Ant Anstead's #ClassicRumble car....

Scott Dennis October 19, 2017

A short time ago the well-known and highly respected classic car insurers Lancaster Insurance, launched the 'Classic Rumble' challenge.

In short, the 'Classic Rumble' brought the two restoration experts, and TV personalties, Ant Anstead and Mike Brewer head-to-head in a competition to restore, or build, a car that will be auctioned through Silverstone Auctions at the Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show in November at the NEC.

The proceeds from the sale of the two cars will go to the Marie Crawford Boyd Foundation and Harrison's Fund.

I had the pleasure of spending an hour or so with Ant's car a couple of days ago shooting his PR shots for him.

Clearly, I'm hoping that the sale of both cars at the auction raises a huge amount of money for both of the charities - I obviously hope Ant triumphs in the 'Classic Rumble'!

A small selection below.... (click on a thumbnail for a larger view)

Concours of Elegance, Hampton Court Palace - September, 2017...

Scott Dennis September 4, 2017

The 2017 Concours of Elegance took place at Hampton Court over the weekend of 1st to 3rd of September and I paid a visit for the first time to this prestigious event.

The Concours of Elegance began back in 2012 at Windsor Castle, before moving to St James’s Palace in 2013 - Hampton Court Palace first held the event in 2014 and the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh hosted the gathering in 2015 - last year the Concours returned to Windsor Castle.

The Concours of Elegance brings together a selection of 60 of the rarest cars from around the globe – some of which had never been seen in the UK before.

A small selection of my images from this fantastic event, if you havn't been before, mkae sure it's on your 'to-do' list next year.

(All images © Scott Dennis/Volkswagen UK - click on a thumbnail for a larger view)

The only way is sideways... {Race Retro 2017 Pictures}

Scott Dennis March 1, 2017

Despite my previous life in motorsport running a manufacturer team in the BTCC before becoming a full time professional automotive and motorsport photographer I hadn't heard of Race Retro – perhaps I should have....

...Race Retro takes place at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, which is probably better known as home to a cluster of over 60 businesses with their emphasis on food production, equine and livestock husbandry, sustainability, renewable energy, and the wider rural economy.

However, from the 24th to 26th February this year Race Retro took over Stoneleigh Park to celebrate the very best of international motorsport, showcasing vintage and classic cars and legendary drivers and riders of both four wheeled and two wheeled machines.

Race Retro is a pre-season event that celebrates the very best of international historic motorsport - and this year the event celebrated it's 15th anniversary. The spread of associated ‘automobilia’ is quite amazing whatever your particular interest. There’s also a ‘classic and competition’ auction held by renowned auctioneers Silverstone Auctions (they recorded total sales of £5.7m and a 76% sales rate). You have the opportunity to see most types, makes and shapes of ‘sport’ vehicles - whether 2 or 4 wheels - 1 wheel drive or 4 - in action and under cover on display along with just about everything related to motor sport. The exhibition halls really are worth spending time in exploring the exhibitors representing motoring clubs and associations, race series organisers, race and classic car dealers, art and books and a host of automotive suppliers.

I decided to concentrate on the rally cars and the live rally stage. So accreditation sorted and armed with my yellow hi-vis vest I headed out onto the rally stage for the first time on the Saturday morning...

(Click on an image for a larger view. All images © Scott Dennis)

There's a special place for Group B cars in the history of rallying and arguably the biggest impact came out of Ingolstadt in the form of the Audi quattro which confounded perceived wisdom by letting loose a four-wheel drive turbocharged Group B winner.

Hannu Mikkola would go on to prove the sheer brilliance of the engineering wedding that was known simply as – ‘quattro’ – the number of winning outings and margins was staggering.

It was great to see this ex Hannu Mikkola/Arne Hertz Audi Sport quattro S1 evo in action and even better to hear it 'singing' around the stage.

Audi didn’t have it all its own way as the likes of Lancia and Peugeot sought to stop the dominance of the quattro – illustrated best by the 31 stages it won in its first competitive outing in 1981 - as was demonstrated by Ari Vatenen and the awesome power of his Peugeot 205 in ’84 and ’85.

The driver of what looks like a Peugeot 205 T16 put on a great display and although the car itself is a replica - on the outside the Peugeot looks like the real deal but underneath lies the workings of a Mitsubishi EVO VI - it was great to see it being thrown around the stage.

Ford joined in with the RS200 while MG came to the party with the 6R4. Group B was initially a very successful group, with many manufacturers joining the premier WRC, benefitting from increased spectator numbers and media coverage. But the cost of competing quickly rose and the performance of the cars proved too much resulting in a series of fatal crashes. As a result Group B was cancelled at the end of 1986.

Whilst a number of the Group B cars that ran over the weekend were 'replicas' of the originals, I believe the RS200 above was built in the late 90's, the 6R4 above was one of the 200 clubman cars built at Longbridge on the specialist production line for the build of the 6R4. This particular car was used as a test car for Ted Toleman as they built a modified car to compete in the Paris-Dakar Rally - luckily this car today reatains it's status as a 'proper' 6R4.

'Replica', or not, It doesn't really matter - you still get a flavour of what it must have been like watching these rallying 'monsters' tearing through forests on rally stages around the world.

The Group B cars were joined by a host or WRC cars including N555BAT - 1 of 9 Subaru Impreza Group A 555's built to compete in the 1996 WRC season. This car was first used in the WRC by 1994 World Rally Champion Didier Auriol. The car is now owned and driven by international rally winner Ryan Champion.

Another Subaru with a bit of history sliding around the stage was this ex-Colin McRae 1998 Subaru S4 Imprezza WRC car.

The FIA introduced Group A to the world of rallying in 1982 and this Mitsubishi Evo 9 was very comfortable with the term 'the only way is sideways'!

Volkswagen entered the WRC for the second time in 2013 with the Polo R WRC rally car which went on to enjoy a very successful time winning 43 of the 53 rallies that it entered. This Polo Proto built by Pennington Motorsport added some colour in it's vibrant livery.

The 1981 World Rally Champion and four-time Paris-Dakar winner Ari Vatanen showed that he's lost none of his 'mainly sideways' approach to driving a rally car.

It was a pleasure to see him reunited with a Subaru Legacy and Escort RS1800 that he seemed to ‘put on’ like an old glove and go out to entertain the crowds with with the same skill and passion as when he was competing.

This Milner LRM-1 was used as a kind of 'course-car' before each group of cars took to the stage and the first time I saw it on the Saturday it was being driven with a little caution. But by Sunday morning it was roaring around the stage with its body rolling quite spectacularly - a proper machine capable of tackling a lot more than Stoneleigh could throw at it!

It's not often that you'll see a Ferrari tackling a rally stage of any kind, but this 308GTB built to the FIA's Group 4 regulations by the celebrated Ferrari competition specialists Michelotto of Padova in Italy was being 'pedalled' around the make-shift rally stage with considerable skill. Seeing a Ferrari sliding around in the mud, as it was, qualified as an unexpected pleasure.

It was great to see so many MK1 and MK2 Escorts strutting their stuff around the stage as these are the cars that I really associated with rallying in my youth...

...in fact a mate of mine took a Mark 1 back to it's shell, had a complete respray and built it back up to a specification that it could almost have competed in the Lombard Rally! I remember our journeys around the green lanes of Northamptonshire thinking we were the 'mutts-nuts'.

It was great to see so many MK1 and MK2 Escorts strutting their stuff around the stage as these are the cars that I really associated with rallying in my youth. In fact a mate of mine took a Mark 1 back to it's shell, had a conplete respray and built it back up to a specification that it could almost have competed in the Lombard Rally! I remember our journeys around the green lanes of Northamptonshire thinking we were the mutt-nuts fondly. The guys driving these cars clearly knew how to get the best out of them sliding these affordable and exciting cars around, often sideways, but always demonstrating their experience and skill.

I'm guessing that given what Stoneleigh Park is best known for the large 'shed' that becomes 'Parc-ferme' for the weekend is more used to housing beasts with four legs rather than beasts with four wheels. This was my first port of call early on Sunday morning...

...it's a great place to see these cars at rest and up-close before they're fired-up to await their turn on the rally stage.

The smells and sounds that fill the building when the cars are running is proper motorsport and trying to guess the car by the differing engine sounds grabbed my attention...

...with so many classes and eras of rallying represented almost every type of competition engine was represented - I guess you could say it was like listening to a 'rally orchestra' when they were all going through their warming up procedures at the same time!

Being able to get up close and personal with these cars really allows you to appreciate that the 'cockpits' are not luxurious spaces, but spaces where simplicity, functionality and ease of use take precedent...

...if you think about the abuse these cars take, even on a tame stage like the one at Race Retro everything has to be mechanically strong but easy to replace if it did fail.

As an automotive photographer who likes 'details' on cars Parc-ferme was a place I could have spent more time in on Sunday morning. But with the cars starting to head out to the holding area before the start of their two and a half hour 'show' on the live rally stage each morning it was time to squeeze back into my yellow hi-vis vest and head back out onto the stage.

The ex-works Opel Manta 400 driven in the 80's by Russell Brookes got faster and faster as the weekend progressed.

Another reminder of the impact the Audi quattro had on world rallying in the shape of this authentic Group 4 Audi Coupe quattro Turbo.

An ex-works Ford Sierra Cosworth Group A rally car bearing the also familiar, of the time, Andrews Heat for Hire livery.

1987 Group A Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 that was bought back by it's current owner after they had been separated for 25 years!

This super little Rover Mini Group N that originally competed in the 1997 Rally of Australia didn't run on the Saturday as it had some technical issues. Issues fixed it ran on the Sunday and it's always great to see these iconic little cars sliding around on a rally stage.

Clearly there were some very accomplished rally drivers demonstrating their car control skills over the weekend but my award for the 'most entertaining' driver has to go to Shaun Clorley in his Talbot Lotus Sunbeam - he was king of 'the only way is sideways'!

Race Retro along with a handful of other events provides a superb opportunity for all of these cars, and more, to come to life for a couple of days and allow the public to witness them 'doing their thing' - and it's clear that the very approachable and friendly drivers are having fun doing it!

It should be mentioned that none of this would be possible without the hard work of the Rallying with Group B organisation and the marshals from the Falcon Motor Club.

The live rally stage isn't timed and it isn't a competitive event, it's a demonstration of these historic rally cars and I can only imagine that witnessing a competitive historic rally would be great fun - an experience I'll be looking for at some point this year and I'll be looking at a return to Race Retro next year.

A full gallery of images from the live rally stage can be viewed here.

Race Retro 2017 Images - Race Retro 2017 Pictures

Ferraris at the Goodwood Revival.....

Scott Dennis January 25, 2017

Always a dominant presence at the Goodwood Revival - a small selection of my favourite images of the magnificent machines over the last few years.... (click on a thumbnail for a larger view)

Goodwood Revivial 2016 in pictures....

Scott Dennis October 18, 2016

This year marked my third visit to the iconic classic motor sport festival that is The Goodwood Revival.

The 3-day event attracts some of the best, and costliest, historic racing motor cars and bikes in the world. They compete around the famous Goodwood Circuit in a series of different races.

Each year the Revival celebrates a historic event and this year it was the famous “They think it’s all over…” 1966 World Cup. The football theme was apparent at numerous times through the event and in keeping with the historical nature everyone attending is encouraged to dress in period costume which adds to the whole 'nostalgic feel' of the weekend.

Unfortunately my Revival experience this year was compromised by not being able to attend on the Friday. Saturday proved to be a complete washout in terms of the weather (not exclusively causing issues for me alone - obviously!).

However, notwithstanding the torrential rain on Saturday, I managed to get out and about on the Sunday in spite of most of my gear having suffered from ingesting too much water the day before!

A small selection of my favourites from what was clearly a challenging couple of days at the ‘wet & dry’ 2016 Revival…

(Click on any thumbnail for a larger view)

Classic Car Photographer - Classic Car Photography - Vintage Car Photographer - Automotive Photographer - All Images © Scott Dennis 2016

Silverstone Classic 2016 in pictures.....

Scott Dennis August 9, 2016

Look at the Silverstone Classic website and you’ll be greeted by a banner that describes the 3 day event in July as - ”The world’s biggest motor racing festival”.

And it really is hard to argue with that claim - the first day this year saw a staggering 14 qualifying sessions take place with drivers from over 25 countries competing in more than 1,000 historic racing cars, from Grand Prix cars of the 1940’s, historic Formula 1 cars competing in the FIA Masters Historic Championship to Super Touring Cars from the glory days of British Touring Car Championship.

If that wasn’t enough of a field there were Group C prototypes, including the Leyton House liveried Porsche 962 (a favourite of mine), all gracing the Silverstone circuit along with cars from the Can-Am series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Can-Am race in North America.

When the circuit wasn’t filled with the sights and sounds of this incredible mix of historic cars ‘doing their thing’ racing, it played host to a number of parades to celebrate milestone anniversaries for manufacturers such as Porsche, Lotus and Lamborghini.

There is also much to see at the Silverstone Classic with over 10,000 privately-owned classic cars filling the infield representing owners clubs of all types.

However, the real action is most definitely on the track and it’s a real treat to see some of these cars racing as they were intended to be raced by their drivers, especially considering the impressive value of some of the cars competing.

Once the races are underway the competitive instincts take over and these ‘gentleman racers’ push their prized machinery to the limits. On occasion these limits are exceeded and cars spin and a little bit of ‘rubbing’ takes place, but thankfully these aren’t commonplace and in most cases the only thing hurt is pride.

I enjoyed what the Silverstone Classic had to offer for all three days this year – one day just isn’t enough! If you haven’t been, and I’m assuming if you’re reading this you have a small interest in historic racing – get yourself there next year!

Here’s a selection of my favourite images from my time there, I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did taking them… (a further gallery of larger images can be viewed here)

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view....

Silverstone Classic 2016

Shelsley Walsh - Classic Nostalgia....

Scott Dennis August 9, 2016

This year is the 111th anniversary year of Shelsley Walsh, the oldest motorsport venue still in operation in the world, and it has been marked with a return visit by a very special car and driver during the Classic Nostalgia event last weekend.

Back in 1936 Hans Stuck piloted a V16 Auto Union Grand Prix car up the hill at Shelsley Walsh and 80 years later his son Hans-Joachim Stuck delighted the crowds, and bought a tear to many an eye, by retracing his father's 'tyre-marks' in an Auto Union Grand Prix car brought over to the UK by Audi Tradition. For the final run that Hans-Joachim did up the hill on the Sunday afternoon he was given permission to drive the car wearing his father's leather 'skull-cap', goggles and gloves that he had worn back in 1936. Hans-Joachim also gave an Audi IMSA S4 GTO, which only arrived in the UK 6 weeks ago, its debut on UK soil by powering this 720bhp beast up the hill during several demonstration runs.

Another highlight of the weekend was the gathering of some 30 Group B rally cars from the 80's with Jimmy McRae reunited with his Metro 6R4 and Russell Brookes driving his Opel Ascona.

A full report from a wonderful weekend at a very special motorsport venue can be read here on the Shelsley Walsh website.

The event was superbly organised as usual and the atmosphere really was very special. Due to previously booked commission I couldn't attend for the full two-days of the event - but other commitments allowing - I'll be there for the full weekend next year eagerly looking forward to seeing how the team at the Midland Automobile Club top this past weekend!

A few from my time there.... (a full gallery of images can be viewed here)

Click on a thumbnail for a larger view....

Shlelsley Walsh Classic Nostalgia 2016 Images

Shelsley Walsh....

Scott Dennis May 6, 2016

They've been holding motorsport events at Shelsley Walsh for a while - the first in 1905 - it's got a bit of history!

I went for the first time last year, liked it and decided to go back again this year at some point. A meeting at the Silverstone Classic media day whet my appetite for a return sooner than I thought. And despite the fact that my head hit the pillow at 2.30am (after a corporate job in London - not on the lash!) the night before I headed back to Shelsly Walsh yesterday for the Speed Into Spring event for a couple of hours.

I like it there - photographically it's a challenge - which I like! The previous time I was there was for the Classic Nostalgia event back in July last year which provided more image opportunites in the paddock, but this time I focused on the activity on the hill to learn a little more about 'the hill'!

Apart from the almost constant 'drizzle' I thoroughly enjoyed being there and catching up with a couple of photographer friends I'd met previously.

A few from the day below (click a thumbnail for a larger view) and more can be viewed here

Freddie Hunt.... (Silverstone Classic Media Day 2016)

Scott Dennis May 6, 2016

One of my favourite events to photograph is the Silverstone Classic, I missed it last year but hope to attend this year. Last week I popped along to the Media Day to find out a little more about this year's event.

One of the 'headlines' for this year is a tribute to James Hunt as it's 40 years since he won the Formula One World Championship in 1976. During the Media Day his son Freddie Hunt was on hand carrying out a variety of pre-arranged media duties including an interview with the legend that is Murray Walker and driving one of his father's title winning McLaren M23s.

A few images of Freddie and the car during his media duties below.... (click on a thumbnail for a larger view)

More images from the day can be viewed here

Bicester Heritage – 8th Sunday Scramble…

Scott Dennis April 27, 2016

My first visit to Bicester Heritage for their 8th Sunday Scramble last Sunday. Not knowing what to expect I was blown away by the eclectic mix of cars and characters that greeted me – definitely in the diary for a return visit in the future.

A small selection of ‘snaps’ from my short time there….