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.

1963 Aston Martin DP214

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield corner during the Coys of Kensington GT Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's Simon Draper's 1963 Aston Martin DP214 in which he shared the driving in the race with David Clark. This was one of two Project 214 cars built (the other being completely destroyed in an accident at the Nürburgring in 1964) and was based on DB4GT chassis 0194/R with the 3,670cc straight-6 engine bored out to 3,750cc.The car ran in the Le Mans 24 Hour race twice, retiring after 11 hours with a broken piston when in third place in 1963 driven by Bill Kimberley and Jo Schlesser, and in 1964 it was driven by Mike Salmon and Peter Sutcliffe but was disqualified after 18 hours for topping up with oil before the permitted time. It was in eleventh place at the time. Behind the Aston are the 1965 MGB of David Heynes/Mike Wilds and the 1960 Austin Healey 3000 of Ted and Mark Williams.

1963 Aston Martin DP214

This was one of the competitors in the Coys of Kensington GT Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's Simon Draper's 1963 Aston Martin DP214 in which he shared the driving in the race with David Clark. This was one of two Project 214 cars built (the other being completely destroyed in an accident at the Nürburgring in 1964) and was based on DB4GT chassis 0194/R with the 3,670cc straight-6 engine bored out to 3,750cc.The car ran in the Le Mans 24 Hour race twice, retiring after 11 hours with a broken piston when in third place in 1963 driven by Bill Kimberley and Jo Schlesser, and in 1964 it was driven by Mike Salmon and Peter Sutcliffe but was disqualified after 18 hours for topping up with oil before the permitted time. It was in eleventh place at the time.

1970 McLaren M14A

This car competed in the F.O.R.C.E. Pre-1972 Classic Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's a 1970 McLaren M14A, entered by the BruceMcLaren Trust and driven by David Clark. The M14A was raced by the McLaren team in the 1970 season and early part of the 1971 season. It gained several 2nd, 3rd and 4th places in the hands of Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme, but Bruce McLaren, who took second place in the Spanish Grand Prix, was unfortunately killed during the 1970 season when testing an M8D CanAm car at Goodwood.

1958 Lister Knobbly

This was one of the competitors in the Classic Car Invitation Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at a typically wet Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1958 Lister Knobbly of David Clark with what the programme of the event says is a 5,300cc engine. Lister Knobblys were produced with both Jaguar and Chevrolet engine and this car may well be chassis BHL127 which had a Chevrolet engine and was owned at one time by David Clark.

1958 Lister Knobbly

This was one of the competitors in the Classic Car Invitation Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1958 Lister Knobbly of David Clark with what the programme of the event says is a 5,300cc engine. Lister Knobblys were produced with both Jaguar and Chevrolet engine and this car may well be chassis BHL127 which had a Chevrolet engine and was owned at one time by David Clark. Behind the Lister is the 1954 Ferrari 750 Monza of Robert Brooks which was driven by Tony Dron in the same race.

1948 Olson Offenhauser

This car took part in the Chopard Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

Seen here at Luffield Corner during the race it was labelled in the programme as a 4.3 litre 1948 Olson, due to be driven by David Clark and Hugo Spowers. It seems to be the Olson Offenhauser that Jackie Holmes drove in the 1950 Indianapolis 500 race, qualifying in 30th place on the grid and shown as finishing in 23rd place in the race, although apparently having spun off on the 123rd of the 138 laps, the usual 200 lap race having been curtailed because of rain.

1949 Alta Jaguar

This was one of the competitors in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1949 Alta Jaguar of David Clark, and is an Alta Chassis powered by what the programme of the event says is a 3,400cc Jaguar engine. I can't find out much about the car, but it was possibly at one time owned by George Abecassis who, together with John Heath, assisted in the development of the post-war Alta GP car before they left to concentrate on their own HWM project. The car behind the Alta is the 1956 Jaguar D-Type of Robert Brooks which was driven in the same race by John Harper.

Aston Martin C-Type Speed Model

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's an Aston Martin C-Type Speed Model, but although it has a racing number it isn't listed in the programme of the event. The number on the car appears to be '12', and car number 12 in the Pre-War Sports Car Race was the 1935 Aston Martin Ulster of Simon Draper, which he was due to share with David Clark. As Simon Draper also owned an Aston Martin C-Type it's possible this car was switched for the Ulster. The Speed Model was developed from the Ulster with the straight four 1,481cc engine enlarged to 1,949cc. The new car was intended to be entered in the 1936 Le Mans 24 Hour race where the homologation regulations required 25 models to be made, but in the end the Le Mans race was cancelled due to a general strike in France. The works Speed Model cars were quickly sold but the other cars proved difficult to sell because of a perceived lack of power. In the end the last 8 chassis were given the more streamlined body as seen above and these vehicles were dubbed the C-Type. The DVLA record say that FZ 8212 is a 1940 car and the engine has a capacity of 1,998cc.

Aston Martin Project 214 Replica

This car competed in the 2¼ hour long Gentlemen Drivers GT and Sports Endurance Race at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's shown in the programme of the event as a 1961 3.9 litre Aston Martin DB4 GT to be driven in the race by Wolfgang Friedrichs and David Clark, but it is actually Wolfgang Friedrichs' replica of the Aston Martin Project 214 cars that were built in 1963.

I showed photographs of the only remaining original Project 214 car on 23 January 2017 and 7 June 2018.

McLaren M19A

This car was on the grid for the Grand Prix Masters race at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

It's David Clark's 1971 3 litre V8 Cosworth DFV-engined McLaren M19A. This is chassis 02 and it was driven by Denny Hulme in the 1971 racing season and continued to be used by the team for the first part of the 1972 season until superseded by the M19C.

Lola T70

This car competed in the 1 hour long Historic Motor Racing News Gentlemen Drivers Sports Racing Challenge race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's the 1965 Lola T70 Mk1 driven in the race by Frank Sytner and Simon Hadfield, and a note in the programme of the event says this about the car:

Debuted, unpainted, by David Hobbs at Goodwood in 1965, chassis SLXX/4 was also raced by Monte Shallet and road registered by a later owner. Reimported from the USA by Frank Sytner in 2003, it is probably the earliest T70 still racing. Chevrolet V8 engine packs a big punch in Eric Broadley-designed monocoque chassis.

The car that David Hobbs drove at Goodwood in 1965, though, was that of Harold Young Racing, which was chassis SL70/2. Chassis SL70/4 was returned to the factory soon after delivery to Hugh Dibley and the car was rebuilt using chassis SL70/7. The history of SL70/2 is told in this Bonhams auction offering.

Here's the car during the race at Britten's chicane leading the 1965 Elva Mk8 of David Clark and the 1963 Elva Mk7S of Ivan Scotti.

Aston Martin DBR2

These two cars took part in the Louis Vuitton '50s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

This is the 1957 Aston Martin DBR2 of Simon Draper and was driven by David Clark in the race.

Only two Aston Martin DBR2s were built, and this is DBR2/2.

This is the other DBR2, driven at Silverstone by the owner, Steve O'Rourke, it's DBR2/1.