This very atmospheric photograph was taken at Silverstone just after a cloudburst and shows a number of important cars of the pre-First World War period.
Car number 2, the Napier, had a 4-cylinder 8-litre engine, and shaft drive making it very advanced for its time.
Car number 4, the Hutton, which won the 1908 Tourist Trophy race on the Isle of Man, was also built by the Napier Company.
Car number 5 is the 1908, 12.7 litre Itala. This Itala was
one of three entered in the 1908 French Grand Prix at Dieppe, but it finished
a poor 11th.
It came to the UK after the First World War and lapped Brooklands at 101 mph.
From 1938 it belonged to Cecil ‘Sam’ Clutton, one of the greatest
of all car enthusiasts.
Car number 10, the 1914 Bugatti Type 13 has an engine of
only 1327 cc. The Type 13 was the first production car built by Ettore Bugatti
after he opened his own small works at Molsheim near Strasbourg in 1909.
Bugatti resumed production of these cars after the First World War and they
sold in considerable numbers.
Specifications
1903 Napier: 4-cylinder 7708 cc (139.7x 127.rnm). Maximum
speed: 80 mph.
1908 Hutton:4-cylinder 5695 cc (101 x178 mm). Maximum speed:
85 mph.
1908 Itala: 4-cylinder 12,706 cc (155x 160 mm). Maximum speed:100
mph.
1914 Bugatti Type 13: 4-cylinder 1327cc (65 x 100 mm). Maximum
speed:70 mph.
