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.

Aston Martin Project 214

I took this photograph at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's a replica of the Aston Martin Project 214 which was based on the Aston Martin DB4GT and it took part in the Masters ‘Gentleman Drivers’ GT Race at this meeting. It had a 4.2 litre engine and was driven in the race by Wolfgang Friedrichs and David Clark. Two Project 214 cars were originally built, one of which was destroyed in an accident during practice for the 1964 Nürburgring 1000 km race.

1981 Williams FW07C

This was one of the competitors in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1966-85 race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1981 Williams FW07C of Michael Fitzgerald and has the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. The FW07 was designed by Patrick Head, Frank Dernie and Neil Oatley and first appeared in the 1979 season. Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni drove the car that season and finished in third and fifth places respectively in the World Drivers' Championship with the team ending up in second place in the World Constructors' Championship. Improvements were made to the car for 1980 creating the FW07B with which Alan Jones won the Drivers' Championship with Carlos Reutemann in third place and Williams winning the Constructors Championship. Changes were made again for the 1981 season and the FW07C was driven by the same two drivers, Carlos Reutemann finishing in second place in the Drivers' Championship and Alan Jones in third place with the winner being Nelson Piquet in his Brabham, though Williams again won the Constructors' title.

1955 Lister Bristol

This car competed in the RAC Woodcote Trophy for Pre 1956 Sports Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's Stephen Bond's 1955 1,991cc Lister Bristol 'Flat Iron', chassis BHL9, formerly John Horridge's Ecurie Bullfrog car. The car began life with a Riley engine and was driven by John Horridge and Geoffrey Beeson in the 1955 Bol D'Or 24-hours Grand Prix de Paris but failed to finish. It was given a 1,991cc Bristol engine the following year and raced at national and international level before crashing heavily at Snetterton in July 1957. Subsequently the car was rebuilt by the Works with new 'flatiron' bodywork.

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod

This is a photograph that I took at an Air Display at the Yorkshire Air Museum at RAF Elvington in July 2010.

It’s a Hawker Siddeley Nimrod, built at Woodford as an MR.1 and later converted to MR.2 specifications. It was designed as a maritime patrol aircraft and mainly intended for anti-submarine warfare operations.

1950 Alfa Romeo 158

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine Grand Prix Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's not shown in the entry list for that race, but it's Carlo Vögele's 1939 Alfa Romeo 158. At around that time I went to a meeting at Donington Park where this car appeared and a note in the programme of that meeting said this about the car:

'The 158 Alfetta, a voiturette, of Carlo Vögele with its Columbo designed straight-eight engine first appeared in 1938 at the Coppa Ciano where the three cars entered and came first, second and seventh. With only a single stage supercharger, the engine was said to develop 195bhp at 7500rpm. A Formula One Grand Prix car from 1948, in its final form in 1951 the engine had two-stage supercharging, developed something like 400bhp plus after the superchargers had taken some 135bhp, and did 1.6mpg, according to David Hodges. This car had independent suspension all round with trailing links at the front.'

1976 March 761

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010, and it's a car that competed in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1955-1985 race.

It's Mark Higson's 1976 March 761, a car that was designed by Robin Herd and powered by the 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine. It competed in the 1976 and 1977 seasons, but the only notable result was Ronnie Peterson's victory in the 1976 Italian Grand Prix. Any drivers following this car must have been comforted by the message on the rear spoiler.

 

1956 Maserati 200SI

This is a photograph that I took at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010 where the car was driven by Gordon McCullough and Andrew Newall in the one hour long Sir Stirling Moss Trophy for 50s Sportscars race.

Originally a Fiandri-bodied works 200S, chassis 2408,, it was rebodied late in 1956 to 200SI specifications and sold to Brazilian Severino Silva, later spending 30 years in a museum. It was acquired by Gordon McCullough in 2008 and the programme of the event says that it has a 2,500cc engine, so I suppose it should really be called a 250SI.

1953 Aston Martin DB3 Coupe

This car competed in the Woodcote Trophy Race for Pre 1956 Sports Cars at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It’s Arlette Müller’s 1953 Aston Martin DB3, one of 10 cars built and is chassis number 7 with the 2,580cc 6-cylinder inline Vantage engine. The first owner was Tom Meyer.

1969 Ford Galaxie

This was one of the competitors in the HSCC Big Engine Touring Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It’s the 1969 Ford Galaxie of Michael Steele, a 4th Generation car and has a 429 cu in (7 litre) V8 engine.

1968 Ford F3L

This car took part in the World Sports Cars Masters race at the Silverstone Classic meeting at Silverstone in July 2010.

It's the 1968 Ford F3L (also known as a Ford P68) of John Young  which was designed by Len Bailey and built by Alan Mann Racing for them to compete in the Group 6 prototype class in the 1968 season. The car has a 2,993cc V8 Ford Cosworth DFV engine but proved to be very unreliable, not finishing in any of the races in which it competed in 1968.

1934 Alfa Romeo P3

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine Grand Prix Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's Umberto Rossi’s 1934 Alfa Romeo P3 with an 8-cylinder inline 3,165cc engine and is chassis 50006. The P3 was introduced in 1932 with a twin-supercharged 2,654cc straight-8 engine which by 1935 had been enlarged to 3,165cc. By then, with the exception of Tazio Nuvolari's victory in the German Grand Prix that year (with the engine further enlarged to 3,822cc), the car was unable to match the Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz cars.

Jaguar C-Type

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It looks like a Jaguar C-Type from 1951-53 but the traffic indicators and the spotlight behind the grille suggest that it’s a replica, but a very nice one. The DVLA record shows the date of manufacture as 1955.

1954 HWM Jaguar

This is a photograph that I took at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's Roger Buxton’s 1954 HWM Jaguar with which he and Michael Steele competed in the two hour long RAC Woodcote Trophy for Pre 1956 Sports Cars race. It has the 3,442cc straight-6 Jaguar XK6 engine that powered the Jaguar XK models, and also the C-Type and D-Type. John Abecassis and John Heath had built and raced their Formula 2 HWM cars since 1950 and in 1953 built their first sports car on a Formula 2 chassis. The team remained involved in sports car racing till 1956 when John Heath died in an accident at that year's Mille Miglia race.

1953 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT

This was one of the competitors in the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy for Historic Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It’s a 1953 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT which was driven in the race by Jason and Louise Kennedy. The B20 Series I car was introduced in 1951 with a 1,991cc V6 engine, followed by the Series II car, which were produced between 1952 and 1953 and which had a more powerful version of the same engine. The series III car was introduced in 1954 with a 2,451cc V6 engine but the programme of the event says that this car has a 2,541cc unit, possibly a misprint as the DVLA record for 609 UPH says the engine capacity is 2,451cc.

1963 Cooper T59

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Race for Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's Erwin van Gelder's 1963 Cooper T59, a car that was designed as a  Formula Junior car (with a 1,100cc capacity limit) but according to the programme of the event has a 1,475cc engine, presumably a Coventry Climax unit.

1937 Alta 2 Litre Sports

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It’s not listed in the programme of the event, but it’s a 1937 Alta 2 Litre Sports then owned by John Ruston. Geoffrey Taylor formed the Alta Car and Engineering Company and produced his first car in 1929, the name 'Alta' apparently being chosen when he read a novel which referenced the town of Alta in Alberta, Canada and the name appealed to him. He produced a number of cars in the 1930s, firstly with a twin overhead camshaft 4-cylinder inline 1,074cc engine which was later increased to 1,496cc and then 1,960cc. John Ruston's car has a supercharged 1,960cc engine and was once driven by George Abecassis and Tony Gaze.

1980 Arrows A3

This was one of the competitors in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1966-1985 race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1980 Arrows A3 of Philip Hall, chassis A3/3 and was designed by Tony Southgate and Dave Wass. The A3 was campaigned by the Arrows Racing Team in the 1980 and 1981 racing seasons and had an aluminium monocoque chassis with conventional front nose and rear wing, and a cover over the gearbox to reduce drag. It was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine in common with many of the cars of that era. In 1980 Riccardo Patrese managed a second place in the United States Grand Prix West and a sixth place in the Brazilian Grand Prix together with a series of minor places and retirements. Jochen Maas had a fourth place in Monaco and a sixth place in South Africa, and a few minor places and retirements. In 1981 Patrese had a second place in San Marino, a third place in Brazil then a mixture of minor places and retirements. His team mate Siegfried Stohr failed to qualify in four races and picked up three minor places and a series of retirements.

1907 Berliet Curtiss Special

I took this photograph at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's a 1907 Berliet which has an 8.2 litre V8 Curtiss OX-5 engine, and it was displayed with a couple of other cars of the same vintage.

1978 Fittipaldi F5A

This was one of the competitors in the Grand Prix Masters F1 Cars 1966-1985 race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the1978 Fittipaldi F5A of Richard Barber, sometimes called the Copersucar after its first major sponsor, and has a 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine. Fittipaldi Automotive was formed in 1974 by Brazilian Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother Emerson, winner of the 1972 World Drivers' Championship. The F5A is a modification of the 1977 F5 and is the car that was driven by Emerson Fittipaldi in 1978, sharing ninth place in the World Drivers’ Championship with Gilles Villeneuve, his best result being second place in the Brazilian Grand Prix. The Fittipaldi team finished in seventh place in the World Constructors’ Championship.