Ford Sidevalve

This is a photograph I took at the Northern Classic Car Show at the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1991 of 3 cars on the stand of the Ford Sidevalve Owners' Club.

From left to right they are a 1949 Ford 5cwt van, a 1959 Ford Popular 103E and a 1958 Ford Prefect 100E.

The brochure of the event had this information about the Ford Sidevalve Owners' Club:

'The FSOC was originally formed in 1969 as the Ford 100E Owners Club, catering for 100E & 107E models. In 1971 membership was extended to all Ford sidevalve powered vehicles ranging from the 1930s model Ys to the 1960s 107Es including special and sports cars. The first aim of the club is to assist members in keeping their vehicles on the road and the club holds a stock of spares for all models covered, and from time to time arranges for items to be re-manufactured to original patterns.

The second aim of the club is to have an active social side and the club holds regular meetings throughout the country with thriving local branches in Manchester and Merseyside. The club also organises 'Sidevalve days' in the North, Midlands and the South, often held at places of interest for all the family. The club produces six times a year its own popular magazine 'Side Valve News' which won the best 'Car Club Magazine' award in 1986. The Manchester branch has provided the vehicles for display at the show.'

Jack Brabham

This is a photograph I took in the paddock during practice the day before the British Grand Prix at Aintree in 1962.

It's Jack Brabham in the Brabham Racing Organisation Lotus 24 preparing to go out on a practice run. He drove the Lotus in the early part of that season whilst he was waiting for his new Brabham BT3 to be ready - his team had hoped that he would be able to race the car in the British Grand Prix but in the event it wasn't ready until the following race, the German Grand Prix. At Aintree Jack qualified the Lotus in ninth place on the grid and ended the race in fifth place, a lap behind the winner Jim Clark in a Lotus 25.

Here's Jack Brabham approaching Waterway Corner during a practice run.

Maserati 250F V12

The featured marque at the VSCC SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005 was the Maserati and the photograph below shows one of the cars which took part.

The car isn't shown in the programme of the event, but it's Thomas Bscher's Maserati 250F V12.

The 250F was introduced in 1954 to compete in the new 2½ litre Formula, but by 1956 it was finding it difficult with the 6-cylinder car to compete with the Lancia-derived Ferraris and the British Vanwalls and it was decided to explore the possibility of fitting a V12 engine into the chassis of the 250F.

This car was purpose-built to use the V12 engine (in other words they didn't take an existing car and replace the 6-cylinder engine with the V12) and is serial number 2531.

The car only had one outing in a World Championship Grand Prix and that was at the 1957 Italian Grand Prix at Monza in the hands of Jean Behra where it retired due to overheating.

Before any further development was able to be carried out financial problems caused Maserati to pull out of racing at the end of the 1957 season.

Here's the car during the race at Donington Park at McLean's Corner leading the 1956 Maserati 250F driven by Rick Hall. Maserati retained the V12 engine when they sold the car and it was by this time fitted with a 3-litre V12 engine from a Maserati Tipo 63 sports car.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a car that appears regularly at historic car meetings in the hands of the owner David Cottingham and is here seen at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in 1993.

It's a 1957 Ferrari 500 TRC, with a 2 litre 4-cylinder engine, that was conceived as a customer car and never raced by the works. The serial number is 0682MDTR. Behind it is the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France, serial number 0911GT, then owned by Reza Rashidian.

Aston Martin DB3S

This car took part in the Autumn Historic Car Races meeting organised by the Aston Martin Owners Club at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's a 1955 Aston Martin DB3S, chassis number 103, which was originally campaigned by the Kangaroo Stable racing team of Australia. At the Oulton Park meeting it was driven by Tony Smith. Whenever I see a DB3S I think of when I went to see the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1955 where one of the support races was for sports cars, and I remember standing at a bus stop in Liverpool waiting for a bus to Aintree when the four Aston Martin DB3S works cars came trundling past on their way to the circuit. An exciting sight for a 13 year old schoolboy. Those four cars finished in the first four places in the race.

Morris LD

The vehicle shown below was one of the entrants in the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1996.

It's a 1965 Morris LD with Wadham Stringer ambulance body and was entered in the rally by J.Murphy of Fazakerley, Liverpool. There's no other information about it in the programme of the event, but I understand that it is believed to be an ex-Liverpool ambulance.

The Morris LD was produced by the British Motor Corporation in conjunction with the Austin 1000/1500kg van which both used the Austin 2.2 litre petrol engine. The Morris LD was preceded by the Morris Commercial PV and succeeded by the BMC 350 EA.

BRM V16

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999 included a display of BRM cars to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the marque. Included in the display were three of the original BRM V16 cars.

This is the original car, designated BRM Mk1 No. 1 or V16/01 and this is the one usually on show at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu, The Mk1 is also known as the P15.

This is BRM Mk1 No. 3, or V16/03 and is the Donington Museum car. It was driven in the BRM demonstration run that day at Silverstone by José Froilán Gonzáles.

The third car on display was the BRM V16 Mk2 No. 1, or V16/04, which was then owned by Nick Mason and driven by him in the demonstration run. It is now owned by Bernie Ecclestone. The Mk2 was also known as the P30 and was a shorter and lighter version of the Mk1.

You can read the history of the V16 BRMs in this madasafish.com history of the car.