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.

1936 Maserati V8RI

I took this photograph at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993.

It's the Maserati V8RI of Doug Marr (the 'RI' denoting 'Ruote Independente', or 'Independent Suspension'), one of four cars built in 1935/36 with a supercharged 4,788cc V8 engine. This car is chassis 4503 and was originally delivered in February 1936 to Phillipe Etancelin who drove the car to win the Pau Grand Prix in its first race and competed with it in most of the European Grands Prix that year. At the end of 1936 Etancelin took the car to the USA to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished in eighth place, but soon afterwards sold the car which remained in the USA until it was eventually brought to England and ended up in the hands of Doug Marr in the late 1970s. It was driven in the Historic Trophy race at this Oulton Park meeting by Tony Merrick.

1959 Maserati Tec-Mec

This car is receiving a lot of attention at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy meeting at Oulton Park in June 1969 where it was driven by Tony Merrick in the Allcomers Scratch Race.

The Maserati 250F was first raced in 1954, evolving from the earlier A6GCM model, and was used by the Officine Alfieri Maserati team until 1957, Juan Fangio winning the World Championship in that year, after which Maserati pulled out of racing for financial reasons. The 250F continued to race in the hands of private entrants until the end of the 1960 season when the 2½ litres formula ended. In 1958 the Tec-Mec company was founded by former Maserati designer Valerio Colotti who built an updated version of the Maserati 250F, designated the F415, which only competed in one World Championship Grand Prix, the 1959 United States GP, where it retired after only 6 laps. The car has competed since then in historic car race meetings, and for a time it was also part of the Donington Collection in the museum at the Donington Park racecourse.

1950s Grand Prix Cars

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

These cars are waiting to go out onto the circuit for a qualifying session for the HGPCA Pre-1960 Grand Prix Cars Race. At the front, from left to right, are the 1956 Maserati 250F of Burkhard von Schenk, the 1959 Ferrari 246 Dino of Robin Lodge, the 1954 Maserati 250F of Christian Glaesel, the 1954 Maserati 250F of Dieter Streve-Mülhens and the 1952 Fraser Nash of Peter Mann. Behind the first two cars are the 1960 Ferrari 246 Dinos of Tony Merrick and Nigel Corner, and you can also see a Cooper Bristol T23 and a Connaught A-Type.

1950s Sports Car Racing

This is a photograph I took at Luffield corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Robin Lodge is leading in his 1957 Maserati 250S followed by the 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 of Simon Draper. The red car on the outside is Tony Merrick in Richard Utley's 1957 Lotus Eleven Le Mans. Behind the Aston Martin is Chris Drake's 1958 Lister Chevrolet in front of what looks like another Lotus Eleven.

Friday's Ferrari(s)

Two Ferraris and a Maserati at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

Burkhard Von Schenk in his 1956 Maserati 250F leading the 1959 Ferrari 246 Dinos of Robin Lodge and Tony Merrick at Luffield corner in the HGPCA Pre '60 GP Car Race.

1936 Maserati V8RI

I took this photograph at Foulstons chicane during the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy Race for Historic Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993.

It’s a Maserati V8RI with a 4,788cc supercharged V8 engine, only four of which were built. This car is chassis 4503 owned at the time by Doug Marr and was driven on the day by Tony Merrick. 4503 was originally delivered in February 1936 to Phillipe Etancelin who drove the car to win the Pau Grand Prix in its first race and competed with it in most of the European Grands Prix that year. At the end of 1936 Etancelin took the car to the USA to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished in eighth place, but soon afterwards sold the car which remained in the USA until it was eventually brought to England and ended up in the hands of Doug Marr in the late 1970s.

1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre '52 GP Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 of Paul Grist and has an 8-cylinder 3,822cc engine with twin overhead camshafts. It was built to challenge the Mercedes Benz and Auto Union cars but rarely managed to get the better of them. The programme of the event said this about the car:

'The Alfa Romeo 8C-35 was introduced when the Tipo B Monoposto – or P3 as it is more popularly known – became overdue for replacement.  The P3 had itself been derived from the Monza and had flown the Alfa flag with great success between 1932 and 1935. The 8C-35 never beat the German cars in a top level Grand Prix, but did succeed in doing so in a number of smaller races, in the hands of the legendary Tazio Nuvolari.'

Here's Paul Grist at Luffield Corner during the race followed by two ERAs - R9B driven by Jost Wildbolz and Tony Merrick at the wheel of R1A.

Four Connaughts and an ERA

All these cars lined up in the paddock outside the pit garages took part in the Chopard HGPCA 100-Mile Grand Prix Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Number 12 is the 1955 Connaught B-Type of Ean Pugh and is chassis B5. Behind that is car number 24, the 1952 Connaught A-Type of Bob Burrell, chassis A6, then next is the 1955 Connaught B-Type of Paul Burdell which is chassis B4. The fourth Connaught is the 1952 A-Type of Spike Milligan, chassis A7, and in the background car number 32 is the 1934 ERA R1A driven here by Tony Merrick.

Friday's Ferrari

I've shown two photographs of this car previously, on 18 April 2012 and 30 Oct 2015 which were taken at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994 when it was part of a display paying tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio.

It's a 1949 Ferrari 166 F2 car, Enzo Ferrari's first single seat racing car, and the chassis number is 011F. It is thought to be one of the cars that Fangio drove early in his career before he joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team and had been fully restored by Tony Merrick in the 4 years before this appearance. The blue and yellow car behind the 166 is Robs Lamplough's 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO, chassis number 3445GT.

Maserati V8RI

On 3 June 2015 I showed a photograph of a Maserati V8RI that was in the Donington Park museum in May 1989. Only 4 of these cars were built, and the Donington Park car is serial number 4504. Here's a photograph of one of the other cars which I took six years later.

I took this photograph at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993, and this one is chassis 4503, owned at the time by Doug Marr and driven on the day by Tony Merrick. This car was originally delivered to Phillipe Etancelin in February 1936 who drove the car to win the Pau Grand Prix in its first race and competed with it in most of the European Grands Prix that year. At the end of 1936 Etancelin took the car to the USA to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup where he finished in eighth place, but soon afterwards sold the car which remained in the USA until it was eventually brought to England and ended up in the hands of Doug Marr in the late 1970s.

Friday's Ferrari

This car was driven in the 'Coys of Kensington GT Race' at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993 by the owner Robin Lodge and Tony Merrick.

It's a 1951 Ferrari 340 America, designed, as the name suggests, for the American market. The serial number is 0082A and you can read the history of this car here.