1925 Sunbeam 3-litre Super Sports

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car run in June 1986 starting from the Exchange Station car park in Manchester.

It's shown in the programme of the event as a 1926 Sunbeam 3-litre Super Sports and has a 2,920cc 6-cylinder inline twin overhead camshaft engine. A note about the car in the programme says:

1926 Sunbeam 3-litre Super Sports

Reg: ER 5678  6 cylinder 20.9 hp  2920 cc

(Kent S Robinson, Basingstoke, Hants)

This car was designed specifically for the Le Mans 24-Hour Race, where on the only occasion it competed it finished second driven by Chassagne and S C H Davis, despite a fractured chassis. It still makes an annual pilgrimage to Le Mans in June, its considerable performance making it an ideal touring car even today. In 1984 it successfully completed a tour of Spain, and only a fortnight ago returned from a nine-day European trip taking in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland.

If this is that car then it should rightly be described as a 1925 car as the second placed car in the 1925 Le Mans 24-Hour Race was indeed the Sunbeam of Jean Chassagne and S C H Davis. The car was only offered for sale between 1926 and 1930 which is perhaps the reason for calling it a 1926 car.

1958 Lister Jaguar

This was one of the competitors in the 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the 1958 Lister Jaguar of the late Steve O'Rourke, former manager of the Pink Floyd rock band. The car has the 3,781cc version of the 6-cylinder inline Jaguar XK6 engine. Originally a works car, chassis BHL2, it was sold at the end of 1959 and eventually ended up with Mike Wright who competed with the car but wrote it off in a road accident. The remains in time came to John Pearson who used the parts to construct a replica which was sold to Steve O'Rourke in 1989.

On 24 November 2016 I showed several photographs of the car that I had taken at Oulton Park in 1992.

2012 McLaren MP4-12C

I photographed this car in the paddock at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2018.

It's a 2012 McLaren MP4-12C which should have a longitudinally-mounted 3,799cc twin-turbocharged McLaren M838T V8 engine, though the DVLA record says that the car's engine capacity is 2,670cc. Coincidentally, the car's wheelbase is 2,670mm.

1955 Maserati 300S

This car took part in the 1950s Drum-Braked Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1955 Maserati 300S of Tony Smith, chassis #3053, and has a 6-cylinder inline 2,991cc engine based on the 2½ litre engine of the 250F Grand Prix car. The car was originally campaigned in the USA by the Briggs Cunningham team and finished in third place in the 1955 Sebring 12 hour race driven by Bill Spear and Sherwood Johnston.

Friday's Ferrari

I photographed this car at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It's a 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso T and has the 3,855cc twin-turbo V8 Ferrari 154 engine with rear wheel drive only, unlike the GTC4Lusso which has four-wheel drive and a 6,262cc V12 Ferrari F140 engine. Both cars have a four-wheel steering system.

1935 Crossley Regis Six

I took this photograph at the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry in April 1986.

It's a 1935 Crossley Regis Six with what the DVLA record says is a 1,651cc engine. Both 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder versions of the Crossley Regis were built, approximately 1,050 in total, between 1935 and 1937. The 4-cylinder model had a 1,122cc MC type engine and the 6-cylinder either a 1,476cc JM type or a 1,640cc JMC type unit. This particular car is a 6-cylinder model, chassis 100762, engine number JM374 and body number RE422. The Crossley car was manufactured in Manchester, the main site being in Napier Street, later named Crossley Street, Gorton.

1973 Lola T330

This was one of the competitors in the Derek Bell Trophy race at the Historic Sports Car Club's Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2017.

It's the 1973 Lola T330 of Brad Hoyt and competed in the 1972 to 1977 Formula 5000 class of the race. Formula 5000 was introduced in 1968 for cars with a maximum capacity of 5,000cc, and the Chevrolet small-block V8 engine quickly became the favoured power unit. The photograph was taken at Britten's chicane.