1959 Aston Martin DBR4

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine Grand Prix Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010 and is pictured in the paddock waiting to take to the track for the qualifying session.

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-engine cars had made the older front-engine cars uncompetitive and the best results it managed were Roy Salvadori's sixth place finishes in the British and Portuguese Grands Prix in 1959. The car is powered by a 6-cylinder inline 2,493cc engine.

Sunbeam Cars

I took this photograph at the Northern Classic Car Show at Belle Vue, Manchester in September 1984.

The car on the left is a 1956 Sunbeam Mk III, and on the right is a 1955 Sunbeam Alpine. Both cars have a 4-cylinder inline 2,267cc engine.

1953 Frazer Nash Targa Florio

This car was in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

It's a 1953 Frazer Nash Targa Florio, chassis number 421/200/177 with a 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc Bristol engine, which was delivered to its first owner, a J Hood, in June of 1953. The Targa Florio owes its name to the victory by Franco Cortese in the 1951 Targa Florio race in Sicily driving a Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica.

1993 McLaren MP4/8

This is a photograph I took at the Donington Park Museum in September 2014.

It's the 1993 McLaren MP4/8 that Ayrton Senna drove in the 1993 season and there was a board alongside the car showing its history which reads as follows: 

'1993 McLaren MP4/8

The McLaren MP4/8 was a Formula One racing car that competed in the 1993 season. It raced in all sixteen Grand Prix , scoring five wins. The engine was a Ford HBD7 3.5 V8. The car was designed by Neil Oatley around advanced racecar technology, including a semi-automatic transmission, active suspension and traction control systems.

McLaren had to make do with the Ford HBD7 3.5 V8 engine which had inferior power compared to the Renault engine found in their chief rival Williams, and even the higher spec Ford engine fitted in the Benetton that season. Because Benetton had a pre-existing contract as the Ford factory team, McLaren had to settle for a customer engine which lacked some of the technological advancements of Benetton’s factory engine. McLaren did secure a supply of the higher spec Ford engines after the British Grand Prix. The customer spec Ford engine was approximately 40 hp less that the works Ford engine in the Benetton, and at least 100 hp less than the Williams. During the season, McLaren improved their car and engine performance with technology from TAG Electronics.

Initially, Ayrton Senna was so unconvinced by the car and the engine that he demanded a race-by-race contract at $1 million per Grand Prix, though others suggested that this was a marketing ploy between Senna and Ron Dennis to keep sponsors on edge and interested.

However, the MP4/8 was competitive enough to achieve some remarkable successes. Even though rival Alain Prost was in the superior Williams FW15C, Senna’s skill enabled him to lead the championship during the first weeks of the season. The MP4/8 was known for having a considerably shorter wheelbase (length) than the FW15C and was a noticeably smaller car in length than Prost’s Williams. Later in the season the Frenchman asserted the dominance of his Williams to take the lead for good, while Senna fell off pace during the second half of the schedule and dropped to third place. While Prost clinched the championship with two races to spare, Senna went on to win the last two races. The Brazilian had five wins in total, including one of his greatest drives in the 1993 European Grand Prix , and finished second in the drivers’ championship to Alain Prost, whilst McLaren finished runners up to Williams in the manufacturers’ championship.

This is the Senna T car from the Donington European Grand Prix weekend.'

Friday's Ferrari

This was one of the competitors in the BRDC 60s GT Race at the Christie’s International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It’s the Ferrari 250 GTO of Sir Anthony Bamford, now Lord Bamford, and was driven in the race by Frank Sytner. It is a 1963 car, chassis #4399GT, that was rebodied at the end of 1963 with a 1964 series II body. This car was first owned by Colonel Ronnie Hoare of Maranello Concessionaires and raced by several drivers including Mike Parkes, Graham Hill and Innes Ireland, Graham Hill winning the 1963 Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood and Mike Parkes the 1964 Spa 500 km race. Innes Ireland and Tony Maggs finished in sixth place in the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hour race. It was bought by Anthony Bamford in 1969.

1992 Ford GT40 MkII Replica

This was in the car park overlooking the Cascades corner at the Historic Sports Car Club's Spring Historic Race meeting at Oulton Park in May 1992.

It's a replica of a 1960s Ford GT40 MkII apparently built by (or for) Ford dealers Timms of Leigh. The registration number denotes a car registered between 1 August 1991 and 31 July 1992 and the DVLA no longer has a record of a car with that number.

1950 Bentley Mk VI

Here are some photographs I took in January 2020 of a car I saw outside the The Lowry at Salford Quays when I came out of the Lowry Outlet Mall at the other side of the square.

It’s a 1950 Bentley Mk VI which has a 6-cylinder inline 4,257cc engine.

5,208 of these cars were produced between 1946 and 1952.