1960 Cooper T53

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's the 1960 Cooper T53 of Barry Cannell which the programme of the event says had a 2½ litre engine and appears to be the car that oldracingcars.com describes as 'the Jersey car'. The T63 was built by the Cooper Team with a 2,497cc 4-cylinder inline Coventry Climax FPF engine to contest the 1960 F1 season. Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren drove the car that year, Brabham winning his second World Drivers' Championship and McLaren finishing in second place. Cooper (obviously) won the World Constructors' Championship.

 

Immediately behind the Cooper is the 1935 Riley Special of Tim Hopkinson and on the right in the background is Paul Mullins' 1936 ERA R7B.

1959 Cooper T51

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre 1966 Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's Richard Longes' 1959 Cooper T51 and has a 2,495cc engine, presumably the Coventry Climax FPF engine that powered these cars in 1959. It seems to be chassis F2-18-59.

1963 Alvis TD21

I took this photograph in one of the car parks at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's a 1963 Alvis TD21 Series II with the 6-cylinder inline 2,993cc engine. The TD21 was produced from 1958 to 1963 with the Series II introduced in 1962. A total of 784 Series I cars were built and 285 of the Series II model. The Alvis Archive Trust Register gives this information about the above car:

Model:             TD21

Type:                SII

Coachbuilder: Mulliner Park Ward

Body no:          9001

Body style:      Saloon

Chassis:           26994

Registration:   CML 444A

Despatched:   10 9 1963

Close Racing

This is a photograph I took on the first lap of a scratch race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

The red car in the lead is David Fletcher-Jones in his 1934/35 Lagonda Rapier followed by Thomas Hardman in a 1929/27 Austin 7 B&Q Special. I'm not sure about the following car, but it may be the 1935 Lagonda Rapier of John Boyes. The next two cars are the 1936 Frazer Nash of Geraint Lewis and the 1924/27 Invicta 3/4.5 litre of Trevor Swete.

1956 Lotus Eleven

This was one of the competitors in the 50's Sports Car Race at theVintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's the 1956 Lotus Eleven of Malcolm Ricketts, which the programme of the event says has a 1,480cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was a completely new car, unlike the previous production Lotuses, the Mk VIII, Mk IX and Mk X which were all based on the Lotus Mk VI. The Eleven had a steel tubular space-frame with stressed aluminium panels, and the aerodynamic body was designed by Frank Costin and was hinged at both ends to give complete access to the engine and other mechanical parts. The car was mainly designed to run in the 1,100cc class of racing, but other engines of up to 2½ litres were also used.

1938 TRS

I took this photograph at the Knickerbrook chicane during a Handicap Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Leading is Kieran White in his 1938 TRS ahead of the 1930 Riley Special of Andrew Kellock. The TRS, or Thompson Racing Special was built from Ford parts, including the 1938 Ford 7W grille, and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,087cc Riley 9 engine. There's a note in the programme of the event that says this about the car:

'The second handicap race of the day features a very special 'special'. The TRS, a newcomer to VSCC race meetings has a seriously impressive history. Created in the late 30's, the car is based on a modified Ford C chassis, with a Riley 9 engine and various "go faster" bits. The car won a handicap race at the 1939 Phoenix Meeting, so watch out 'cos this could be a close one!'

1929 Napier Bentley

This was one of the competitors in the Boulogne Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's the 1929 Napier Bentley of Christopher Williams, a car that was created by Peter Morley and David Llewellyn in 1968 using a 24 litre Napier Sea Lion engine which has a 'W' configuration - two banks of four cylinders in a 'V' with a third upright bank between them. The car was originally built on a Sunbeam chassis but after an accident was rebuilt using the chassis of a 1929 8 litre Bentley.

1953 Cooper Bristol MkII

These two cars competed in the Hawthorn Memorial Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

They're the 1953 Cooper Bristol MkIIs of Graham Burrows and Mary Grant-Jonkers, and judging by the angle of the shadows the photograph was taken quite early in the morning when the numbers hadn't been changed to the 203 and 204 that they wore in the race. The Cooper Bristol had a 1971cc 6-cylinder inline Bristol engine that was derived from the pre-war BMW 328 unit. Father and son Charles & John Cooper had started the Cooper Car Company in 1946, and at first specialised in building cars for the new 500cc class of racing that British enthusiasts had started as a simple and economical way to go motor racing after the war. This developed into the International Formula 3 class in 1950, and Cooper then ventured into the Formula 2 class by putting a 1,100cc JAP engine into one of these cars, way below the 2 litre limit allowed, but even with the lack of power the car was still reasonably competitive because of its light weight. When the World Championship was run under Formula 2 regulations in 1952 because of a dearth of the larger-engined Formula 1 cars Cooper decided to design a car to compete at that level. The 1,971cc Bristol engine was chosen, but the Cooper Bristol MkI (later designated the T20) could not really compete with the Ferraris and Maseratis in World Championship races and was much more successful in minor British events. In 1953 the MkII (later T23) car was introduced, having a tubular frame chassis instead of the box section frame of the earlier car and the drive train was altered to lower the driver's seat. Although a better car it wasn't much more successful than the MkI, and the following season when the new 2½ litre Formula 1 regulations came into force the car was rendered obsolete. They still soldiered on for a few years, mainly in minor British events, and then became regulars in the historic racing scene, where they're still to be seen to this day.

1957 Aston Martin DBR4

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane during the Hawthorn Memorial & Hawthorn Spanish Trophies Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's Hubert Fabri in his Aston Martin DBR4, 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, Hubert Fabri's car had the same 6-cylinder inline 2,992cc engine as the DB3S sports car.

1935 Riley Imp

I took this photograph in part of the parking area set aside for various owners clubs at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Amongst several other Rileys, this is a 1935 Riley Imp built on the Riley Nine chassis and using its 4-cylinder inline 1,087cc engine. The Riley Imp was produced from 1933 to 1935 but production figure records were destroyed during WW2 and it is estimated that about 120-150 cars were produced in those three years.

Vintage Sports Car Club racing 2006

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane during a 4 lap handicap race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Leading is Robert Wardale in a 1936 Riley Special closely followed by Mark Butterworth in a 1921 Vauxhall E Type Velox. Behind them is Wayne Gibson in a 1937 Singer B37 Sports.

1936 ERA R7B

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane during a short Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

The leading car is the 1936 ERA R7B of Paul Mullins which has the 6-cylinder inline supercharged 1,980cc ERA engine. This car was originally built for Arthur Dobson with the 1,488cc engine and was owned by Paul Mullins from 2002 to 2014. The following car is the 1937 Riley Falcon Special of Robert Cobden which has a 4-cylinder inline supercharged 1,496cc engine.

1958 Lister Jaguar

I took this photograph at Britten's chicane during the 50's Sports Car Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies Race Meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Leading is Stephen Gibson in his 1958 Lister Jaguar with Rupert Whyte in his 1958 Lotus Eleven behind him. Next is Barry Cannell in his 1956/57 Willment Climax followed by what may be Tim Llewellyn's 1956 Tojeiro Jaguar, and bringing up the rear is the 1955 Cooper T39 Bobtail of Adrian van der Kroft.

1934 Austin Seven Replica Racer

This car took part in one of the races at the VSCC's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

It's Peter Relph's 1934 Austin Seven Replica Side Valve Racer and has a supercharged 748cc 4-cylinder inline engine.

1981 Brabham BT49C

I took this photograph at Redgate corner during a practice session for the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's Spanish driver Joaquin Folch in his 1981 Brabham BT49C, chassis #BT49/10, an improved version of the original BT49 of 1979. The car was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine and was driven in the 1981 season by Nelson Piquet and Héctor Rebaque. Nelson Piquet won the Drivers' World Championship that year, finishing first in three races, second in one and third in another three. With three other minor points scoring places that was enough to win him the World Championship by one point from Carlos Reutemann. Héctor Rebaque finished in tenth place with his best efforts being three fourth-place finishes.

1959 Tec-Mec F415

This car competed in the Hawthorn Memorial Race at the VSCC's Boulogne and Hawthorn Trophies race meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

Shown in the programme of the event as a Technica Mechanica it's better known as the 1959 Tec-Mec F415 designed by Valerio Colotti as a lightweight version of the Maserati 250F. Colotti was employed by Maserati and was working on the design when Maserati pulled out of racing at the end of the 1958 season. He set up his own company, Studio Tecnica Meccanica, and Italian racing driver Giorgio Scarlatti encouraged him to continue with this work and bought shares in the company. American Gordon Pennington then persuaded Scarlatti to sell him the shares and arranged for Camoradi's Lucky Casner to run the team for what had now become Tec-Mec Automobili. When finished the car was entered for the 1959 US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen and Brazilian driver Fritz d'Orey was chosen to drive it. The car had clearly not gone through sufficient testing and Fritz d'Orey only qualified it in seventeenth place. It only lasted for six laps in the race before it retired with a serious oil leak and that turned out to be the only World Championship appearance by the car. It lingered in a Miami garage until 1967 when it was acquired by Tom Wheatcroft who brought the car back into working order and it was in his museum at Donington Park for many years. It was eventually sold to Barrie Baxter who drove the car at this Oulton Park meeting and raced it successfully before eventually passing the car on to Barry Wood.

Here's Barrie Baxter at Britten's chicane during the race followed by Duncan Ricketts in 'Mac' Hulbert's ERA R4D and Matt Gillies in Rodney Smith's ERA R3A. Behind them are the Kurtis Indy Roadster of Stuart Harper and the Cooper Bristol MkII of either Mary Grant-Jonkers or Paul Grant, who drove two identical cars in the race.

Lister Jaguar Monza

This car competed in the VSCC Flockhart Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's the 1958 Lister Jaguar Monza of Rod Jolley, a car that was created to run in the second Race of Two Worlds in 1958 which was contested by a team of American Indianapolis cars against a motley collection of European cars on the banked oval track at Monza. At the 1957 event Ecurie Ecosse had entered a team of D-Type Jaguars for the race but they fared no better than the other European cars, so for the 1958 race the team built a single seater car with a Lister chassis and a 3.8 litre Jaguar engine. It was built at such short notice that the work was actually completed in the paddock at Monza, leaving no time for it to be painted so it ran in the race with the bare metal finish as seen above, but proved to be slower than the Ecurie Ecosse D-Type Jaguars that also ran in the race. The car ran for a time in historic races in the 1990s painted in the Ecurie Ecosse blue livery, but is now back in its original bare metal finish. Incidentally, to suit the American Indianapolis cars both the 1957 and 1958 races were run anti-clockwise round the Monza track instead of the clockwise direction in which races there were usually run.

1982 Lotus 91

I took this photograph during a practice session for the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's Dan Collins in the Classic Team Lotus 1982 Lotus 91, a car that was raced in the 1983 season by Nigel Mansell and is chassis 91/10. The Lotus 91 was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine and has only one World Championship win to its credit, Elio de Angelis winning the 1982 Austrian Grand Prix in chassis 91/8.

1983 Osella FA1D

This car took part in the Thoroughbred Grand Prix Championship race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2006.

It's the 1983 Osella FA1D of Terry Sayles seen at Redgate Corner during a practice session. The 1983 Osella FA1Ds were created from the crashed remains of the 1982 FA1Cs, and were interim cars with the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine that were raced by the team until the Alfa Romeo powered FA1E was available. Piercarlo Ghinzani drove the FA1D for the first three races of the 1983 season and Corrado Fabi for the first eight, but both drivers either failed to qualify or failed to finish in all those races.

Connaught A-Type and ERA R12B

Here are two of David Wenman's cars which both took part in the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy race at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in June 2006.

The yellow car is a 1952 Connaught A Type which has a 1,960cc 4-cylinder inline engine based on the 1,767cc Lea Francis unit. It was chassis A4 and one of Connaught's works team cars in 1952, when it was usually driven by Dennis Poore, then in 1953 it went to the Écurie Belge team where the drivers were Johnny Claes and André Pilette. The blue car is the 1936 ERA R12B, named Hanuman II, with the 6-cylinder inline 1,488cc supercharged ERA engine. Before the Second World War this was one of Siamese Prince Chula's White Mouse Racing stable cars and was driven by his cousin Prince Bira. There's quite an involved story about this car and ERA R12C which you can read about in this history of all the ERA cars. David Wenman drove the Connaught in the Hawthorn Memorial Trophy race,and the ERA was driven by Tony Stephens.