1958 Lister Jaguar

This is a photograph that I took at Lodge Corner during the Guards Trophy GTSR Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008.

It's Bob Gilbert in his 1958 Lister Jaguar which has the 6-cylinder inline 3,781cc Jaguar XK6 engine. The car was actually built with genuine Lister Jaguar parts in the early 1990s for the Yoshiyuki Hayashi Collection.

1953 Cooper Bristol MkII

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre '60 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 1953 Cooper Bristol MkII of Bob Gilbert which 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.

Cooper Bristol

Two Cooper Bristol sharing a trailer in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

No racing numbers visible, but it looks like the car of Michael Parr on top and that of Bob Gilbert underneath. Both are the Cooper Bristol T23 model, or MkII, and have the 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. The cars were numbered 19 and 44 respectively in the Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy race at this meeting.

Maserati 3500GT

This car competed in the HSCC Miller Oils Classic Sports Car Championship Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2004.

It's Bob Gilbert's 1961 Maserati 3500GT. Maserati had produced the A6 series of road cars between 1947 and 1956, but only a limited number of cars were built - less than 150 in total - due to Maserati's preoccupation with the Formula 1 and Sports Racing car programme. The 3500GT was, therefore, Maserati's first attempt at building a series production car and 2,226 were built between 1957 and 1964.

Cooper Bristol

Here's a group of cars lined up in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

On the front row are four Cooper Bristols; the two cars nearest the camera are the 1952 models of Proby Cautley and Spencer Flack, and behind that the 1953 cars of Bob Gilbert and Graham Burrows. The red car behind them all is the 1952 Frazer Nash of Peter Mann. Whilst generally being known as the Cooper Bristol because of the Bristol engine, it's also known as the Cooper T20.