1903 Gamage Aster 6½hp

This car was amongst a display of veteran and vintage vehicles at the VSCC's Boulogne And Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005, although it wasn't listed as an entrant in the Cheshire Life Concours D'Elegance.

It's a 1903 Gamage Aster 6½hp, a car manufactured by the Parisian firm Lacoste et Battman with an Aster engine and marketed by the London department store A W Gamage Ltd. The car is still registered with the DVLA who say that the engine capacity is 748cc. HY 689 was offered for auction by Bonhams in 2008 and apparently sold for £65,300.

Connaught L2 & L3 Sports Cars

One of the car clubs represented at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998 was the Lea-Francis Owners' Club. The Lea-Francis 14hp engine powered the Connaught L2 and L3 sports cars of the late 1940s/early 1950s and several of these cars were on display.

This is a 2½ litre 1948 Connaught L2 and is chassis #7004, the fourth car built. The original 4-cylinder 1,767cc Lea-Francis engine was replaced by the 2,496cc unit in 1952 and you can read the history of the car related by Bonhams when they offered the car for auction in 2004.

This is a 1950 Connaught L3 model but I can't find out much about it, only that the DVLA say that it was first registered in June 1952 and has the 1,767cc engine.

The last of the L-series cars produced was the 1951 Connaught L3/SR with the cycle-type wings, of which 3 examples were built.

On 19 August 2015 and 25 June 2017 I showed photographs of the Connaught L2, and on 12 October 2015 I showed the later Connaught sports car, the 1954 ALSR.

Maserati 4CM

This car took part in the Motor Sport HGPCA Pre '52 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's a 1932 Maserati 4CM, originally delivered to Giuseppe Furmanik of Rome as an 1,100cc car. He doesn't appear to have had any great success racing the car, but he did set a World Speed Record for 1,100cc cars in 1934 with a speed of 222.634 kph for the flying kilometre. The car was later acquired by Gino Rovere who replaced the 1,100cc engine with a 1.500cc unit for Voiturette racing and also commissioned the distinctive radiator grille. At the time of this Silverstone meeting the car was owned by Simon Bull and was driven in the race by Martin Stretton. A more complete history of the car was provided by Bonhams when the car was offered for auction in 2014.

Lagonda LG45

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's a 1936 Lagonda LG45 Tourer with a four-seater body and a 4,467cc straight-6 Meadows engine. It's chassis #12004, and the car was offered for sale by Bonhams in December 2005.

On 2 August 2016 I showed photographs of various Lagondas, including three LG45 models, that I'd taken at Oulton Park in July 2015.

Alfa Romeo SZ

The two cars pictured below took part in the 2¼ hour 'Race of The Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers for Pre 1966 GT Cars and Pre 1963 Sports Cars' at the VSCC Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

They're Alfa Romeo SZs, number 23 was driven in the race by Oliver Crosthwaite and Brian Horwood, and number 24 by Nick Savage and Paul Gregory. The yellow car was the subject of a Bonhams auction in December 2013.

Aston Martin DB2/4

This car took part in the Pre-1961 Sports & GT Cars Race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's a 1955 Aston Martin DB2/4, chassis number LML950, and was driven in ther race by James Campbell. The car had been the subject of an auction sale in November 2005 and here's what Bonhams said about it then.

Aston Martin DB2

This photograph was taken at the Aston Martin Owners Club meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002. It's a 1950 Aston Martin DB2, one of three cars which were built to take part in the 1950 Le Mans 24 hour race. Unfortunately it didn't take part in that race because of an accident en route to the circuit and this Bonhams website describes the history of the car when it was offered for auction in 2010. It was raced at the Oulton Park meeting by the then owner, Oliver Leyba of Hamburg, who is shown in action below at Lodge Corner.

Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A

Uppermill is a village which is in the civil parish of Saddleworth, part of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham and lies in a valley of the South Pennines about 4½ miles east of Oldham. Saddleworth Museum is in the middle of Uppermill, only a small museum but well worth a visit if you're in the area. Here's a couple of photographs I took there in October 1983 when one of the exhibits was a 1928 Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A.

The car was apparently sold at auction by Bonhams in 2007

Aston Martin DB2 Vantage Drophead Coupe

This is a car photographed in the Aston Martin Owners Club display area at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993. It's a 1952 Aston Martin DB2 Vantage Drophead Coupe with coachwork by Carrosserie Graber and you can read about the car on this Bonhams website.

Rolls Royce Marina

The SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006 featured a one hour Sports Racing masters race for sports cars of the 1960-65 period. One of the cars entered was shown in the programme as a Rolls Royce Marina, although I confess that I don't remember hearing of this car in the 1960s. It was apparently a tubular spaceframe chassis with Formula 1 Cooper suspension units at front and rear and a 6.25 litre Rolls Royce marine engine converted to dry-sump lubrication, although the programme shows the capacity of the car as 6.75 litres. Apparently the car wasn't successful in the 1960s and doesn't appear to have had any better luck since. It was driven in the Donington Park race by Simon and Mark Ashworth.

This link to a Bonhams auction in 2005 gives some information about the car. There's apparently no connection with the Morris Marina car of the 1970s - the 'Marina' in the name of this car being merely a reference to the 'marine' engine.

1906 Darracq

A race for Edwardian cars featured in the VSCC SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006 but it didn't feature this car, which is one of several which Bonhams the auctioneers brought along.

It's the World Land Speed Record breaking 1905 Darracq and this is what the programme had to say about the car:

Here is a YouTube clip showing the first time the car was started up after being restored.