SS' was dropped from the company's name, becoming simply 'Jaguar'. 

1929 Talbot 14/45

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

It’s a 1929 Talbot 14/45, also known as a Talbot 65, that was designed by Georges Roesch  and was in production from 1926 to 1935. It should have a 6-cylinder inline 1,665cc engine but the DVLA record says that it’s 1,701cc, and that it’s taxed up to the end of September 2026.

1936 ERA R4A

This is one of the ten ERAs that competed in the Richard Seaman Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in June 1985.

It’s Sir John Venables-Llewellyn’s 1936 ERA R4A, the first ERA customer car and originally campaigned by Pat Fairfield. It has the 2 litre supercharged ERA engine.

1912 Delaunay Belleville

This is one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car run in June 1985 and is pictured in Manchester before the start of the run. It's a 1912 Delaunay Belleville which has a 6-cylinder inline 2.7 litre engine.

I no longer have the programme of the event, but it was also in the Run in 1983 when the programme had this note about it:

'1912 Delaunay Belleville

Reg: 9197 EH 6-Cylinder 25hp

(Derek John Casson, Lancaster)

This eye-catching rarity spent most of its life in New York's Grand Central Park. Imported into Britain in the late 1970's, it has a body by Brewster of New York.'

 

Looking for further information about this car I came across a 2019 auction description by H&H Auctions saying that the car is a Type IA6 Phaeton and its first owner was heiress Evalyn Walsh McLean who was apparently the last private individual to acquire the renowned 45-carat Hope Diamond.

1934 Austin 7 Ruby

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

It's a 1934 Austin 7 Ruby saloon which should have a 4-cylinder inline 747cc engine, but the DVLA record says the capacity is 858cc (and the car has been untaxed since May 2025). Production of the Austin 7 started in 1922 and the Ruby was introduced in 1934.

1954/56 Emeryson F3

These are photographs I took of a car that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1985.

It's the 1954/56 Emeryson 500cc Formula 3 car of P Spencer which competed in a 4 Lap Handicap Including 500cc Race at the meeting. There's no note in the programme of the event about the car and neither can I find out anything about the owner, P Spencer. I remember seeing Paul Emery driving one of these cars in Formula 3 races in the 1950s.

1938 MG TA Midget

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

It’s a 1938 MG TA, the first of the T-type Midgets, which replaced the MG PB in 1936 and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,292cc engine. It was succeeded by the TB in 1939 and the various T-type Midgets continued until the TF was superseded by the MGA in 1955.

1903 Mercedes 60hp

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

It's The 1903 Mercedes 60hp of Roger Collings which has a 4-cylinder inline 9,236cc engine. It doesn't get a specific mention in the programme of the event, but when it competed in 1987 the programme said this about it:

'The oldest car at the meeting, Roger Collings' 1903 Mercedes, is well worth inspecting, although it really needs a contemporary car of another make alongside it to show off its advanced features. The use Roger Collings makes of his car today is quite amazing, the car is very successful in climbing muddy hills in trials, and is used a lot on the road. It has even been used as normal (if that is the right word) transport in London, utilising the M4 to get there and back. He has also driven it on the continent.'

Auburn Speedster

I took this photograph on the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1985.

The DVLA record says that the vehicle records for YFL385 cannot be found, but it appears to be a mid-1930s Auburn 851 boat-tail Speedster, a car which was produced from 1935 to 1937 and had a 4.6 litre straight-6 Lycoming engine.

1931 Jowett Long Two

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

It’s a 1931 Jowett Long Two – the ‘Two’ referring to the number of seats not engine cylinders – though it had a 907cc flat twin engine. The DVLA record says that it has not been taxed since April 2006.

1932 Ford Model B

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

It’s a 1932 Ford Model B with what the DVLA say is a 1,915cc engine, though the original car should have had a 4-cylinder inline 3.3 litre engine. The DVLA record says that the car has been untaxed since June 2001.

1914 Crossley Staff Car

This is a photograph that I took on the Exchange Station car park in Manchester before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1985.

I no longer have the programme of the event, but it's a 1914 Crossley Staff Car and the 1990 programme of the run gave this information about it:

 

'1914 Crossley

Reg: NA 557  4 cylinder  20 hp

(G.D.Moores, Denton, Manchester)

This Royal Flying Corps staff car is one of only

two known to exist in Britain. Originally built in

Manchester, it spent much of its life in India,

and returned to the UK in 1969. It has twin-tyred

rear wheels and has been a class winner many

times on this Run.'

1907 Lion Peugeot Type VA

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

It's the 1907 Lion-Peugeot Type VA of local businessman Clive Williams, here in the  car with his family. About 1,000 of these cars were produced between 1906 and 1908 and it has a single cylinder 785cc engine.

1924 Amilcar CS

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

There was no programme showing the cars taking part in this event, but this car competed in the Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in 1990 where the programme showed the owner to be Roger Firth of Stalybridge, Cheshire. It's a 1924 Amilcar CS which was made at the Amilcar factory in Saint-Denis in Paris, to the north of the city centre and has a 4-cylinder inline side-valve 1,004cc engine.