Bentleys

Any meeting organised by the Vintage Sports Car Club is always going to attract a good number of Bentleys, and the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in June 2008 was no exception.

The car nearest the camera is the 1929 Bentley 4½ litre Le Mans driven in Sunday's hour-long Motor Racing Legends Pre-war Sports Cars race by Stanley Mann and Michael Rudnig. The red car next to that is possibly the 1927 supercharged Bentley 3 litre driven by Joe and Rachel Singer in the same race. The silver car looks like the 1927 Bentley 3/8 litre of Adam Singer that he shared with Stanley Mann in Saturday's 2 hour-long VSCC White House Memorial Pre-war Sports Car Team Relay Race. On 9 August 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at Donington Park in 2006. The next car appears to have three racing numbers and seems to be the 1928 Bentley 3/4½ litre Le Mans driven in the Relay Race by Joseph Singer as number 171 and Stuart Fearnside as number 172. It may also be the car shared by Adam Singer and Stuart Fearnside in Sunday's hour-long race - that was number 14, but is shown in the programme of the event as a 1927 car, not 1928. The racing number on the last car appears to be a 21, and if so it's the 1929 supercharged Bentley 4½ litre of Martin Overington that he drove in the Sunday hour-long race.

Alta F2

This is one of the cars that took part in the HGPCA Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2002.

Shown in the programme of the event as Ian Nuthall's 1952 Alta F2, it's probably the same car that he drove at the 2004 Gold Cup meeting when the entrant was shown as Martin Grant Peterkin. This car has the 4-cylinder inline 1,980cc Alta engine that was better known for powering the HWM cars in the 1952 and 1953 World Championship seasons.

Lister Jaguar

This car was amongst the many static display vehicles at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's a 1958 Lister Jaguar that has been owned and raced by the Ham family, David and Simon, since 1969. Originally owned by Scottish businessman Sir Alexander Miller, it was sold first to hill climb specialist Phil Scragg who installed a Chevrolet engine in place of  the original Jaguar unit, then by George Tatham, before ending up with David Ham who restored the car and put back the original Jaguar engine. There's a more extensive history of the car on this article on the Chateau Impney website prior to their Hill Climb in May 2016.

Cooper Maserati

I took this photograph in the paddock at the SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

The programme of the event says that number 7 in the HGPCA Pre-'66 GP Cars race is the 1959 Cooper T51 of Nick Wigley with a 2½ litre engine and is entered in the Tasman & Intercontinental Class. I can't find anything that says Nick Wigley had a Cooper Maserati, and the Cooper T51 he's generally pictured driving is an ex-Rob Walker car. It's not the first time I've taken a photograph of an unidentified Cooper Maserati at Donington Park - on 19 November 2016 I showed one that I'd photographed at the VSCC's 2001 meeting which looks to be a different car to the one above.

Chevrolet Camaro

One of the races at the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2002 was the AMOC Lighthouse Anglo-American Thoroughbred Challenge race, and this car was one of those that took part.

It's Alec Hammond's 1967 Chevrolet Camaro, a car that was produced by General Motors from 1967 to 1969 with a choice by the end of the production run of 12 different engines. This car had the 350 cu in, or 5.7 litre V8 unit.

Friday's Ferrari

This is a photograph I took from the pit terrace overlooking Club Corner at the Ferrari Racing Days meeting at Silverstone in September 2017.

These cars in the International Paddock behind the pit garages are some of the cars that took part in the Corse Clienti Ferrari Challenge races at this event. You can see the numbers on some of the cars, and from the left starting with the one facing away from the camera these are:

70 Ferrari 488 Challenge (Martin Nelson)

92 Ferrari 488 Challenge (Sam Sneeth)

222 Ferrari 458 Challenge EVO (Holger Harmsen)

27 Ferrari 488 Challenge (Alessandro Vezzoni)

44 Ferrari 488 Challenge (Jens Liebhauser)

45 Ferrari 488 Challenge (Christian Overgaard)

30 Ferrari 488 Challenge (Joshua Cartu)

The Ferrari 458 Challenge was introduced in 2010 and has a 4½ litre V8 engine. The Ferrari 488 Challenge was introduced in December 2016 ahead of the 2017 season and has a 3.9 litre V8 engine.

Bristol L5G

This was one of the many single deck buses taking part in the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1995.

It's a 1946 Bristol L5G provided new to the North Western Road Car Company in January 1947 with a Brush B35R body and a Gardner 5LW 7 litre 5-cylinder diesel engine. In 1958 it was rebodied with a Willowbrook B38R body and continued in service with North Western until 1964. After passing through various hands it was acquired by the Greater Manchester Transport Society in November 1986. The programme of the event has the following note about the vehicle:

Bristol L5G, Willowbrook B38R, 1946                                               BJA425

Entered by                                        Greater Manchester Transport Society

This vehicle has been fully restored at the Museum of Transport over the past eighteen months by volunteers. Material costs of over £4,000 have been raised with the assistance of David Whitehead and Stuart Cameron who held auctions at the Museum in conjunction with the spring and autumn transport festivals.

Connaught A-Type

These two Connaughts competed in the HGPCA Pre-61 Front Engine Grand Prix Cars race at the Silverstone Classic meeting in July 2010.

This is Adrian van der Kroft's 1952 Connaught A-Type, chassis A3. Originally owned by Ken Downing it was acquired by Rob Walker in 1953 and subsequently driven by Tony Rolt, Peter Collins and Tony Brooks, amongst others.

This is another Connaught A-Type, the 1952 car of Wil Arif, and is chassis A6. This car was driven in the 1952 season by Eric Thompson, and in the Italian Grand Prix by Stirling Moss, but was acquired by Ecurie Ecosse at the end of the season and was campaigned by them in the 1953 season.

Here's Wil Arif in A6 preparing to go out on a practice session.

The A-Type Connaught was designed in 1950 to compete in 2 litre Formula 2 races and the 1,960cc engine was developed from the Lea Francis engines that powered their L-Type sports cars. In 1952 and 1953 the World Drivers Championship was contested by Formula 2 cars and Connaughts took part in several of those races.

Gordini T16

I took this photograph at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006 of a car that took part in the VSCC Flockhart Trophy Race.

It's the 1952 2½ litre straight-6 Gordini Type 16 of Marc Valvekens being prepared in the paddock for the race. The Type 16 Gordini competed in World Championship races from 1952 to 1956 but after Jean Behra finished in third place in its first race, the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, and Robert Manzon also finished third in the next race, the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix, the car never managed another top three finish.

On 8 June 2016 I showed two other photographs of the car at this meeting, and on 25 November 2013 I showed photographs of the car at Donington Park in 2004.

Lotus 61

This car took part in the HSCC Historic Formula Ford Championship Race at the Historic Sports Car Club's race meeting at Oulton Park in June 2001.

It's Bryan Haywood's 1969 Lotus 61 with a 1,600cc 4 cylinder inline Ford Kent engine that was originally developed for the 1959 Ford Anglia, and styling reminiscent of the Lotus 56 which contested the 1968 Indianapolis 500 race. This particular car is chassis #61-FF-200 and was offered for auction in 2012 by Silverstone Auctions.

McLaren M19A

This car was on the grid for the Grand Prix Masters race at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004.

It's David Clark's 1971 3 litre V8 Cosworth DFV-engined McLaren M19A. This is chassis 02 and it was driven by Denny Hulme in the 1971 racing season and continued to be used by the team for the first part of the 1972 season until superseded by the M19C.

Lagonda V12

I photographed this car at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2004 where it seems to have taken part in the Pre-War Sports Car Team Relay Race.

Sixteen teams ranging from just 3 and up to 8 cars were entered for this race listed in the programme of the event as lasting 'up to 3 hours'. There's no number 772 listed in any of the races at the event, but one of the teams in the relay race has a number 72 which is shown in the programme as P Golding's 1938 V12 Lagonda with a capacity of 4,479cc. The Lagonda V12 was produced from 1938 to 1940 with a 4½ litre engine and in 1939 two modified cars were entered for the Le Mans 24 Hour race, finishing in third and fourth places. The cars resembled the car shown above, but it is on record that several of the short chassis 'Rapide' versions of the V12 were converted by individuals to 'Le Mans' replicas, and presumably this car is one of those.

Friday's Ferrari

At one point in my visit to the Aston Martin Owners Club's meeting at Oulton Park in May 2017 I walked down to Lodge Corner to take some photographs and this car was parked there.

 It's a 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT and has a 2.4 litre V6 engine.

It was introduced after there had been calls for a more powerful version of the earlier 2 litre Dino 206 GT.

On 23 October 2015 I showed photographs that I'd taken of the same car at Knickerbrook at the 2015 AMOC meeting at Oulton Park.

Porsche 917

This car was a static exhibit at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting at the Northamptonshire circuit in August 2001.

It's a 1969 Porsche 917 in the livery of John Wyer's Gulf Oil sponsored team and the car, which is chassis #013/034, was then owned by Mark Finburgh. During the filming of the Steve McQueen film 'Le Mans' the car was crashed and damaged to such an extent that the original chassis 013 had to be replaced by a new chassis 034. The 917 was powered by a flat-12 engine, originally of 4½ litres, later increased to 4.9 litres and then to 5 litres.

Lotus Mk IX

This car took part in a Ten Lap Invitation Scratch Race for 1950's Sports/Racing Cars at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

It's George Edney's 1955 Lotus Mk IX, about thirty of which were produced. It could be used with a variety of engines, most often the 1,100cc Coventry Climax unit, but the programme of the event says that the engine capacity of this car was 1,466cc. The first Le Mans 24 Hour race contested by Lotus was with a Mk IX in 1955, driven by Colin Chapman and Ron Flockhart, but the car was disqualified after 12 hours when Colin Chapman went off the circuit at the Arnage corner into a sandbank and reversed the car back onto the circuit without getting permission from a marshall to do so.

Chrysler 300C Vogue Limousine

I photographed this car in August last year parked in a side-street in Hyde.

It's a 2006 Chrysler 300C Vogue Limousine.

The DVLA record says that it has a 3 litre diesel engine, and the standard 3 litre diesel for the 300C is a V6 unit.

These cars are generally for use in the chauffeur driven limousine business.

Maserati A6GCM

I photographed this car in the pit garage at the HGPCA,s International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004 where it took part in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1961 Grand Prix Cars.

It's David Bennett's 1953/4 Straight-six 2,493cc Maserati A6GCM. The car is finished in the Siamese colours of Prince Bira who competed in a Maserati A6GCM in the 1954 season, and if it is that car it's chassis #2044.

On 8 September 2015 I showed photographs of this car at Oulton Park in 2006.

Alfa Romeo 8C Monza

This was one of the competitors in the Maserati UK Race for Pre 1952 Grand Prix Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's Peter Neumark's 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C Monza, originally built with a 2.3 litre supercharged straight-eight engine, but the programme of the event says that this car has the later 2.6 litre unit that was fitted to the cars from 1933. The car is painted in the French blue racing colours, but I don't know if it's the blue Alfa Romeo 8C driven by French driver Louis Chiron in the 1933 racing season. The car was given the 'Monza' name after its victory in the 10 hour long 1931 Italian Grand Prix at the Monza circuit co-driven by Giuseppe Campari and Tazio Nuvolari.

Alfa Romeo

These two Alfa Romeos competed in the Saloon/Sports Car Challenge race at the HSCC's Summer Race Meeting at Oulton Park in July 1995.

This car's not listed in the programme of the event, but it's an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint from the late 1950s or early 1960s. These cars were produced from 1954 to 1965 and had a 1.3 litre twin-cam straight-4 engine.

This is the 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia of Paul Wallis. The Giulia was produced from 1962 to 1978 with either a 1.3 litre or 1.6 litre straight-4 engine, although the programme gives the engine capacity of this car as 2,000cc.

Friday's Ferrari

This is one of the cars taking part in the Ferrari F1 demonstration runs at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1994 Ferrari 412T1 of Roland Hachler, seen here in the pit lane during a warm-up practice session. The Ferrari 412T1 was driven in the 1994 season by Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger, and for two races by Nicola Larini replacing the injured Jean Alesi. It has a 3½ litre V12 engine, and this car is chassis #149.

Lotus 19

I took these photographs at Aintree on practice day for the Aintree 200 meeting in April 1961.

It's a 1960 Lotus 19, called the Monte Carlo as a nod to its perceived close rival the Cooper T49 Monaco. The car was one of a pair entered for the sports car race at this meeting by the UDT Laystall Racing team, to be driven by Stirling Moss and Henry Taylor, and this one is Henry Taylor's car. Both cars were powered by the 2½ litre Coventry Climax FPF engine.

The UDT Laystall team was originally formed as the British Racing Partnership in 1957 by Stirling Moss's father Alfred and his former manager Ken Gregory to run cars for Stirling Moss, outside his other racing commitments, and other up-and-coming drivers. In a sponsorship deal the team was renamed Yeoman Credit Racing for the 1960 season and then UDT Laystall Racing for the next two seasons.

Porsche 906

This car competed in the Coys of Kensington 80th Anniversary Trophy for Pre-1972 Le Mans Cars race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

This is the 1966 Porsche 906, also known as the Carrera 6, of Irvine Laidlaw and was driven in the race by Andrew Kirkaldy. The 906 has a flat-6 1,991cc engine and was introduced by Porsche in 1966 to replace the Porsche 904 which had a flat-4 1,966cc engine. The extra power of the new car was needed to compete with the Ferrari Dino 206 SP in the 2 litre class of racing.

I've shown photographs previously of the Porsche 906 on 24 February 2015, 26 October 2015 and 2 May 2017.

Aston Martin DBR4

I took these photographs at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1993 where it competed in the Historic Car Championship Race.

It's Tony Smith's 1959 Aston Martin DBR4, built originally with a 2½ litre engine, but at this time powered by a 2,992cc DB3S unit. The DBR4 competed in World Championship races in 1959 in the hands of Roy Salvadori and Carroll Shelby, but never achieved a top 3 finish. It's chassis number 4 and was later sold to Hubert Fabri.

I've shown photographs of the Aston Martin DBR4 previously - on 7 October 2015 and 8 March 2017 at the 1959 British Grand Prix, when it was known as the DBR4/250 - and on 7 May 2016 and 2 August 2017 at subsequent historic race meetings.

Panther Cars

Here are three of the Panther cars that I photographed at the Footman James Classic Car Show Manchester at EventCity in September 2017.

This is a 1976 Panther De Ville, produced from 1974 to 1985 and the body style was inspired by the Bugatti Royale of the late 1920s/early 1930s. There was a choice of two Jaguar engines, the 4.2 litre XJ6 inline-6 engine and the 5.3 litre V12 engine and this car has the larger 5.3 litre unit.

This is a 1972 Panther J72, produced from 1972 to 1981 and styled on the pre-war SS100 cars, later to become Jaguars. This car was offered with a choice of three Jaguar engines, the two used by the Panther De Ville plus the 3.8 litre inline-6 XJ6 unit. The DVLA record says that this car's engine has a capacity of 3,791cc.

This is a 1980 Panther Lima, produced from 1976 to 1982 which used the Vauxhall Viva, and later the Vauxhall Magnum, 2.3 litre inline-4 engine.

There's a Panther Car Club for owners of these vehicles.

Murray Walker

The VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in June 2003 featured a tribute to the late Ayrton Senna, and also a visit from the veteran Motorsport commentator Murray Walker who spent some time in the Paddock Suite during the meeting signing autographs.

Behind Murray Walker you can see the 1993 McLaren MP4/8, the 1987 Camel Lotus 99T, the 1985 JPS Lotus 97T and the 1983 Williams FW08C that were part of the 'Tribute to Ayrton Senna' display. The McLaren was the car that Ayrton Senna drove in spectacular fashion to win the rain-sodden European Grand Prix at Donington Park in 1993.

Morris Cowley

Pictured of the Exchange Station car park in Manchester, this is one of the cars taking part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's annual Manchester to Blackpool Veteran And Vintage Car Run in June 1991.

It's the 1924 Morris Cowley of George Garlick, and the programme of the event said this about the car:

44.     1924 Morris Cowley

           Reg: RK 1764   4 cylinder   11.9 hp

           (George Garlick, Elswick, Preston)

Mr Garlick has been a Manchester to Blackpool regular for ten

years - but this is only the second time in this car. Purchased in

1988 in the form of a chassis, engine, and various tea-chests

full of parts. It was completed and put on the road by August 1989.

The Morris Cowley was a more basic version of the Morris Oxford, produced from 1919 to 1926 and powered by a straight-4 side-valve engine of either 1,548cc or 1,802cc. This model of the Cowley was popularly known as the 'Morris Bullnose' because of the distinctive round-topped radiator, as was its sister car the Morris Oxford. There's a Bullnose Morris Club for owners of these vehicles. 

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998 celebrated 50 years of racing at Silverstone with a display featuring a car representing each of those 50 years.

The car representing the year 1993 was the Ferrari F93A of Paul Osborn, a 3½ litre V12 engined car, chassis #143, which was campaigned in that season by Jean Alesi who finished in sixth position in the World Championship with his team mate Gerhard Berger in eighth place. Ferrari finished in fourth place in the Constructors' Championship.

I've shown photographs of this car previously, on 14 September 2012, 21 September 2012, 26 April 2013 and 15 July 2016, at SeeRed meetings at Donington Park.

Tojeiro Jaguar

This car was entered in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1997.

It's the ex-Ecurie Ecosse 1959 Tojeiro Jaguar, then owned by the Altera Corporation and driven in the race by Barrie 'Whizzo' Williams. The car was built for Ecurie Ecosse in 1959 and its first race was the Le Mans 24 Hour race that year, driven by Ron Flockhart and Jock Lawrence, but it retired after 11 hours of racing with a wrecked engine. It was rebuilt and competed in the 1959 Tourist Trophy race at Goodwood, driven by Masten Gregory and Jim Clark, but was completely wrecked when Masten Gregory left the circuit at Woodcote Corner. The car was rebuilt many years later in its current form.

On 16 October 2013 I showed a photograph of the car (and other ex-Ecurie Ecosse cars) at the 1995 Coys meeting at Silverstone.

Devin

This car appeared at the Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1993, taking part in the Twelve Lap 1950's Sports Car Race.

It's Ron Gammons' 1958 V8 engined 5,424cc Devin, and a note about the car in the programme of the event says this about it:

Fancied runners in the race are Frank Sytner's 1957 D-type Jaguar, American Stephen Griswold's 1958 Lister Chevrolet and Ron Gammons' 1958 Devin. The latter has a chassis designed and built in Belfast by Irishman Malcolm MacGregor, with a glass-fibre body designed and built by American Bill Devin in California and a V8 engine by Chevrolet of Detroit. Only about 15 were made.

You can read the story of Bill Devin's cars here.

HWM Jaguar

This car competed in the 2¼ hour long Gentlemen Drivers Race for Pre 1966 GT Cars and Pre 1963 Sports Cars at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Donington Park in May 2001.

It's the 1954 HWM Jaguar that was driven in the race by Michael Steele and Julian Bronson. John Abecassis and John Heath had built and raced their Formula 2 HWM cars since 1950 and in 1953 built their first sports car on a Formula 2 chassis. The team remained involved in sports car racing till 1956 when John Heath was killed during that year's Mille Miglia race.

Seddon Mk 4

This bus took part in the Trans Lancs Historic Vehicle Rally at Heaton Park, Manchester in September 1993.

It's a 1949 (though the programme of the event says 1959) Seddon Mk 4 with a Santus C30F body, and the programme has this note about the vehicle, which was entered in the Single Deck Buses Pre 1950 class:

Seddon, Santus C30F, 1959

Vincents of Thorncombe

Entered by E. Birch, Walsall

Operated by Vincents for 26 years, this is the only known survivor of the Seddon

Mk4 coach. It is fitted with a Perkins P6 engine.