Pre 1952 Grand Prix Car Race

This is a photograph that I took during the HGPCA Pre '52 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

Leading is Martin Stretton in Simon Bull's 1932 Maserati 4CM closely followed by Peter Hannen's 1937 Maserati 6CM with Ludovic Lindsay's 1936 ERA R5B bringing up the rear. The car in the background appears to be Tony Merrick's 1934 ERA R1B.

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.

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.

1955 Maserati 300S

This is a car that I photographed at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996 at Silverstone in what I think was its first outing since an extensive restoration in the early 1990s.

It's the ex-Benoit Musy 1955 Maserati 300S, chassis number 3057, entered in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race by Peter Scott and driven in the race by Martin Stretton.  It has a 2,991cc 6-cylinder engine that was based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a longer stroke. This car was originally owned by Swiss driver Benoit Musy and I remember seeing it being driven by him at Oulton Park and Aintree in 1956.

1959 Cooper T51

This is one of the competitors in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Pre '65 Grand Prix Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1959 Cooper T51 of Martin Stretton, and is in the colours of the British Racing Partnership/Yeoman Credit Racing Team of 1959-1960. It is one of two cars that were raced by the British Racing Partnership in 1959, mainly in Formula 2 races with a 1½ litre Borgward engine, then by the Yeoman Credit team in both Formula 1 and some Formula 2 races in the 1960 season with 2½ litre and 1½ litre Coventry Climax engines. Martin Stretton's car has the 2,495cc Coventry Climax engine.

1932 Maserati 4CM

This car took part in the HGPCA Pre '52 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's a 1932 Maserati 4CM, chassis 1120, 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.

1971 March 712M

I took this photograph at the Britten's chicane during the Historic Formula 2 Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2008, the race being open to cars from the 1,600cc cars of the 1967-71 era and the 2,000cc cars of the 1972-80 era                                                                                        .

It's Martin Stretton's 1971 March 712M followed by the 1978 March 782 of Peter Meyrick. The 1971 European Formula 2 title was won by Ronnie Peterson in a Ford-engined March 712M, and the 1978 title by Bruno Giacomelli in a BMW-engined March 782. In this race at Oulton Park the 2,000cc car of Peter Meyrick finished in first place with Martin Stretton's 1,600cc car ending up in second place.

1972 Abarth-Osella PA1

This car competed in the Italian Historic Car Cup race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

According to the programme of the event it's a 1972 Abarth-Osella PA1, driven in the race by Martin Stretton and Frank Sytner. When Abarth was taken over by Fiat in 1971 Osella ran the Abarth team's competition department and in 1972 competed in the European Sports Racing Championship with the Abarth SE021. The PA1 was their 1973 car, introduced at the end of 1972, and was a development of the SE021, winning two of the eight races in the 1973 Championship. The programme of this Silverstone meeting says that the car has a 2,991cc engine.

1955 Connaught B Type

This car competed in the Corporate Jets Historic Grand Prix Car 100-Mile Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1955 Connaught B Type of David Duffy, and was driven in the race by Martin Stretton. The Connaught B Type was made famous by Tony Brooks' win in the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix where the main opposition were the five cars of the Maserati works team, since when the B Type has been known as the Connaught Syracuse. It has a 4-cylinder inline 2,470cc Alta engine and seven of the cars were produced, David Duffy's car, chassis B4, being originally acquired by Rob Walker for whom it was raced by several drivers between 1955 and 1958, amongst them Tony Rolt, Jack Fairman and Reg Parnell.

On 27 December 2014 I showed photographs of the car that I had taken at Oulton Park in 1987.

Maserati 300S

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's a 1955 Maserati 300S, chassis #3057, then owned by Peter Scott and driven in the race by Martin Stretton. The Maserati 300S was powered by a 2,991cc 6-cylinder engine that was based on the 2½ litre unit of the 250F Grand Prix car with a longer stroke, and took part in the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1957. This car was originally owned by Swiss driver Benoit Musy, then after Peter Scott it was part of the collection of American Peter Giddings. It's now owned by Josef Rettenmaier.

On 31 October 2016 I showed a photograph of the car at the 1996 Coys meeting at Silverstone.

Tyrrell P34

This was one of the competitors in the Silverstone International Trophy Race for Pre 1978 Grand Prix cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's the unusual six-wheeled 1977 Tyrrell P34 of Simon Bull, powered by the Cosworth 2,993cc V8 DFV engine, and was driven in the race by Martin Stretton. The designer of the car, Derek Gardner, calculated that the smaller front wheels would reduce front-end lift, the use of four disc brakes instead of two would increase the braking force and the additional rubber on the ground would improve the grip at the front. In 1976 the car was driven by Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler, Scheckter finishing in third position in the World Drivers' Championship and Depailler fourth, Tyrrell ending the season in third place in the Constructors' Championship. Jody Scheckter won the Swedish Grand Prix and is the only driver to have won a Grand Prix in a six-wheeled car. In 1977 the drivers were Patrick Depailler and Ronnie Peterson but the car was not as successful, with Depailler and Peterson finishing in eighth and fourteenth places respectively in the Drivers' Championship and Tyrrell in sixth place in the Constructors' Championship.

Eight cars were built and Simon Bull's car is chassis P34/6.

Cooper T51 and ERA Delage

These unlikely looking competitors took part in the 12 Lap Allcomers Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Trophy Vintage Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

Number 1 is Martin Stretton in his ex-BRP/Yeoman Credit 1960 2,495cc Cooper T51 and 229 is Chris Mayman in his cousin Anthony Mayman's 1927/36 ERA Delage, a 1927 Delage 15 S8 Grand Prix car with a 1,982cc supercharged 1936 ERA engine. The Cooper is passing the ERA Delage going into Lodge Corner.

The Coopers were raced by the British Racing Partnership in 1959, mainly in Formula 2 races with a 1½ litre Borgward engine, then by the Yeoman Credit team in both Formula 1 and some Formula 2 races in the 1960 season with 2½ litre and 1½ litre Coventry Climax engines.

The ERA Delage was created by Rob Walker who replaced the original engine of a 1927 Delage Grand Prix car with an ERA engine.

On 19 December 2016 I showed a photograph of one of the ex-BRP/Yeoman Credit Racing team's Cooper T51s, and on 9 April 2018 photographs of the ERA Delage.

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.

Cooper Monaco

I photographed this car in the pit lane during a practice session at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park on June 2008.

It's the 1959 Cooper T49 Monaco that was driven in the one hour long BRDC Historic Sportscars race by Mark Clubb and Martin Stretton. I've seen the name 'Monaco' for this car ascribed to both Maurice Trintignant's win in the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix in a Cooper Climax T45 and Jack Brabham's victory in the same race the following year in a Cooper Climax T51, but since the Cooper Monaco was announced in November 1958 the Maurice Trintignant win seems to be the most likely source. It was the successor to the smaller centre-seat Cooper T39 'Bobtail' that the company had produced since 1954. A variety of engines were used in the Monaco, mainly Climax and Maserati, ranging from 1½ litres up to 2½ litres, and this particular car has a 2 litre unit. It's probably the car detailed in this racecarsdirect.com feature.

Maserati 300S

Here's a car that I photographed at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996 at Silverstone in what I think was its first outing since an extensive restoration in the early 1990s.

It's the ex-Benoit Musy 1955 Maserati 300S, chassis number 3057, entered in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race by Peter Scott and driven in the race by Martin Stretton. I remember seeing this car being driven by Benoit Musy at Oulton Park and Aintree in 1956.

Jaguar XJR-6

This car took part in the 2 hour long British Empire Trophy Race for Group C Endurance Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's the 1985 Jaguar XJR-6 of David Coplowe, who shared the driving in the race with Martin Stretton. Three of these 6.2 litre V12 engined cars in Silk Cut livery were entered in the 1986 Le Mans 24 Hour race by Jaguar in relationship with Tom Walkinshaw, but none of the cars managed to finish. The Jaguar/Tom Walkinshaw combination finally managed to win the Le Mans race in 1988.