Giron Alvis

I took this photograph in the paddock at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's Rod Jolley's Giron Alvis, described in the programme of the event as a 1932/37 car with a supercharged 3,500cc engine. I can't find out much about this car, but I suspect it may be a 1932 Speed 20 with the six-cylinder inline 3,571cc engine from a 1937 Speed 25. The only reference to it in the programme notes reads:

'The silver Giron-Alvis is always an unforgettable sight, and it can go very fast, if not always for long.'

Cooper T53 Climax

This car took part in the Innes Ireland Trophy Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the 1960 Cooper T53 Climax of Allan Miles, described in the programme of the event as having a 2,495cc engine, presumably the Coventry Climax FPF unit. It appears to be chassis F1-9-61, a car built for French driver Bernard Collomb to use in the 1961 season and was eventually wrecked in practice for the 1962 Brussels Grand Prix. Some parts of the car were acquired by John Harper in the late 1970s and it was reconstructed, later going to Allan Miles who raced it in historic events from 1988 to 1999. The car is painted dark blue with a white nose band, the colours of Rob Walker who had a Cooper T53 in 1961, chassis F1-7-61, that competed in some non-championship events in the early part of that season.

Bugatti T35B

I took the photograph of this car in the paddock being prepared to participate in the Williams Trophy for Pre-1934 Grand Prix Cars at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011. The race celebrates the win of Grover Williams in the first Monaco Grand Prix in 1929 and the trophy that he won in that race is in the custody of the Bugatti Trust, and is given to the winner of this race to hold for one year.

The car is the 1925 Bugatti Type 35B of Chris Hudson and has a supercharged 2,262cc straight-8 engine. It was driven in the race by Michael Hudson.

On 9 December 2015 I showed three photographs of this car being unloaded from its transporter earlier that day.

Rochdale Cars

These cars were on the stand of the Rochdale Owners Club at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

This is a 1956 Rochdale Type C, originally with a Ford side valve engine, but now undergoing restoration and has a Ford Kent engine. Its registration number is XUM461, but that doesn't show up on the DVLA database.

This is a 1959 Rochdale GT with a Ford 1,172cc side valve engine.

This car is a 1961 Rochdale Riviera, one of only 5 cars thought to still exist. It also has the Ford 1,172cc side valve engine.

This is a 1961 Rochdale Olympic Phase 1 which the Rochdale Owners Club's website says had a 1,380cc BMC A series engine, but the DVLA record says the car's engine capacity is 1,100cc.

This 1959 Rochdale Olympic Phase 2 also has a BMC A series engine which the DVLA record says has a capacity of 1,114cc.

Connaught A Type

This car took part in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting at Oulton Park in June 1982.

It's the 1952 Connaught A Type of Gerry Walton, chassis A8, and is pictured here at Knickerbrook Corner during the race. The car was designed and built by Connaught Engineering's Rodney Clarke and Mike Oliver with a 1,960cc engine based on the Lea Francis 4-cylinder 1,767cc unit, and competed in 1952 and 1953 Grand Prix races which were run under the 2-litre capacity formula. 

On 30 May 2016 I showed a photograph of the car in the paddock at this meeting.

Maserati T61

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

Listed in the programme of the event as a 1959 Maserati T61 with a 2,890cc engine, but generally known as a Maserati Birdcage on account of its space frame chassis, it was entered for the race by Valentine Lindsay and driven by Stirling Moss. It's chassis #2453, which was totally wrecked in an accident at Daytona in late 1959 but the remains were used to re-create the car in the early 1990s.

On 17 August 2017 I showed photographs of three examples of the Maserati Birdcage, including  this one (then coloured red), at Silverstone in 1992.

Friday's Ferrari

This car is pictured in the pit lane during a practice session at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004 where it took part in a round of the Shell Ferrari Maserati Historic Challenge series of races.

It's the 1958 Ferrari 250 GT LWB TdF of Swiss driver Conrad Ulrich and is chassis #1141GT. Officially known as the Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta it began to be known as the LWB - or Long Wheel Base model - after the introduction of a new series with a wheel base 20cm shorter which was referred to as the Short Wheel Base, or SWB. It received the TdF title after its win in the 1956 Tour de France endurance race which allowed it to use that name, as the official Ferrari website says:

'Any manufacturer whose car won the event, was permitted by the organisers to use the event name as part of the model title. Hence, after winning the 1956 running of the event, Ferrari could use the nomenclature. Although never used officially, it has become the general term used to identify this series of berlinettas.'

The car has the Colombo designed 2,953cc V12 engine used by the majority of the 250 series of cars, and is one of the 37 single louvre series of TdF models that were produced between 1957 and 1959.