1935 Lagonda Rapier

This is a photograph that I took at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

It’s the 1935 Lagonda Rapier of I.Rowe which the programme of the event says had a 1,100 cc engine. 470 of these cars were built by between 1934 and 1935 and a further 46 by Rapier Cars who took over the rights to make the Rapier after the Lagonda company failed in 1935. It was originally made with a 4-cylinder inline 1,104cc engine which was later reduced to 1,084cc to allow it to compete in the 1,100cc racing class.

1956 Connaught C-Type

Martin Morris drove this car in the Cheshire Building Society's Allcomers race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's a 1956 Connaught C-Type, the eighth and last chassis built but it never competed in a Formula One race. It has the same 4 cylinder 2,470cc Alta engine that powered the Connaught B-type.

1952 Connaught A-Type

This car took part in a 10 lap race for Pre-1961 Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

It's the 1952 Connaught A-Type of Gerry Porter which has a 4-cylinder inline engine based on the 1,767cc Lea Francis unit with the capacity increased to 1,960cc in line with the then current Formula 2 regulations. It is chassis A4 and one of Connaught's works team cars in 1952, when it was usually driven by Dennis Poore, then in 1953 it went to the Écurie Belge team where the drivers were Johnny Claes and André Pilette. It was driven in this race at Silverstone by Barrie Williams.

1955 Jaguar D-Type

This is a photograph that I took just outside the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It’s a 1955 Jaguar D-Type and the registration number 774 RW seems to indicate that it is  XKD505, the car with which Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb won the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

2000 Audi R8

In May 2001 Audi brought an Auto Union C-Type and a D-Type to the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park, together with several other cars and motorcycles. This was one of the other cars which they brought, pictured  on the stretch between the Old Hairpin and McLean's Corner during a demonstration run that day.

It’s the 2000 Audi R8, developed from the previous year's R8R and powered by the same 3.6 litre V8 engine. The R8 competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race six times, from 2000 to 2005, winning on 5 occasions (finishing in the first three places in 2000) and being beaten only in 2003 - by the Bentley Speed 8.

1935 Frazer Nash

This car took part in a ‘Handicap Race for Frazer Nash and GN Cars’ at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It’s the 1935 Frazer Nash of B.Hopkins, and the only information about it in the programme of the event is that it had a 1,498cc engine, presumably the 4-cylinder inline Meadows unit.

1957 Maserati 250F

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1972.

It’s Neil Corner’s 1957 Maserati 250F which has a 6-cylinder inline 2,493cc engine. The car is chassis #2528 and was campaigned mainly by Jean Behra in the 1957 season, but also driven that year by Juan Fangio and Harry Schell. It has been owned and raced by the Corner family, Neil and his son Nigel, since 1972.

Lotus Exige

This is a photograph that I took as I was leaving the Donington Park circuit at the end of the SeeRed meeting in May 2011.

It’s probably a Lotus Exige a car which was produced by Lotus from 2000 to 2021 with various different engines, but since the DVLA says that the vehicle details for P3 SKE could not be found I’m unable to give a more precise definition.

1936 Lagonda LG45 and 1913/18 Monarch

I took this photograph during a Four Lap Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in 1993.

David Hine in his 1936 Lagonda LG45 is leading the 1913/18 Monarch of Mark Walker at Foulstons chicane.

1952 Connaught A-Type

This was one of the competitors in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's Gerry Walton's 1952 Connaught A-Type with a 1,960cc engine based on the Lea Francis 4-cylinder 1,767cc unit, and is chassis A8. Ten Connaught A-Types were built and A8 is one of only two that  featured a Hilborn-Travers fuel injection system instead of the Amal carburettors that were fitted to the other eight cars. It was mainly driven in period as a works car by John Coombes, Stirling Moss and Prince Bira. A later owner, Mike Young, sold the 2 litre engine and installed a 2½ litre HWM-Alta engine in 1955 to take part in Formula One racing and later took the car to South Africa. Phil Bowker subsequently bought the car and Gerry Walton sourced the Lotus 10 with the original engine which was reunited with A8. Gerry Walton acquired the car in the late 1960s and fully restored it to its 1953 state, competing with it until 1988.

1914 TT Humber

This car competed in two handicap races at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1970.

It's Kenneth Neve's 1914 TT Humber, the only survivor of the three Humbers that took part in the Tourist Trophy race in the Isle of Man in that year and it has a 4-cylinder inline 3,295cc engine.

1927 Amilcar

This was one of the cars entered in the Concours d’Elegance at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1961.

It’s a 1927 Amilcar and the only information about it in the programme of the event was that it was entered for the Concours by H.C.Balfour and had a 1,089 cc engine.

1954 Cooper-Norton

I took this photograph during the Scratch Race for 500cc Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's Paul Schroeder in what the programme of the event says is a 1954 Cooper-Norton, probably a MkVIII.

1925 D.F.P.

This is a photograph that I took during a Handicap race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

The entry list for this race in the programme of this event says that number 178 is the 1925 D.F.P. of W.R.Halkyard and it has a 1,098cc engine. A further note in the programme says "Other unusual cars in the handicaps include No. 178, W.R.Halkyard's 1925 D.F.P., a make made famous before the first World War by W.O.Bentley".

1936 ERA R12B

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1972.

It's the 1936 ERA R12B of Bill Morris and David Kergon which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline 1,488cc engine and was driven in the race by David Kergon.  Bill Morris owned two ERAs, R12B and R12C and the two cars have a strange history, R12B being a works car that was originally built in 1936 with a 2 litre engine as a B-type car, but in 1937 it was rebuilt to C-type specifications, thus becoming R12C, and given a 1½ litre engine. In 1938 it was sold to Prince Chula to become one of his White Mouse stable's trio of ERAs driven by Prince Bira, where it was given the name 'Hanuman'. In 1939 the car was badly damaged in a crash during practice at Reims and was rebuilt with a B-type frame, reverting to being R12B and the name changing to 'Hanuman II'. After passing through various hands after the Second World War it came to Bill Morris. Bill Morris had managed to acquire the rest of the wreckage left over from the 1939 crash and using the damaged chassis frame rebuilt the car to its 1939 C-type specifications by 1982. That car was now R12C, as if the 1939 accident had never happened, and was given the original car's name of 'Hanuman'.

1952 Cooper Bristol Mk1

This is a photograph that I took in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1965.

It's the 1952 Cooper Bristol Mk1 of John Brown which has a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971 Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol Mk1 (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the Mk1, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

1938 Auto Union D-Type

This is a photograph I took at Donington Park on the straight between the Old Hairpin and Starkey's Bridge in May 2001 at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting.

It's a 1938 Auto Union D-Type which Audi had brought to the meeting together with a 1937 Auto Union C-Type and various other vehicles which were displayed in the paddock, and some of which took part in demonstration runs round the circuit. The Auto Union D-Type chassis was based on the previous year's C-Type, but the engine was of a completely new V12 design. With the displacement limited to just three litres it had a capacity of 2,986cc and a Two Stage Roots-Type Supercharger producing 420 bhp at 7000 rpm. Another major change was the move of a single central mounted fuel tank to two side-tanks, which enabled the driver to sit further back in the chassis. There were only four races in the 1938 European Grand Prix Championship, three of which were won by the Mercedes Benz W154 and one by Tazio Nuvolari in an Auto Union D-Type.

1935 Maserati 4CS

This car took part in a handicap race and a scratch race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

It's Adam Painter's 1935 Maserati 4CS, chassis #1126, originally with a supercharged 4-cylinder inline 1,088cc engine that was replaced with a 1,496cc engine in 1938. The car was originally owned by Ettore Bianco who finished in 7th, and then 6th in the 1935 and 1936 Mille Miglia races, winning his class on both occasions. It was involved in a fatal accident with the next owner, then acquired and rebuilt in 1937 by Luigi Villoresi and Count Giovanni Lurani's Scuderia Ambrosiana, and in 1939 found a new owner in Singapore. Adam Painter's father, Ken Painter, bought the car in 1969, and it's been with the family ever since.

1916/17 Laurel-Ford T

This was one of the competitors in a handicap race at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in July 1987.

The programme of the event says that It’s the 1916-17 Laurel-Ford T of B.M.Clarke with a 3,300cc engine (the original model T had a 177 cu in [2.9 litre] engine), but it doesn’t give any more information about the car. An online search for Laurel-Ford doesn’t help much, but it seems that the Laurel Company specialized in modifying Model T Fords for the race circuit. The DVLA record says that registration number DP 696 is now on a 2022 Hyundai.

1999 Audi R8R

In May 2001 Audi brought an Auto Union C-Type and a D-Type to the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park. They also brought several other cars and motorcycles that day, including the one shown below.

It’s the Audi R8R of 1999, a prototype which competed in the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year, the two cars finishing in third and fourth places, though the two R8C closed cockpit cars in the LMGTP class failed to finish the race. It’s pictured on the stretch between the Old Hairpin and McLean's Corner during one of the demonstration runs.