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.

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.

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.

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.