1930 Bentley 4½ litre

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's a 1930 Bentley 4½ litre, but despite being called a 4½ litre car the capacity of the 4-cylinder inline engine of the Bentley 4½ litre is only 4,398cc. The DVLA record of GF 3372 says that the car is currently taxed to the end of December 2026.

1960 Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca

This car competed in the RAC Tourist Trophy Race for Historic Cars at the Silverstone Classic meeting at Silverstone in July 2010.

It’s the 1960 Alfa Romeo SZ Coda Tronca of Liz Halliday and was based on the Alfa Romeo Guilietta with a body designed by Zagato. It had a 1,290cc 4-cylinder inline engine and only 30 examples of the car were built.

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.

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.

Fifty years of the Formula One World Championship at Silverstone in July 2000

The Coys International Historical Festival meeting of July 2000 marked 50 years of the Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers with a display of cars covering that period, and this is a photograph that I took inside one of the marquees where the cars were displayed.

From the far end the cars here are:

 

1995 Benetton B195

1997 Stewart SF01

2000 Jaguar R1

2000 Jordan EJ10

1998 McLaren MP4/13

And a little bit of the 1950 Alfa Romeo 158

1955 Lancia D50

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 celebrated 50 years of Formula One, the World Drivers' Championship having started in 1950, and the first race of that Championship was run at Silverstone on 13th May of that year. At the July 2000 meeting at Silverstone there was a representative display of cars covering that 50 year period, and the car below was one of those taking part.

It's a re-creation of the Lancia D50 that competed in the Championship in 1954 and 1955 and It has a reproduction chassis with an original offset 2,488cc V8 engine and transmission salvaged from Enzo Ferrari's 'scrapyard'. This car was owned by Robin Lodge, and was entered in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars, but Robin Lodge had taken the precaution of also entering his 1959 Ferrari 246 Dino for that race, both numbered 42, in case the Lancia was not allowed to take part because of a doubt about its eligibility. In the end the car was allowed to race and was driven by Robin Lodge - the Ferrari also  took part in the race, renumbered as 54 and was driven by Willie Green.

1959 Tec-Mec F415

This car competed in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

Shown in the programme of the event as a TecMec it's the 1959 Tec-Mec F415 designed by Valerio Colotti as a lightweight version of the Maserati 250F. Colotti was employed by Maserati and was working on the design when Maserati pulled out of racing at the end of the 1958 season. He set up his own company, Studio Tecnica Meccanica, and Italian racing driver Giorgio Scarlatti encouraged him to continue with this work and bought shares in the company. American Gordon Pennington then persuaded Scarlatti to sell him the shares and arranged for Camoradi's Lucky Casner to run the team for what had now become Tec-Mec Automobili. When finished the car was entered for the 1959 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and Brazilian driver Fritz d'Orey was chosen to drive it. The car had clearly not gone through sufficient testing and Fritz d'Orey only qualified it in seventeenth place. It only lasted for six laps in the race before it retired with a serious oil leak and that turned out to be the only World Championship appearance by the car. It lingered in a Miami garage until 1967 when it was acquired by Tom Wheatcroft who brought the car back into working order and it was in his museum at Donington Park for many years. It was eventually sold to Barrie Baxter, who drove the car at this Silverstone meeting, and he raced it successfully before eventually passing the car on to Barry Wood.

1960 Elva 200

This was one of the cars entered for the Coys of Kensington Formula Junior Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It’s the 1960 Elva 200 of Grant Stephen and has a 1,098cc BMC Cosworth engine.

1955 Aston Martin DB3S

This car competed in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It’s the 1955 Aston Martin DB3S of USA driver John Romano  and has the 6-cylinder inline 2,922cc Lagonda engine. It is chassis DB3S/113, a customer car which was originally supplied as a fixed head coupé. The original body was retained after it was rebuilt as an open car.

1971 Brabham BT34

This was one of the competitors in the F.O.R.C.E. Pre-1972 Classic Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the 1971 Brabham BT34, a car designed by Ron Tauranac who placed the car's radiators in front of the front wheels in order to fit a wing to give downforce at the front. Because of the unusual look of the bulky radiators at the front of the car the BT34 was dubbed the 'lobster claw'. Only one BT34 was built and it was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. Graham Hill drove the car in the 1971 season without much success, his best result being fifth place in the Austrian Grand Prix, although he did win the International Trophy Race at Silverstone. In 1972 the car was driven by Carlos Reutemann and Wilson Fittipaldi, the best result being Carlos Reutemann's win in the non-Championship Brazilian Grand Prix. It was driven in this race at Silverstone by Ean Pugh.

1934 Bugatti Type 35

This is a photograph that I took at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the 1924 Bugatti Type 35 of Richard Wills. The Type 35 had a 1,991cc straight-8 engine and was the most successful racing car of its era.

1953 Tojeiro Bristol

This is the 1953 Tojeiro Bristol of Nicholas Wigley which was one of the competitors in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

 In the 1950s Cliff Davies, a London car dealer and enthusiastic club racing driver, asked John Tojeiro to provide him with a chassis into which he could fit a 2 litre Bristol engine. This chassis was given an aluminium body which was very similar in style to the 'Barchetta' bodies which had been popularised by Ferrari, and the car pictured above was the result. It's the car that John Tojeiro showed to the directors of AC Cars Ltd in Thames Ditton who were so impressed that they used the design as the basis for the AC Ace, which later evolved into the AC Cobra.

1955 Lancia D50

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 celebrated 50 years of Formula One, the World Drivers' Championship having started in 1950, and the first race of that Championship was run at Silverstone on 13th May of that year. At the July 2000 meeting at Silverstone there was a representative display of cars covering that 50 year period, and the car below was one of those taking part.

It's a re-creation of the Lancia D50 that competed in the Championship in 1954 and 1955 and It has a reproduction chassis with an original offset 2,488cc V8 engine and transmission salvaged from Enzo Ferrari's 'scrapyard'. This car was owned by Robin Lodge, and was entered in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars, but Robin Lodge had taken the precaution of also entering his 1959 Ferrari 246 Dino for that race, both numbered 42, in case the Lancia was not allowed to take part because of a doubt about its eligibility. In the end the car was allowed to race and was driven by Robin Lodge - the Ferrari also  took part in the race, renumbered as 54 and was driven by Willie Green.

1963 ATS 100 GP

The Coys International Historical Festival meeting of July 2000 marked 50 years of the Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers with a display of cars covering that period, this car being one of those representing the 1960s.

It's the 1963 ATS 100 GP of Philip Walker and it also took part in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix & Tasman Cars during the meeting. The car and its 1,495cc V8 engine were designed by former Ferrari chief engineer Carlo Chiti and was the only F1 car produced by ATS. Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti were the drivers, and the cars only started in five Grand Prix races (all in 1963), both cars retiring in the Belgian, Netherlands, USA and Mexican races, and finishing in eleventh and fifteenth places respectively in the Italian Grand Prix. Carlo Chiti was involved in designing the 1961 Ferrari Dino 156 that had won the World Championship for Phil Hill that year, but he and several other personnel had walked out of Ferrari in October 1961 due to a disagreement with Enzo Ferrari and later formed the ATS racing team.

 

The display was in a large marquee where the main source of illumination was the light coming through the canvas of the marquee behind the cars which doesn't help if you're taking photographs.

1936 ERA R9B

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It’s the 1936 ERA R9B of Peter Mann that was driven in the race by John Ure and it has the 6-cylinder inline supercharged 1,488cc ERA engine.

1971 Tyrrell 003

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 included a celebration of 50 years of the Formula One World Championship which included a display featuring several cars for each decade of that period. This is one of the cars representing the 1970s.

It's the 1971 Tyrrell 003 that was driven by Jackie Stewart in all but the first race in 1971 when he won his second World Championship, and in six races the following season when he was runner-up to Emerson Fittipaldi.

1950 Alfa Romeo 158

The Coys International Historical Festival meeting of July 2000 marked 50 years of the Formula 1 World Championship for Drivers with a display of cars covering that period, this car being one of those representing the 1950s.

It's a 1950 Alfa Romeo 158, a car that dominated the first season of the Championship, winning 6 of the 7 races - the exception being the Indianapolis 500 race which was included in the Championship from 1950 to 1960. Giuseppe Farina won three of the races and the World Championship with 30 points, ahead of his team mate Juan Fangio with 27 points. In 1951 Juan Fangio won the World Championship with the Alfa Romeo 159, an updated version of the 158.

1923/17 Bequet Delage

This car competed in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1952 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's the 1923/17 Bequet Delage of Alexander Boswell which Maurice Bequet and his business partner Roland Coty, with the assistance of the Hispano Suiza factory, constructed in 1926. They started with the chassis of a 1923 Delage 2LCV into which they installed the 11,959cc Hispanio Suiza V8 engine from a 1917 World War Two Spad fighter plane. It raced in the Grand Prix de la Baule where it finished in third place, but did not contest any more Grand Prix races as it didn't comply with the regulations then in place. After competing in minor events with some success for several years the partners sold the car in 1936. It was eventually acquired by Nigel Arnold-Forster who restored the car in 1980 and he drove it for several years at vintage racing events.

 

A note in the programme of the event said this:

 

‘The most spectacular car in the field is Alexander Boswell’s wonderful Bequet Delage, a delicious concoction that marries the Hispano-Suiza aero engine from a World War 1 Spad fighter with a good handling French chassis of 1923.’

1959 Tec-Mec F415

This car competed in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 and is pictured here leaving the pit lane during the morning qualifying session.

Shown in the programme of the event as a TecMec it's the 1959 Tec-Mec F415 designed by Valerio Colotti as a lightweight version of the Maserati 250F. Colotti was employed by Maserati and was working on the design when Maserati pulled out of racing at the end of the 1958 season. He set up his own company, Studio Tecnica Meccanica, and Italian racing driver Giorgio Scarlatti encouraged him to continue with this work and bought shares in the company. American Gordon Pennington then persuaded Scarlatti to sell him the shares and arranged for Camoradi's Lucky Casner to run the team for what had now become Tec-Mec Automobili. When finished the car was entered for the 1959 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and Brazilian driver Fritz d'Orey was chosen to drive it. The car had clearly not gone through sufficient testing and Fritz d'Orey only qualified it in seventeenth place. It only lasted for six laps in the race before it retired with a serious oil leak and that turned out to be the only World Championship appearance by the car. It lingered in a Miami garage until 1967 when it was acquired by Tom Wheatcroft who brought the car back into working order and it was in his museum at Donington Park for many years. It was eventually sold to Barrie Baxter who drove the car at this Silverstone meeting and raced it successfully before eventually passing the car on to Barry Wood.

1963 Iso Grifo A3C

This was one of the cars entered in the Coys of Kensington Pre 1964 GT Cars race at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in July 2000.

It's the 1963 Iso A3C driven by Jeremy Agace and Ray Bellm in the race. The car was designed by Giotto Bizzarrini who later left Iso and continued producing the car as a Bizzarrini A3C. The programme of the event had this note about the car:

 

‘Monaco based Agace’s Iso, the company’s Turin show car of ’63, benefits from a hulking great 5.3 litre Chevrolet V8 engine, buried as far back as possible in the cockpit bulkhead for optimum weight distribution. Well balanced, and superbly fettled by Paul Lanzante’s équipe, its impressive Historic log includes winning last year’s Spa 6 hours and the GT class of the Paul Ricard 24 hours in ’98. Co-driver Bellm is still seriously quick.’