Kiwidave4

Couldn't stop but this morning I saw what appeared to be a genuine Cosworth Sierra outside a local garage. Finished in a metallic grey it looked the dogs whatsits. Seldom see any variety of Sierra these days so it was a bit of a surprise.

GP practice on 12th July 1973. All taken on the Copse/Maggots/Beckets section of track. First up a Kiwi! Graham McRae, Iso-Marlboro IR/01. Jody Scheckter, McLaren M23/3, leading Mike Beuttler, March 721G/2. Andrea de Adamich, Brabham-Ford BT42/4. Ricky von Opel, Ensign-Ford MN01. Jacky Ickx, Ferrari 312B3/010. Clay Regazzoni, BRM P160/09. George Follmer, UOP Shadow DN1/5A. Francois Cevert, Tyrrell-Ford 005 (spare car). Jackie Stewart, Tyrrell-Ford 006/2. Ronnie Peterson, Lotus-Ford 72/R8 (spare car).

Thanks. Yes the colours are not perfect but I was working with what is now very primitive technology. My camera was a Pentax H2 with a mix of lens - 35mm, 100mm and a 400mm. No zoom and the Pentax used a thread mount which was a bit fiddly out in the field. The film stock I mainly used was Agfa which I recall as being 50 ASA. Agfa tended to be 'bluish', and combined with the Silverstone weather, juggling fast shutter speeds, reasonable depth of field and the slow film speed all conspired against the perfect shot. But it's a record of the time, not an entry in a photographic competition.

Some more! McLaren M23/3 (Jody Scheckter) being pushed away from the scrutineering bay. UOP-Shadow DN1/4A. Jackie Oliver. BRM P160/09 John Surtees making sure its done right. A pensive looking Chris Amon and (I think) David Yorke, Tecno Team Manager. Emerson Fittapaldi at Copse.

Spotted this today. Looked like a Mustang to me and the immaculate jet black paint job was very eye catching (ignore the apparent blemishes in the photo, it was so shiny it had reflections of everything!). Badge said 'Shelby 500SE' which I looked up and it would seem to be a bit special.

Back in the day I accumulated a collection of colour transparencies of cars. Mainly vintage and classic cars with the accent on performance vehicles. For years boxes of slides have been forgotten in a cupboard until I recently got my hands on a macro lens for my iPhone (yes I have the cheap phone!) and have been experimenting with copying the slides into digital format. Don't know if this is really the place to share them, but it may be that someone could find some useful info from them and I don't frequent any other sites where they would be appropriate I lost interest in F1 when Chapman started painting his cars to look like fag packets, but out of curiosity I did make a brief visit to the British GP practice in 1971 and followed that up with a better planned day out in 1973. The only thing that I found of any interest in '71 was the Lotus 56B driven by Reine Wisell. In '73 with more time I managed to get some general shots of the way things were back then, as well as some of the cars in action. The Paddock, with the Team Tyrell to the fore. The nearest car is side radiator 'spare car' 005. Stewart and Tyrrell visible in the centre rear. The JPS Team. Bloke in the foreground under the car is Yoshiatsu Itoh who was working on front brakes of 72/R5, which was Fittapaldis car. I did not record the details of this car but assume it was Ronnie Petersons, as I have him driving the spare, 72/R8. The Brabham-Ford BT37/2 of John Watson with the obscured March 731/3 of James Hunt. Well it's about my bedtime so that will be all! If there is interest I can post some more tomorrow.

In my haste to post the pics this morning I managed to miss one!

On the way to town this morning my wife spotted this so I had to do a U-turn and grab some pics. Mid fifties Buick Special, body sound and interior smart but the paint is well past its use by.

Spotted this tidy Vogue this morning.

I can't be sure which cars I haven't seen because I haven't seen them. I could make a very long list of cars I wish I had never seen. ( Almost all 21st Century examples for starters.)

Spotted this at the Supermarket this morning.

Saw this smart Jag today.

Many years ago I followed a truck and trailer along a winding road in my company car concentrating on finding an overtaking opportunity and getting increasingly frustrated until I shifted my gaze to the rear edge of the trailers chassis and read "The Greatest Tow on ERF'. Might have been quite a common sight in some places but it was the first and only time I saw it!

In my garage this arvo and I heard a V8 rumbling by slowly. Not uncommon around here - old Yank Tanks and Aussie muscle cars are common - but I was not prepared for the sight of an Aston Martin DBS. We must have a new neighbour somewhere close as this morning a Corvette C5 appeared from the same direction. As we live in a cul de sac, on the corner of another cul de sac, and immediately opposite another cul de sac I should be able to identify where they are coming to/going from!

Thanks for that. I had looked on Ebay but missed the one with dimensions!