1950 Talbot Lago T26 GS

I took this photograph at Lodge Corner during the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It’s Richard Pilkington in his 1950 4,482cc 6-cylinder inline Talbot Lago T26 GS with the offset driving position which meant it could compete in Grand Prix or Sports Car races. It's chassis #110057 and is the car with which Louis Rosier and Juan Manuel Fangio took part in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race, retiring after 9 hours. It was then given an all-enveloping sports car body and ended up in the hands of Georges Grignard in 1953, but after an accident at Montlhéry in 1954 in which his co-driver Guy Mairesse was killed, Grignard locked the wrecked car away in his garage. Richard Pilkington bought the wreckage in 1958 and after racing the car in its sports car form for some years he eventually restored it to its original cycle-wing body form, racing it at historic race meetings in both sports car and vintage GP races.

1950 Talbot Lago T26 GS

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It’s Richard Pilkington's 1950 4,482cc straight-6 Talbot Lago T26 GS with the offset driving position which meant it could compete in Grand Prix or Sports Car races. It's chassis #110057 and is the car with which Louis Rosier and Juan Manuel Fangio took part in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race, retiring after 9 hours. It was then given an all-enveloping sports car body and ended up in the hands of Georges Grignard in 1953, but after an accident at Montlhéry in 1954 in which his co-driver Guy Mairesse was killed, Grignard locked the wrecked car away in his garage. Richard Pilkington bought the wreckage in 1958 and after racing the car in its sports car form for some years he eventually restored it to its original cycle-wing body form, racing it at historic race meetings in both sports car and vintage GP races.

Talbot Lago T26C

These two cars competed in the HGPCA Pre-1952 Grand Prix Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

Car number 4 is the 1948 Talbot Lago T26C of Tony Bianchi which has a 6-cylinder inline 4,482cc unsupercharged engine. The Talbot Lagos took part in the 1948 (pre-World Championship) Grand Prix races but were generally outnumbered and outclassed by the Ferraris and Maseratis, although Louis Rosier won the Belgian Grand Prix and Louis Chiron the French Grand Prix in one of these cars. Tony Bianchi’s Talbot-Lago T26C is chassis #110 008 which was Philippe Etancelin's car in 1949 and then passed to Jean Achard in November 1950. Achard moved to Brazil, taking the car, and sold it there to Pinheiro Pires who raced it in Brazil from 1951 to 1954. The car came to the UK via Colin Crabbe in the 1980s and then via other UK owners to Tony Bianchi in the 1990s. On the left, car number 1 is Richard Pilkington's 1950 Talbot T26 GS, one that had been adapted to also run in sports car events. It's chassis #110057, the car with which Louis Rosier and Juan Manuel Fangio competed in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race, but retired in the 9th hour after completing 92 laps. It was then given an all-enveloping sports car body and ended up in the hands of Georges Grignard in 1953, but after an accident at Montlhéry in 1954 in which his co-driver Guy Mairesse was killed, Grignard locked the wrecked car away in his garage. Richard Pilkington bought the wreckage in 1958 and after racing the car in its sports car form for some years he eventually restored it to its original cycle-wing body form, racing it at historic race meetings in both sports car and vintage GP races.

1931 Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 GS Zagato

This car competed in two handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1961.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1931 Alfa Romeo 6C-1750 GS Zagato which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 1,752cc engine. This model was produced from 1929 to 1933 and was an extremely successful car in that period, winning every major race for which it was entered in 1929.

1950 Talbot Lago T26

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine GP Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

It's the 1950 Talbot Lago T26 of Richard Pilkington, chassis number 110057, a car that was driven in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race by Juan Manuel Fangio and Louis Rosier, but retired after 9 hours with a ruptured oil tank. The Talbot Lago T26 had a 4,482cc unsupercharged engine, and detachable wings and lighting equipment so that it could also be used in the 4½ litre Formula One Grand Prix racing of that period.

Cisitalia D46

This car took part in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting in May 2004.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1946 Cisitalia D46, a car that was designed by Dante Giacosa based on Fiat parts to participate in voiturette racing in the years immediately following the Second World War. It is powered by the Fiat 1,089cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

Talbot Lago T26

Although this car bears a number 1 it was actually number 17 in the programme of the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003, where it took part in the VSCC Ron Flockhart Trophy race.

This is Richard Pilkington's 1950 4,482cc straight-6 Talbot Lago T26 with the offset driving position which meant it could compete in Grand Prix or Sports Car races. It's chassis #110057 and is the car with which Louis Rosier and Juan Manuel Fangio took part in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race, retiring after 9 hours. On 21 September 2017 I showed a photograph of this car that I took at Donington Park in 2006 and gave a bit more of its history.

Cisitalia D46

I took this photograph at McLeans Corner during the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's Donington Historic Grand Prix meeting in May 2004.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1946 Cisitalia D46 with a 1,089cc Fiat engine which took part in Voiturette racing in the middle and late 1940s. The car following it is the 1956 Gordini T16 of Marc Valvekens.

On 5 January 2018 I showed a photograph of the Cisitalia in the pit garage at this meeting.

Maserati A6GCM

On 15 January 2018 I showed a photograph of a Maserati A6GCM in a pit garage at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004. Here's a photograph of the car during the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at that meeting.

This photograph was taken at McLeans Corner and David Bennett in the 1953/4 Maserati A6GCM is leading the 1927 Bugatti Type 35B of Ian Landy ahead of the 1946 Cisitalia D46 of Richard Pilkington with Dick Smith's 1932 Frazer Nash Nürburg bringing up the rear.

Talbot T26 SS

At the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998 the 50th anniversary of racing at the circuit was marked by a reunion of many of the cars that took part in the 1948 British Grand Prix at that first meeting. This was one of the cars taking part.

It's the 1937 Talbot T26 SS of Richard Pilkington that originally started off as a 4 litre Talbot T150, chassis #892935, but in 1938 was given a 4½ litre straight-6 engine and redesignated as a T26 SS with a new chassis number #90202. In 1946 Lord Selsdon became the owner and was given a reserve entry for the 1948 British Grand Prix, but didn't actually take any part in the event.

Talbot Lago T26C

The entry list for the 12 Lap Allcomers Scratch Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987 included three of the 1940s 4½ litre straight-6 Talbot Lago T26C cars, and I took photographs of all three.

The Talbot Lago T26C was produced from 1948 to 1950 and this is Richard Pilkington's 1950 model, chassis 100057, a car that could be used for Grand Prix racing but also due to its offset driving position, with motorcycle mudguards and rudimentary lighting equipment it could be used in Sports Car racing. One such car, driven by father and son Louis and Jean-Louis Rosier, won the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hour race. On 21 September 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at Donington Park in 2006.

This is Colin Crabbe's 1949 model, probably chassis 110008. The Grand Prix regulations for 1946 to 1949, and for 1950 and 1951 after the World Drivers' Championship was introduced, stipulated a maximum capacity of 4½ litres for unsupercharged engine and 1½ litres for those with superchargers.

This is Kerry Wilson's car, described in the programme of the event as a 1945 model - presumably a misprint as the T26C didn't make an appearance till 1948.

Kerry Wilson being pushed from the paddock to the pits prior to a practice session.

Kerry Wilson at Lodge Corner during the race.

Talbot Lago T26 GS

This car took part in the VSCC Flockhart Trophy Race at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1950 Talbot T26 GP car, but one that had been adapted to also run in sports car events. It's chassis #110057, the car with which Louis Rosier and Juan Manuel Fangio competed in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour race, but retired in the 9th hour after completing 92 laps. It was then given an all-enveloping sports car body and ended up in the hands of Georges Grignard in 1953, but after an accident at Montlhéry in 1954 in which his co-driver Guy Mairesse was killed, Grignard locked the wrecked car away in his garage. Richard Pilkington bought the wreckage in 1958 and after racing the car in its sports car form for some years he eventually restored it to its original cycle-wing body form, racing it at historic race meetings in both sports car and vintage GP races. After Richard Pilkington had owned the car for 54 years it was put up for auction by RM Auctions at Monaco in 2012, but apparently did not meet its reserve.

McLaren M1B

This is one of the cars that competed in the 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 McLaren M1B driven in the 60 minute race by Chris Wilson and Richard Pilkington. A note in the programme of the event says this about the car:

'Stubbier evolution of Bruce McLaren's Elva built M1A, with body styled by artist Michael Turner, the model served privateers well for years in USRRC and early CanAm events. Chris Wilson's car, with its 4.7 litre Ford engine, was raced by Keith St John in Radio London colours in British events of the mid-1960s.'

Here's the McLaren during the race at Britten's chicane behind a Lister Knobbly that isn't listed in the programme, but is one of the three 'Sanction' cars built in 1990. It's the third of these cars and was originally owned by Tony Ditheridge, but later by Mark Gibbon, and has a 5.7 litre V8 Chevrolet engine. Behind the McLaren is the 1.7 litre Elva Mk7 of John Wilkes.

On 26 February 2017 I showed a photograph of Chris Wilson driving a McLaren M1B - presumably this car with a slightly different central stripe - at the same corner at Oulton Park in the Gold Cup meeting a year earlier.

Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS

This car took part in the Vintage Seaman Trophy Race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's the 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GS of Nicolas Rossi, which I've featured previously, on 28 Janusry 2015 at the 2007 SeeRed meeting at Donington Park. The car next to it is the 1946 1100cc Cisitalia D46 of Richard Pilkington which I featured on 10 September 2014.

Cisitalia D46

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting in May 2004.

It's Richard Pilkington's 1946 1100cc Cisitalia D46, a car that competed in Voiturette racing in the immediate post war years. On 10 September 2014 I showed this car at another race meeting at Donington Park later in 2004.

Talbot T26

This car took part in the Redgate Mug Race for Standard & Modified Pre-war Sports Cars at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1937/38 4½ litre Talbot T26 SS of Richard Pilkington, chassis #90202.

Originally built in 1937 as a Talbot T150C with chassis number 82935 it was raced for the Talbot works team in 1937 and early 1938 by Albert Divo, Raymond Sommer and René Carrière amongst others in the Le Mans 24 Hour race, the Mille Miglia and other races. In 1938 it was given a 4½ litre engine and became the second Talbot T26 SS, the chassis being renumbered to 90202.

The Talbot factory was in Suresnes, on the outskirts of Paris.

Cisitalia D46

This is one of the cars entered in the 'Ron Flockhart Memorial Trophy Race' at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004.

It's a 1946 Cisitalia D46 and was entered and driven in the race by Richard Pilkington. It raced in the Voiturette class and Wikipedia says this about the car:

'Using Fiat parts as a base Dante Giacosa designed the D46 which made its successful debut in 1946. Giacosa had a vast knowledge of Fiat bits and pieces as he had designed the legendary 500 Fiat Topolino before WW II. The engine and suspension were directly derived from the small Fiat but extensively modified for racing. The engine received dry sump lubrication and further tweaks considerably increased the power output to 60-70 bhp. With a spaceframe chassis and weighing under 400 kg (880 lb) the available power was more than enough for competitive performance. Dusio's dream of a one model series came to nothing, but instead his D46s started to dominate the voiturette series. Highly talented drivers like Tazio Nuvolari piloted the D46 to multiple successes against more advanced but older racing cars.'

You can read more about the car here.