1956 Triumph TR3

These two cars competed in the AMOC Lighthouse Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002.

Both are 1956 models, number 34 being the car of Charles Gillett and number 37 that of Justin Maeers. The Triumph TR3 was a successor to the TR2, both using a tuned version of the 4-cylinder inline 1991cc Standard Vanguard engine but that in the TR3 was a slightly more powerful unit. These two cars, though, have the 2,138cc engine that only became available with later versions of the TR3 in 1959.

1961 Porsche718

This was one of the cars in the Donington Park Museum when I went there in March 1996.

It's a Porsche 718 that formerly belonged to Dutch privateer Carel Godin de Beaufort, and this is what the book 'Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection' said about it:

'The Porsche 718

Germany’s challenger 

French driver Jean Behra began Porsche’s single-seater venture into Formula 2 in 1958. He had a central-seat version of the RSK sports car built up and it proved very successful. For 1959 the Stuttgart works produced ‘proper’ single-seater cars, with similar air-cooled flat-four engines and trailing-link torsion bar front suspension, and when the 1½-litre Formula 1 came into operation in 1961 they were well prepared to enter Grand Prix racing for the first time.

Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier drove the cars, which proved quite competitive. And when the new eight-cylinder was introduced for 1962 the old cars were sold. Two of them went to the giant Dutchman, Count Carel Godin de Beaufort, and he enjoyed himself hugely as one of that rare breed of private owners in Formula 1. He suffered a fatal accident in one of the obsolete old Porsches during practice for the 1964 German Grand Prix at Nürburgring. He was, as ever, trying as hard as he could to reach a qualifying time, and the loss of this jovial, larger than life character took some much-needed colour from the Grand Prix scene.'

1958 Devin SS

I took this photograph during the Invitation Scratch Race for 1950's Sports Racing Cars at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's Ron Gammons in his 1958 Devin SS which has a 331 cu in (5,424cc) Chevrolet small block engine. There's no information about the car in the programme of the event, but when he raced the car at Oulton Park 3 years earlier the programme said this about it:

'The Devin has a chassis designed and built in Belfast by Irishman Malcolm MacGregor, with a glass-fibre body designed and built by American Bill Devin in California and a V8 engine by Chevrolet of Detroit. Only about 15 were made.'

This site gives lots of information about Bill Devin and his cars.

1970 BRM P153

This car is leaving the pit lane during the qualifying session for the Silverstone International Trophy Race for Pre 1978 Grand Prix Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

It's Bobby Bell in the 1970 BRM P153, chassis P153/04 that was raced by Jackie Oliver in the 1970 racing season. The car was designed by Tony Southgate, was powered by the 2,9982cc BRM P142 V12 engine, and after the 1970 season it competed in a variety of races until 1981. During the last five years of that period it was owned by Bell & Colvill and driven by Bobby Bell who drove it at this Silverstone meeting.

1949 Crossley DD42

This is one of a large number of double deck buses that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in September 1993 in Heaton Park, Manchester.

It's a 1949 (though the programme of the event says 1948) Crossley DD42 from the Society's museum. The programme gives this information about the vehicle:

'Crossley DD42/8S, Crossley H30/26R, 1948                                                 JND791

Manchester City Transport 2150

Entered by Greater Manchester Transport Society

The sole survivor of a once numerous fleet of Crossley vehicles which graced the

streets of Manchester during the 1950s and 1960s. A star attraction at the recent

Crossley Weekend held at the Museum of Transport.'

Next to the Crossley is another of the Transport Museum's vehicles, a 1951 Leyland PD2/3, fleet number 3245 and registration JND646.

1967 McLaren M4A

This car is pictured just before Lodge Corner in the HSCC Pre '65 Single Seater Championship race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1995.

It's David Coplowe in his 1967 McLaren M4A Formula 2 car with a 4-cylinder inline 1.598cc Cosworth FVA engine. This car was originally driven by Piers Courage for John Coombes in the 1967 Formula 2 season and is chassis M4A/2.

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the cars in the special Ferrari display at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

Numbered 31 in the list of display cars in the programme of the event it's a 1965 Ferrari 250 LM, which should indicate a 3 litre engine, but since all but the first example of the model (which did have the 2,953cc V12 Colombo engine) had the 3,286cc version of that engine it should really be referred to as a 275 LM. At the time of this race meeting the car was thought to be chassis #6023, the car that won the 1964 Angola Grand Prix, but it has since been found that it is #6313, the car that finished in second place in the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Both cars were owned by Ecurie Francorchamps during that period, and it's thought that at some stage the chassis tags were swapped over to match a relevant travel carnet when crossing borders. Photographic evidence was used to rectify this just a few years ago.