Guernsey Old Car Club

Yesterday I showed photographs of two Ferraris that I had taken at the Guernsey Classic Vehicle Show that was held at Saumarez Park on 16 June 2019. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Guernsey Old Car Club and Guernsey Post released a set of six stamps to mark the occasion, each stamp depicting a car belonging to one of the members of the club. All six cars depicted were at the Classic Vehicle Show and I took the opportunity to photograph each one.

1898 Delahaye Type 2, a twin-cylinder 2.2 litre 6hp vehicle.

The 1911 Delage Type X has a 2,983cc 4-cylinder inline engine and is one of four cars built by Louis Delage to take part in the 1911 Coupe des Voitures Légère race at Boulogne, one of the cars winning the event.

A 1936 Riley Kestrel 12/4 with a 1,496cc 4-cylinder inline engine based on the Riley 9 unit.

A 1952 Bentley Mk VI with a 4¼ litre 6-cylinder inline engine and was named the 'standard steel sports saloon', being the first Bentley to be given a body at the factory instead of the chassis being sent to a coachbuilder of the customer's choosing.

A 1956 Triumph TR3 with the 1,991cc 4-cylinder inline engine that also powered the Standard Vanguard. From 1959 there was also the option of a 2,138cc engine.

A 1966 Morris Minor Traveller with a 1,098cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

I would have thought that Guernsey Post would have given the owner of each of the cars a set of the stamps but I was told by the wife of the owner of one of the cars that they had not done so, which seems to me to be a little mean of Guernsey Post.

Delage 3-litre Type X

The SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006 included a race for Edwardian cars, and the photograph below is of one of the cars that took part in that race.

It's a 1911 Delage 3-litre Type X and the programme of the event says this about the car:

'This car was one of four 3-litre Type X racers built by Louis Delage to compete in the 1911 La Coupe des Voitures Legeres at Boulogne. Paul Bablot drove it to victory in the event - thus earning the Coupe de L'Auto, the prize presented by The Automotor Journal.

Immediately after the race it was bought - for a hefty £1000 - by Buster Lacon, one of two spectating Cambridge undergraduates.

Later that year Lacon sold the car to his companion on the Boulogne trip, Billy McBain. McBain and his brother George both raced the car at Brooklands over the next couple of years. It then changed hands three times in 1914, finishing up in the possession of Captain Leslie Corah, who was killed in action in 1915. It remained in the Corah family though until 1951.

It was then acquired by Lord Charnwood - formerly a director, and designer, at Bamford and Martin - and he restored the car and nicknamed it 'Denise'.

Following Charnwood's death in 1955 it was little seen until it was purchased by Sir John Briscoe in 1961. In the hands of the Briscoe family it became a familiar sight, enjoying a busy demonstration career at VSCC and VCC events until recently. It was also restored again and had its coachwork brought very close to its 1911 spec.

Last year it was purchased by David Ozanne, who will this weekend give the car its first race appearance for decades.'

The sale of the car in 2005 was organised by Bonhams, and here is their description of the car when it was put up for auction.