**** Historic Silverstone - Part 2 *****

[Colin]

ROOTES GROUP

In fact, these were the first cars that I saw on crossing the bridge from the car park areas. Much was made of the competition department of Rootes Group, with pride of place given to 3 Hillman Hunters from the victorious 1968 London to Sydney Marathon event, which this car so memorably won.











Rootes had been successful in motor sport before this, of course, notching up much silverware with the Sunbeam Talbots in the 1950s, with cars such as these:



Successor to this car was the Rapier, launched in 1955, as a sporting version of the more prosaic Minx



A true sports car came with the 1959 launch of the Sunbeam Alpine.

 

By the 1970s, motor sport was less of a priority, but the Avenger was entered in the Touring Car championship and enjoyed some success.



The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus needs little introduction, and this immaculate car was one of the last of the road cars made, in 1981.



Stretching the point a bit, I suppose, was this, a distant relative, the racing Peugeot 206



On the Sunday, an ordinary Hillman Minx joined the display. Very nostalgic indeed for me, as my father had 4 of these cars: 2 saloons and then 2 Hunter Estates. He would never had such a bold colour as this Sea Green example, though!





The coupe version of this car was sold as the Rapier, and a cheaper version was the Alpine, and here is a rare survivor:



The Rapier had been offered since 1955, in coupe and convertible form, like this:









A much earlier Minx was this Series 2 model from the late 1930s.



The Super Minx was launched in 1961, and a short-lived Convertible version came soon after:



The "posh" version of this car was the Singer Vogue, and here is the estate car:





Based on the Imp was this, the Clan Crusader, made in the early 1970s, as a kit car:



Another rare car now was this, the Talbot Horizon. This Series 2 car was one of the last made, in 1986, and had only covered 47,000 miles. Not exactly a classic, but a slice of all but vanished history, for sure







Elsewhere in the event, there was a separate, and sizeable gathering of Alpine and Tiger cars











JAGUAR

This 3.5 litre car, from the 1930s was lurking in the paddock:



A very large central area was given over to Jaguar, with many cars here to remind attendees of a glorious past, and a foretaste of treats to come at the upcoming XK60 event, which will celebrate 60 years of the XK engine and the XK120.

XK150:



The Mark 2:





The rather large Mark X



The first generation XJ6. This was the rare 2.8 litre model



The iconic "E" type:





The XJS Convertible - now maturing into a rather elegant design, in my opinion



On Sunday, the display included an XJ220:





This XJR9 was road registered!



MG

Displayed in various areas around the event, a few were collected together in one location:

MGA











and an MGA with an MG TD in the background



Here is the MG TD



An MG Magnette - a sort of 3 series BMW of its day, I suppose.



TURNER
A little known English sports car manufacturer from the late 1950s and early 1960s





MARCOS

Better known, for sure, is the Marcos. A big display of cars from the make's 40 year history, including a couple of real rarities:

The Mini Marcos:



The better-known 3-litre cars from the late 1960s:





Very rare indeed was this, the Mantis. Launched at the 1970 Motor Show, only 32 were ever made. I can't remember when I last saw one







This TSO5000 was one of the last ditch efforts to relaunch the brand in the 21st Century



TVR

The "S" - a revival in TVR's fortunes after the wedge-shaped Tasmin era:







Chimaera







AC

Several gatherings of Cobras, of various provenances:



There was also an official AC Car Club area, just where it was last year, where we spotted the less than successful Ace:



There were several of the previous Ace model, too, along with a few Acecas:

[FoMoJo]

Nice "streak" of Tigers.



I had a '67 Mk.II 289 K-code (aka HiPo) BRG that was rally prepped.  Too much power for that chassis but not much could catch it in a straight line.