1936 ERA R12B 'Hanuman II'

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1937 ERA R12B 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'.

1909 FN

This was one of the participants in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.

It's a 1909 FN and this is the note about the car in the programme of the event:

18. Mr. Frank E. Dell, Long Grove, Seer Green, Bucks.

       1909 F.N. (Fabrique National) Two-Seater, 8 h.p.

The F.N. has been in Mr. Dell's ownership for the past 25 years, and he still finds it a very reliable and pleasing car to drive. It has won awards in rallies all over England.

1935 MG Q-type & 1933 MG J4

This is a photograph I took in the paddock of two cars that competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

Number 51 is Colvin Gunn's 1935 MG Q-type special of Colvin Gunn which has a 939cc supercharged engine and number 52 is the 1933 MG J4 of Colin Tieche which has a 746cc supercharged engine.

1927/39 ERA Delage

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's Ray Potter's ERA Delage which appeared alongside ten ERAs in the 29 car field for this race. The car had a 6-cylinder 1,488cc ERA engine with two-stage Roots supercharging, and the programme of the event said this about the it:

 

'Ray Potter's ERA-Delage has the engine from one of the ill-fated E-type ERAs in a 1927 GP Delage chassis.'

 

The Delage was one of Albert Lory's 1927 Delage 15 S8 cars which had dominated the 1927 season, winning all four of the European Grand Prix races.

1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost

This is a photograph I took before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.

It's the 1911 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost of Kenneth Neve and the programme of the event had this note about the vehicle:

'35. Mr Kenneth Neve, Aston-by-Budworth, Cheshire

       1911 Rolls-Royce "London-Edinburgh" Silver Ghost, 45 h.p.

In 1911 Rolls-Royce won a Challenge from Napier. The late Lord Hives, at that time Mr. Hives and the company's chief tester, drove a Silver Ghost with underslung cantilever rear springs, enlarged carburettor and higher compression ratio from London to Edinburgh in top gear. The journey was completed at a fuel consumption of 24.3 m.p.g. and then to prove that the axle ratio was not absurd, the car was taken to Brooklands where it clocked 78.3 m.p.h. Thus did the first sporting Rolls-Royce get the name "Type London-Edinburgh", and R1075 was the car that made the historic journey. In 1963 Mr. Kenneth Neve recognised a dejected chassis in Hampshire for what it was. Now, some 5,000 working hours later, the first "London-Edinburgh" is just as it might have been seen more than 60 years ago, serenely whispering its way on the Great North Road in top gear and heading for the Scottish capital.'

Kenneth Neve was at one time President of the Vintage Sports Car Club.

1902 James and Browne Tonneau

This was one of the cars that took part in the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.

It's the 1902 James and Browne Tonneau of the City and Guilds Motor Club and was a regular competitor in the early years of this run. The James and Browne cars were produced between 1896 and 1910 and only two cars are known to have survived. The programme of the event had this information about the car:

14 Professor H. Ford, City & Guilds College, London, S.W.7.

(Driver Mr. P Wilkins).

1902 James and Browne Tonneau, 2,460 c.c.

Named "Boanerges" after the Old Testament sons of thunder, the rare James and Browne four-seater is the mascot of the City & Guilds Motor Club. The London-built car with its twin-cylinder 9 h.p. engine is painted in the livery colours of the City of London and has taken part in the Lord Mayor's Show on several occasions.

1929 Bentley Napier

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1929 Bentley Napier which was driven in the Historic Trophy race by David Llewellyn. This is a vehicle that he and Peter Morley created 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. The nose of the car was later altered to resemble that of the Napier Railton. On the right the blue car number 7 is the 1936 ERA R5B 'Remus' of the Hon. Patrick Lindsay. This car has the 1,488cc supercharged version of the 6-cylinder ERA engine and it was originally one of the cars in the White Mouse Stable of Siam's Prince Chula and driven by his cousin, Prince Birabongse, known simply as 'Bira'.

Alfa Romeo 8C 2300

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's two of Chris Mann's 8C Alfa Romeos, and he drove the 1932 Monza on the left in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy Race at the meeting.

1930 Renault Type KZ5

This is a photograph I took on Broad Street, Salford during the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car Run in June 1973.

It's a 1930 Renault Type KZ5 which was built with a 4-cylinder inline 2,120cc engine, but the DVLA record says that the engine size is 1,698cc. The DVLA record also says that the vehicle has been untaxed since September 1998. A note in the programme of the event reads as follows:

'182. Mr Bernard Bailey, Collingham, Wetherby, Yorkshire.

          1930 Renault Type KZ5, 12.9 h.p.

The only known car of this type in the United Kingdom.'

1929 Packard

The Cheshire Life magazine used to sponsor the Concours d'Elegance at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy Meetings at Oulton Park and there was a parade of the entrants between two of the races during the meeting. This is a photograph I took at Old Hall Corner of one of the cars on the parade at the June 1973 meeting.

The only information in the programme of the event is that it is a 1929 Packard and was entered by H.U.P. Edwards. The DVLA now has no record of 620 WJH and I can only assume that it's been repatriated to the USA at some time in the intervening years. As far as I can ascertain all 1929 Packards were produced with straight-8 engines of either 319 cu in (5.2 litres) or 384 cu in (6.3 litres).

1924 Alfa Romeo RL Targa Florio

This car competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1924 Alfa Romeo Targa Florio of Chris Mann which has a 6-cylinder inline 2,996cc engine. The Alfa Romeo RL was produced in 1922 and the Targa Florio was a special version of the RL built to take part in that race.

Here's Chris Mann at Old Hall Corner during a handicap race earlier in the meeting leading Kenneth Neve in his 1914 Humber TT.

1938/46 Rover Special

I remember seeing this car competing many times at VSCC meetings at Oulton Park in the 1950s and 60s, but this photograph taken at the 1973 Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting appears to be the only one I have of it.

It's the 1938/46 Rover Special of Frank Lockhart which was built in 1948 by three young engineers at the Rover Company using a chassis which was a prototype of the P3 chassis designed by Adrian Lombard in 1938. They and other drivers used it for club racing but in 1963 Frank Lockhart became the regular driver and in the late 1960s he bought the car from the original owners. The car has been powered by several different Rover engines and in 1973 the car had a 2,995cc engine, seemingly the 6-cylinder inline unit from the Rover P5.

1908 Argyll 16hp

I took this photograph before the start of the Lancashire Automobile Club's Manchester to Blackpool Veteran and Vintage Car run in June 1973.

I don't now have the programme of the event but it's a 1908 Argyll 16hp, and something at the back of my mind is telling me that the driver is James Anderton who became Chief Constable of the Greater Manchester Police Force later in the 1970s.

1927 Bugatti T37A

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

There's no number on the car, and the only note I made at the time was that it was a Bugatti T37A, so it's possibly the car of Martin Dean that competed in the Richard Seaman Memorial Vintage Trophy Race. The programme of the event says that Martin Dean's car is a 1927 Bugatti with a 1,497cc supercharged engine. 

1952 Connaught A-Type

This was one of the competitors in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's Gerry Walton's 1952 Connaught A-Type with a 1,960cc engine based on the Lea Francis 4-cylinder 1,767cc unit, and is chassis A8. Ten Connaught A-Types were built and A8 is one of only two that  featured a Hilborn-Travers fuel injection system instead of the Amal carburettors that were fitted to the other eight cars. It was mainly driven in period as a works car by John Coombes, Stirling Moss and Prince Bira. A later owner, Mike Young, sold the 2 litre engine and installed a 2½ litre HWM-Alta engine in 1955 to take part in Formula One racing and later took the car to South Africa. Phil Bowker subsequently bought the car and Gerry Walton sourced the Lotus 10 with the original engine which was reunited with A8. Gerry Walton acquired the car in the late 1960s and fully restored it to its 1953 state, competing with it until 1988.

1914 TT Humber

This car competed in two of the races at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's Kenneth Neve's 1914 TT Humber, the only survivor of the three Humbers that took part in the Tourist Trophy race in the Isle of Man in that year and it has a 4-cylinder inline 3,295cc engine. A note in the programme of the event says this about the owner:

'Kenneth Neve, whose 1911 Silver Ghost Rolls-Royce is the oldest car in the concours, is also driving the oldest car in the races, a 1911 TT Humber. He is an ex-President of the VSCC, and lives locally just outside Northwich.'

Frazer Nash, Oulton Park 1973

I took this photograph in the paddock at Oulton Park at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies Meeting in June 1973.

On the left is the 1936 Frazer Nash BMW of R Newton which competed in a race for Vintage PVT and Pre-war Historic Racing Cars.. The Frazer Nash BMW 319 of that period had a 6-cylinder inline 1,911cc engine, though the programme of this event says the engine capacity of this car was 1,960cc. To the right of that car is a 1952 Frazer Nash Le Mans Replica which has a 6-cylinder inline 1,971cc engine based on that of the BMW 328. This car is chassis 421/100/164 and its original owner was Col. Hal O'Hara Moore. It has the chassis from 421/100/152 which was wrecked in an accident in 1951 and its competition history reads as follows: 

Rallye Soleil Cannes 1952 - Winner; Rallye Soleil Cannes 1953, 1954; Tulip Rally 1952, 1953, 1954; Liege-Rome-Liege 1952 - DNF; RAC Rally 1952, 1954

1959 Lotus 16

This car took part in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's the 1959 Lotus 16 of John Roberts, a car previously campaigned in historic racing by Bill Wilks. The first Grand Prix race for the Lotus 16 was the 1958 French Grand Prix where the car's 1,964cc Coventry Climax engine proved to be severely underpowered for the very fast Reims circuit and Graham Hill retired the car on lap 19 with an overheating engine. By 1959 the car was fitted with the 2,467cc Coventry Climax FPF engine, but the front-engined cars were now outclassed by the rear-engined ones and the Lotus 16 never achieved great success, the best efforts being Innes Ireland's fourth place in the Dutch Grand Prix and fifth place in the USA Grand Prix. Eight of the cars were built and John Roberts' car is Chassis 365,

 

1930/23 Napier Bentley

This car took part in the Richard Seaman Memorial Historic Trophy race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's David Llewellyn's 1929 Napier-Bentley, a vehicle that he and Peter Morley created 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. The nose of the car was later altered to resemble that of the Napier Railton.

1952/54 Maserati A6GCM/250F

This car took part in the Allcomers Scratch Race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton Park in June 1973.

It's Ray Fielding's Maserati, originally a 1952 A6GCM serial number 2038 with a 6-cylinder 1,987cc engine that was a works car in 1952 and acquired the following season by Swiss driver Baron Emanuel (better known as 'Toulo') de Graffenried. Early in 1954 the car was given a 6-cylinder 2,490cc Maserati 250F engine and a new identity as chassis 2510. Toulo de Graffenried raced the car in 1954 before selling it to Australian Reg Hunt who took it 'down under' and raced it in Australia and New Zealand before selling it to Kevin Neal when he acquired Maserati 250F chassis 2516. In 1965 2038/2510 went to the UK and was campaigned by Colin Crabbe and Dan Marguiles, then to Ray Fielding before ending up in a private Swiss collection.