1964 AEC Routemaster

This is one of the vehicles that took part in the Greater Manchester Transport Society's Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally in Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It's a 1964 AEC Routemaster which was with London Transport until 1987 when it was sold to Clydeside Scottish of Glasgow in whose livery it appeared at this event. A note in the programme of the event reads as follows:

'AEC Routemaster, Park Royal H36/28R, 1964                                                        ALD913B

London Transport RM1913

Entered by Messrs Bentley, Cannon & Worksnop, Halifax

Following service in the capital until 1987, this vehicle was sold to Clydeside

Scottish in Glasgow. It was purchased for preservation in 1991'

It later became part of London Transport's Routemaster Heritage Fleet.

Friday's Ferrari

Ferrari uses the Corse Clienti Ferrari Racing Days meetings at various circuits to allow a group of specially selected customers to test limited edition cars developed exclusively for the track and to provide feedback on the performance of the cars to Corse Clienti engineers, thus helping Ferrari to develop its cars for the future. The Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017 included a series of test sessions involving the Ferrari FXX-K, the 'K' referring to the KERS kinetic energy recovery system with which the car is equipped. Here's one of the cars pictured at Club Corner during one of the sessions.

This is Argentinian driver Alejandro Roemmers in his Ferrari FXX-K, which is based on the LaFerrari. The car is chassis no. 211632 and has a 6,262cc V12 engine that develops 848 hp, to which the 140kW electric motor adds 188 hp.

1968 Lotus 41X

I took this photograph early in the Saturday morning in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2018 with cars making their way to the racetrack for what the programme of the event called 'Testing Sessions'.

It's the 1968 Lotus 41X Formula 3 car of Italian driver Enrico Spaggiari with a 4-cylinder inline Ford Cosworth engine. The F3History site says this about the car:

'A “new” car appeared for 1968, the 41X, Lotus took a 41C and modified the front suspension with Lotus 47 (the competition version of the Europa road car) uprights and wheels. In addition a dramatic (for the time) wedge shaped body was fitted, it had a low, wide nose and radiator inlet, the body rising at a constant angle to the rear of the cockpit. A flat engine cover with a slanted undercut tail completed the design. As the season progressed various aerodynamic adjustments were made including a tall rear wing in imitation of its F1 relatives. Only the one car was built and John Miles took it to four good wins during the year. However once again compared with the results racked up by Tecno and Brabham during the year it was another poor Lotus season. In official Lotus records this car was actually listed as the Type 55, the designation it would have when production started. However in view of its only adequate performance these plans were shelved and the Type 59 appeared instead.'

Behind the Lotus number 28 is the 1980 Formula Ford 2000 Lola T580 of Fraser Collins and the number 19 in the background is the 1977 Formula Ford 2000 Crossle 33F of Jimmy Stewart.

The Moon

The Moon seen from Hyde, Cheshire just after 8.30am on 20 December 2022.

1961 Maserati 3500GT

I photographed this car in the Maserati Club's area at the Christie's International Historical Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1961 Maserati 3500GT, a model that was produced between 1959 and 1964, and was powered by the 6-cylinder inline 3,485cc Tipo 101 engine developed from that of the Maserati 350S racing car of 1956. The coachwork was designed by Carrozzeria Touring and the car had an aluminium body attached to a tubular steel frame.

Volkswagen Beetle

I took these photographs of 3 Volkswagen Beetles at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018. All three cars have the flat-4 air cooled engine.

This is a 1971 Cabriolet and has the 1600cc engine.

This is a 1972 model and has the 1300cc engine.

This is a 1973 model and also has the 1300cc engine.

1935 Hudson Terraplane

This car was on the stand of the Railton Owners Club at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1994.

It's a 1935 Hudson Terraplane, built by the Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit, Michigan. The Terraplane chassis and engine were also used on the British Railton car built by the Fairmile Engineering Company in Cobham, Surrey, hence the appearance of this car on the stand of the Railton Owners Club.