Historic Grand Prix Racing at Silverstone

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield Corner during the Chopard Grand Prix Cars Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

The blurred car at the front is the 1958 Maserati 250F of Lindsay Owen Jones, and he is followed by the 1958 Vanwall of Vijay Mallya driven by John Harper and David Duffy's 1955 Connaught B-Type which was driven by Martin Stretton.

Friday's Ferrari

This car competed in the Coys of Kensington Ferrari GT Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

It's the 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB of Scuderia Campidoglio, chassis #2025GT, which has the Gioacchino Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine that powered most of the Ferrari 250 series of cars. The 250 GT SWB was introduced by Ferrari at the Paris Motor Show in 1959. It was driven in the two-part race by Lindsay Owen Jones and Peter Hannen.

1958 Maserati 250F

I took this photograph at Luffield corner during the Corporate Jets Historic Grand Prix Car race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Leading is Lindsay Owen-Jones in his 1958 Maserati 250F #2534 followed by Martin Stretton in David Duffy's 1955 Connaught B-Type and what looks like Nigel Corner's 1957 Maserati 250F. In the background is Robin Lodge in the ex-Gilby Engineering Company's 1954 Maserati 250F.

1956 Jaguar D-Type

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Frank Sytner in Anthony Bamford's 1956 Jaguar D-Type, a former Ecurie Ecosse car, chassis XKD603. I can't identify the car behind him but the following red car is the 1960 Maserati T61, chassis 2458, of Lindsay Owen Jones and in the background is the 1957 Maserati 250S of Robin Lodge, chassis 2432.

Historic Grand Prix Car racing at Silverstone

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield corner during the Chopard HGPCA 100 Mile Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Lindsay Owen-Jones in his 1958 Maserati 250F #2534 followed by Nigel Corner's 1956 Maserati 250F #2528 and John Harper in Vijay Mallya's 1958 Vanwall. The car in the background is another Maserati 250F, and it appears to be Jeffrey Pattinson in #2508, the car originally owned by Stirling Moss.

Maserati versus Vanwall

This is a photograph that I took at Luffield corner during the Chopard HGPCA 100 Mile Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Leading is Lindsay Owen-Jones in his 1958 Maserati 250F #2534 followed by John Harper in Vijay Mallya's 1958 Vanwall and Nigel Corner's 1956 Maserati 250F #2528.

1960 Maserati T61

This car competed in the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's the 1960 Maserati T61 of Lindsay Owen-Jones, chassis #2458 and has a 4-cylinder inline 2,890cc engine. The T61, and the 1,989cc T60 were generally known as Maserati Birdcage cars because of the intricate tubular space frame chassis, and in common with many of these cars 2458 started off life in the USA, in this case with Lloyd "Lucky" Casner's Camoradi team. After passing through various hands in the USA it was acquired by Lindsay Owen-Jones in 1992. Sixteen examples of the T61 were produced between 1959 and 1961.

1956 Jaguar D-Type

I took this photograph at Luffield Corner during the HGPCA Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Leading are two former Ecurie Ecosse 1956 Jaguar D-Types, Frank Sytner driving Sir Anthony Bamford's car and John Harper driving that of Robert Brooks. Both cars have the 3,781cc straight-6 engine and are the cars that finished in second and first places respectively in the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hour race, Sytner's being chassis XKD603 and Harper's XKD606. Behind those two cars is the 1960 ex-Camoradi Maserati T61 of Lindsay Owen-Jones with a 2,890cc straight-4 engine. In the background approaching Priory Corner is Willie Green in Pete Waterman's 1958 Ferrari 250TR, chassis 0742TR.

Maserati Birdcage

Three Maserati 'Birdcage' cars took part in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992, one 2-litre T60 model and two of the 3-litre T61's. All three are pictured below.

The car above and below is Nick Mason's 2-litre 1959 Maserati T60 and is chassis #2466.

This is Lindsay Owen-Jones' 3-litre 1960 Maserati T61. chassis #2458.

Above and below is Jeffrey Pattinson's 3-litre 1961 Maserati T61, chassis #2453.

The programme of the event said this about the 'Birdcage' Maseratis:

'Maserati's final fling on the international stage was with their legendary 'Birdcage' models, so named because of the multitude of small tubes which made up their chassis. They proved faster than anything else in 1960 but also more fragile, though the quasi-works Camoradi team managed to win the gruelling 1000km at the Nürburgring that year and again in 1961.

The car entered here by Lindsay Owen-Jones is an ex-Camoradi T61, used once or twice by Stirling Moss (but not in his Nürburgring victory). Nick Mason's is a 2-litre version, a T60 rather than a 2.9-litre T61, originally campaigned by Scuderia Serenissima.'

Vanwall

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

It's a 1958 Vanwall, chassis VW10, owned at the time by Vijay Mallya - who later became leader of the consortium which ran the Force India F1 team.

The programme of the event said this about the Vanwall:

In 1957 and 1958 British Racing Green finally became the dominant colour in grand prix racing, thanks to the efforts of the Acton-based Vanwall team. After winning three of the last four world championship grands prix of 1957, the Colin Chapman designs were successful in six 1958 races, giving Tony Vandervell, the car's sponsor, the world F1 constructors' championship.

Only one of the original team cars was kept, and it is here at the Coys International Historic Festival. Acquired recently by Vijay Mallya, the Vanwall is entered at Silverstone with the incomparably experienced John Harper as driver, and he will be striving to ensure that its reputation among Formula 1 cars of the era is preserved.

For many racing enthusiasts at Silverstone today, the sight of the Vanwall being raced in anger once again will alone be worth the price of admission, and will bring memories flooding back to those who lived through the years when Britain was struggling to make her mark in the international grand prix arena.

There was a special display of cars, including the Vanwall, to mark the meeting's theme of British Racing Green.

I was fortunate enough to be at Aintree in 1957 when Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks shared the winning drive in a Vanwall when it became the first British car to win a World Championship Grand Prix.

This is the view other drivers most frequently got of the Vanwall in the 1958 season.

Here's John Harper in the race following closely behind the 1958 Maserati 250F of Lindsay Owen Jones at Luffield corner.

Friday's Ferrari

This car was entered in the Coys of Kensington GT Race at the Coys International Historic festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1995.

It's a 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, serial number 2021GT, entered by Lindsay Owen-Jones but driven in the race by Stefano Violati. Stirling Moss won the RAC TT race at Goodwood in both 1960 and 1961 driving a Ferrari 250 GT SWB, and he described it as 'the best GT car in the world'.

Friday's Ferrari

This car took part in the Coys of Kensington GT Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

It's a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO which was driven in the race by the then owner, Lindsay Owen-Jones. The serial number of the car is 3413GT.

Friday's Ferrari

Today's car, seen at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994, is a 1962 Ferrari 250GT SWB which was entered in the 'Coys of Kensington GT Race' by Lindsay Owen-Jones with the two listed drivers being Peter Hannen and 'To be nominated'. As far as I can ascertain it seems to be this car, although the list of events in which that car is shown to have competed doesn't include the 1994 Coys meeting.