1973 Fiat 130 Coupé

This was one of the exhibits at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2018.

It's a 1973 Fiat 130 Coupé with a 3,235cc V6 engine, and below is a photo of the note about the car in the side window.

1959 Aston Martin DBR4

This car competed in the Raymond Mays Trophy Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 2001.

It's the 1959 Aston Martin DBR4 of Wolfgang Friedrichs, chassis DBR4/1. The DBR4 is a car that was first built and tested in 1957 although it didn't make its Grand Prix debut until 1959. By that time the new generation of rear-engined cars had made the older front-engined cars uncompetitive and the best results it managed were Roy Salvadori's sixth place finishes in the British and Portuguese Grands Prix in 1959. Originally powered by a 6-cylinder inline 2,493cc engine, Wolfgang Friedrichs’ car had the same 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc engine as the DB3S sports car.

1937 ERA R12C

I took this photograph on the approach to Lodge Corner during the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1984.

It's the 1937 ERA R12C of Bill Morris which has a supercharged 6-cylinder inline1,488cc engine and was driven in the race by Tony Stephens.  Bill Morris owned two ERAs, R12B and R12C and the two cars have a strange history, R12B being a works car that was originally built in 1936 with a 2 litre engine as a B-type car, but in 1937 it was rebuilt to C-type specifications, thus becoming R12C, and given a 1½ litre engine. In 1938 it was sold to Prince Chula to become one of his White Mouse stable's trio of ERAs driven by Prince Bira, where it was given the name 'Hanuman'. In 1939 the car was badly damaged in a crash during practice at Reims and was rebuilt with a B-type frame, reverting to being R12B and the name changing to 'Hanuman II'. After passing through various hands after the Second World War it came to Bill Morris. Bill Morris had managed to acquire the rest of the wreckage left over from the 1939 crash and using the damaged chassis frame rebuilt the car to its 1939 C-type specifications by 1982. That car was now R12C, as if the 1939 accident had never happened, and was given the original car's name of 'Hanuman'.

1986 MG Metro 6R4

When I made my last visit to the Donington Park Museum in September 2014 there was a section set aside for rally cars where I took this photograph.

It's a 1986 MG Metro 6R4 and the board at the side of the car had this to say about it:

'The MG Metro was one of the most familiar Group B rally cars that emerged during the 1980s. It was based on the Rover Metro, however, apart from the name and badge, the 6R4 bore little resemblance to the front wheel drive ‘city’ car on which it was based, indeed the name 6R4 is derived from 6-cylinder, Rear engine, 4-wheel-drive. The normally aspirated 6 cylinder engine produced more than 400 bhp, far more than a modern World Rally Car, and in such a lightweight car could accelerate the 6R4 to 60 mph in around 3 seconds and on to 100 mph in just eight. In 1986 Prodrive ran this car as part of an independent team. It won three rallies in Ireland, in the hands of Billy Coleman and Jimmy McRae, then the first of the McRaes to drive for Prodrive. This car made its final outing at the RAC Rally in 1986, the last time Group B rally cars were to compete in the World Rally Championship.'

 

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the contestants in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1961 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It’s David Vine’s 1953 Ferrari 625 that was driven by Flavien Marçais in the race. It was originally a Formula Two Ferrari 500 with a 4-cylinder inline 1,984cc engine designed by Aurelio Lampredi, and competed in World Championship races in 1952 and 1953 when they were run to Formula 2 regulations. It was an Ecurie Francorchamps car, chassis 0208F, and after being in an accident at the end of 1953 it was rebuilt as a 625 with a lengthened chassis and a 2,498cc version of the Lampredi engine to contest the 2½ litre Formula One starting in 1954. At the same time it was given a new chassis number, 0540. In 1955 it was acquired by Alfonso de Portago who competed in a couple of non-World Championship Grands Prix then was injured in a crash during practice for the International Trophy Race at Silverstone and then sold the car. It then passed through various hands before ending up with David Vine in 1998.

1953 Connaught A-Type

I photographed this car at Lodge Corner in the Cheshire Building Society Allcomers Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1981.

It's the 1953 Connaught A-Type of Alan Cottam, chassis AL10, which has a 4-cylinder inline engine based on the 1,767cc Lea Francis engine with the capacity increased to 1,960cc in line with the then current Formula 2 regulations.

1909 Rolls Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost

This car took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1976 and is pictured in Manchester before the start of the Run.

It's a 1909 Rolls Royce 40/50 Silver Ghost but I don't now have the programme of the event with the owner's details. A total of 7,874 of these cars were produced from 1906 to 1926 all having 6-cylinder inline engines with a capacity of 7,036cc up to 1909, and 7,428 cc from 1910 onwards. This particular car is chassis 1194.