Juan Manuel Fangio

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting of July 1994 at Silverstone featured a tribute to Juan Manuel Fangio and had a display of some of the cars with which he was associated.

On the left is the Mercedes Benz 300SLR with which Stirling Moss, accompanied by Denis Jenkinson, won the 1955 Mille Miglia – his team mate Fangio finished in second place in a solo drive. The red car is an Alfa Romeo 158, representing the later Alfa Romeo 159 with which Fangio won his first World Championship in 1951 and next to that is one of the cars with which he won two of his World Drivers’ Championship victories, the Mercedes Benz W196 which he drove in 1954 and 1955, although he started the 1954 season with a Maserati 250F. When Mercedes Benz withdrew from racing at the end of the 1955 season Fangio moved to the Ferrari team where he won the 1956 Championship driving a Lancia-Ferrari, but at the time of this tribute there were none left in existence, although since then several of the earlier Lancia D50s and the Lancia-Ferrari have been recreated. In 1957 he moved to the Maserati team where he won his last title with a 250F, one of which featured in this display, but was taking part in a track display when I took this photograph. Behind the W196 is a car from his earlier exploits in Argentina before he came to Europe. This blue and yellow car is a 1949 Ferrari 166 F2 car, Enzo Ferrari's first single seat racing car. It is thought to be one of the cars that Fangio drove early in his career before he came to Europe and joined the Alfa Romeo F1 team, and had been fully restored by Tony Merrick in the 4 years before this appearance.

1927 Thornycroft Dandy

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 1988.

It's a 1927 Thornycroft Dandy and the programme of the event had this comment about the vehicle:

YC 1176 Thornycroft Dandy. 1927. Entered by Frederick Robinson Limited, Unicorn Brewery, Stockport. This fine vintage lorry is now in the distinctive livery of its present owner.

1954 Maserati 250F

Maserati was the featured marque at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005, and in particular the 2½ litre 250F Formula One car. A total of 16 of the 250Fs appeared at the meeting, either competing or being displayed on and off the track, and here is one of them.

This is Josef Rettenmaier at McLean’s Corner during the Celebration Maserati Invitation Race in his 1954 car, chassis #2508, which was once owned by Stirling Moss. There were short notes in the programme of the event giving details for each Maserati 250F chassis number, and this is what it said about Josef Rettenmaier's car:

 

'2508

Ordered by Stirling Moss through the Shell-BP company office in Italy. Raced by Moss until he joined Mercedes-Benz, and later loaned to various drivers including Mike Hawthorn, Bob Gerard and John Fitch. Sold to Ross Jensen in New Zealand and returned to the UK in 1964. Now owned by Josef Rettenmaier in Germany.'

1928 Morgan Super Aero

This is a photograph I took at Britten's chicane during a Five Lap Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2008.

It's Gary Caroline in his 1928 Morgan Super Aero 3-wheeler with a 1,260cc V-twin JAP engine and he’s following Noel Runnels-Moss in a 1921/24 Vauxhall 30-98 Velox. There's a Morgan Three Wheeler Club especially for the owners of these cars.

Friday's Ferrari

I took this photograph at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

It is either a Ferrari GTC4Lusso which has the Ferrari F140ED 6,262cc V12 engine and 7-speed dual-clutch transmission, or it's a Ferrari GTC4Lusso T and has the 3,855cc twin-turbo V8 Ferrari 154 engine. The GTC4Lusso has four-wheel drive whilst the GTC4Lusso T has rear wheel drive only and both cars have a four-wheel steering system. The GTC4Lusso was introduced in 2016 and the GTC4Lusso T a year later, and both ceased production in 2020. The DVLA record no longer shows any results for H1 GTC.

1936 Ford CX

This car was on the stand of the Ford Y & C Model Register at the Northern Classic Car Show in the G-Mex Centre, Manchester in August 1987.

It's a 1936 Ford Model CX, a de-luxe version of the Model C, identifiable by the chrome strips across the radiator. It has the 4-cylinder inline 1,172cc Ford side valve engine that was used by many builders of 1950s 'specials' including the early Lotus cars.

Christmas Day

It's Christmas Day today, so here for a change is a photograph that I took on the Route de Cobo in Guernsey in December 2021.

Happy Christmas to everyone!