1956/57 Willment Climax

These cars are at Britten's chicane during the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

Leading is the 1956/57 Willment Climax of Barry Cannell with a 4-cylinder inline 1,963cc Coventry Climax FPF engine, driven in period by Graham Hill, Jack Brabham and Stuart Lewis-Evans amongst others. The car behind it is the 1959 Sadler MarkIII of E.D.Butler, driven by Martin Walford, then the 1959 Maserati Tipo 61 of  Alan Minshaw. Following that car is (I think) the 1958 Lister Knobbly of Stephen Gibson, then the 1959 Cooper Monaco of Anthony Ditheridge and the 1958 Devin SS of Ron Gammons.

1959 Sadler MkIII

This car took part in the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in May 2005.

It's E.D.Butler's 1959 Sadler MkIII and was driven in the race by Martin Walford. The car was one of a small number of cars built by Canadian Bill Sadler, and according to the programme of the event this car has a 5,470cc Chevrolet V8 engine.

Sadler Sports Cars

The Sadler was a sports car designed and built by Canadian born Bill Sadler in the 1950s. This is the Sadler MkIII of Julian Majzub pictured in the paddock at Oulton Park after winning the Hawthorn International Trophy race at the Hawthorn Memorial Trophies race meeting organised by the VSCC at Oulton Park in June 2008.

And here is Julian Majzub pictured at Britten's Chicane during his victorious drive.

I remember what was probably the first occasion on which a Sadler participated in a race at Oulton Park, in the late 1950s I think, although my memory doesn't tell me which meeting it was or the date. I seem to recall that it was a club meeting, either the Mid-Cheshire Motor Racing Club or the Lancashire and Cheshire Car Club, and was probably in 1957. I took the grainy photograph below with my trusty Brownie 127 camera.

Judging by the information here it appears to be the original Sadler MkI, probably after the original Triumph TR2 engine had been replaced with a Chevrolet V8 engine.