An archive of the cars and the people who built and raced them. Click on any name to see more.
| Ariel | Red Hunter and Square Four engine |
| BMW | Classic flat twin engines R75, R5/R51 and RS253 |
| BSA | A7 and Gold Star engines |
| Douglas | Dirt Track engine |
| Gilera | Saturno and Rondine engines |
| JAP | The JAP 500cc engine. |
| Norton | Manx Norton "Double Knocker" engine which came to dominate 500cc racing. |
| Rudge | Ulster and TT engines |
| Scott | Two stroke engines |
| Triumph | Speed Twin, Tiger 100 and Grand Prix engines |
| Vincent HRD | Meteor, Comet, Grey Flash, Rapide, and Black Shadow engines |
| Adams | DM Adams special, later also called Adams-Wood |
| AEF | Arthur Fisher's 1951 Fiat special for John Coundley. |
| AFM 49 | Alex von Falkenhausen Motorenbau for Emil Vorster |
| Aikens | One of the very first cars to be completed by Wing Commander Frank Aikens |
| Alfa Dana | Danish production car by Uno Jensen based on the Cooper Mk IX. |
| Alt’cock | An excellent name for a special! |
| Andree | Charles Nerpel's Californian Special. |
| Arengo | Guy Arengo's Bristol car. |
| Arnott | Miss Daphne Arnott and George Thornton's 500. |
| ARO | Arthur Rosenhammer's Volkswagen/BMW car, also known as the Flying Pencil |
| ASA | John Forbes-Clarke's 1948 car which became the AR Special |
| Atlas | Gottfried Vollmer's Coopers. |
| Audibert | Paul Audibert's DB based car, also known as Acero |
| B.G. | Karl-August Bergmann's 1951 Eigenbau. |
| B.J.P. | Brian Pentland's Australian car from the late '50s. |
| B.J.R. | Brian Rowsell's JAP engined 500. |
| B.R.M. | Baker's Road Motors by Alan Stanton and Ken Gayfer of Melbourne. |
| Baldock | Austin Seven based car of 1949. |
| Bardon-Turner | Don Truman's Marwyn based special |
| BB Half Pint | Basil Beall's South African car. |
| Bec | Adrien Bec's Gilera Saturno engined car. |
| Beels | Lex Beels' Cooper copies from Holland. |
| Befiata | Roman Belz Fiat based kleinstrennwagen |
| Bendy | The first South African car by Vic Cavanagh. |
| Bernardet/JB I | Jean Bernardet's first French 500. |
| Berte | Rene Berte's French cars. |
| Blue Flash | Dennis Flather's Marwyn special |
| Bombsk | Arthur Mallock's Austin Seven special. |
| Bond | Laurie Bond's Type C. |
| Bosquet | Winner to Tunis in 1953 |
| BRS | BRS at Croft July 1951 Nothing is known of this car other than it was raced at Croft 28th July 1951 by Kay Raper. If any further information is known please get in touch. |
| Brynfan Tyddyn Special | When an Effyh meets a Cooper by Senator Newell-Wood |
| Buzzie | Jim Bosisto's early car with Douglas Dirt Track engine. |
| C.B.P. | T.J Clarke's two cars. |
| C.F.S. | Charlie Smith's special. |
| C.H.S. | C.W.A. Heyward's car based on Cooper Mk IV and VI parts. |
| C.M.S. | Gilbert Styles and Bill Brown's Triumph engined car. |
| C.O.L. | Further development of the Triton. |
| C.R.M. | Special by G.D. Colquhoun and D.H. Stone. |
| CASS 500 | Les Cass' Australian 500. |
| Chaix | Rene Chaix's front engined 500 based on his sports car. |
| Cheetah | Gordon Henderson's Kieft inspired car. |
| Clayton Scott | Sid Clayton's Australian 500. |
| Clubman 500 | Jack Godbehear's Australian 500. |
| CMC | Australian special by Andy Menzies |
| Cobra | Tom Bryant and Fred Corbin's 500. |
| Comet | Brian Heyward's Comet. |
| Condor | German 500 built by Jose Jungbecker. |
| Cooper | From homebuilt cars for John and Eric Brandon to domination of F3 and two F1 titles. |
| Cousy | French 500 by Georges Cousy. |
| Cowlan | Coward and Lang's car which became the prototype J.B.S. |
| Creamer | Syd Creamer's various cars. |
| Cudmore | Early Australian car which used a two stoke engine. |
| Cullen Norton | Jim Cullen's New Zealand special. |
| Cutler | Raymond Cutler's shaft driven car. |
| D.H.W | D.H. Woods' car had an exceptionally long wheelbase. |
| D.N.C | Norman Dewis' Rudge engined car. |
| D.V.D | Kurt Delafoss' Flying Saucer. kleinstrennwagen |
| D.W.S | Dave Stephenson's early Australian car. |
| Dane | Stuart Dane's special, also called Viking. |
| Dastle | The Dastle 500 JAP. |
| Debuire | Jean Debuire's special, sometimes referred to as JDS. |
| Delhaes | Belgian special by Lambert Delhaes. |
| Demesse | Paul Demesse's car from Belgium. |
| Denis | Zundapp engined 500 by Andre Denis, also known as DS |
| Deslandes | Roger Deslandes 500, one of the first French cars. |
| Deutch Bonnet | DB 500 based on Dyna Panhard flat twin engine. |
| DNA | A Rhodesian Special |
| Dofin | The first Belgian 500 by Victor van den Bremdt. |
| EAL | aka Walla Eigenbau, a less than successful German special. |
| Echo | Mike Siakooles' Californain 500. |
| Effyh | Successful Swedish 500 made by the Håkansson Brothers . |
| EGS | Eric Guest's special |
| Elhoo | Successful Finnish car by Seppo Loivaranta and Olavi Havana |
| Emeryson | Paul Emery's front wheel drive 500. |
| Eso | Czech |
| Estonia | Ants Seiler's cars from Tallin. |
| Ettorne | George Henrotte's car. |
| ETZ | Ernst Zierk's Eigenbau. |
| Ewing Norton | Ron Ewing's Australian special |
| F.H.B | Frank Bacon's early 500. |
| F.M.S | Late special by WB Fowler |
| Fairley | Reg Phillips' Austin 7 based car. |
| Falcone | Italian 500 built by Giovanni Savonuzzi for Ugo Puma. |
| Fegers Eigenbau | Alfred Fegers 1949 Kleinstrennwagen |
| Fiat Special | A Fiat Topolino based car from Belgium |
| Fidget | Early South African car by Harrington-Johnston. |
| Fillingham | A late special by William Fillingham, a test pilot for De Havilland. |
| Flash Cub | Special by Harry Warren of Durban |
| Flash Special | Albert Zains' Cooper Mk XI derived special. |
| Flather | Flather Steel special by Dennis Flather. |
| Freikaiserwagen | The Fry's pre-war, record breaking Shelsley Special and post war Iota 500. |
| Freiss | Early French car by Paul Freiss with Robert Riehl and Robert Zurmely, also known as the FRS. |
| G.M. | The Green & Mays Special. |
| G.S.I. & 3 | Gerald Spink's "Squanderbug". |
| G.S.W. | Gerald Whitby's 500. |
| GDA | Gerhard Demmrich's BMW powered car. |
| Giaur | Attilio Giannini and Berardo Taraschi's 500. |
| Gladstone | J.P. Gladstone's 1949 special. |
| Glückler | Reudi Gluckler's BMW powered machine |
| Göttgens Eigenbau | Joseph Göttgens 1950 special |
| Graetz Eigenbau | Berthold Graetz's special from 1949. |
| Graham 500 | Charlie Graham's Cooper Mk IV special and his later Mk IX type special |
| Granville Grenfell | The Granville Grenfell Special featuring a most innovative front suspension system |
| Grose | Bill Grose's two specials |
| Grün | Walter Grün's East German 500. |
| GvB | "Geheimnis von Bobby" of Bobby Kohlrausch |
| H B Special | Hector Bossaert's car. |
| Halldon | Buzzie renamed by Jimmy Ebdon. |
| Hansen | Kaj Hansen's two Danish cars. |
| Harwin | South African Kieft copy by Peter Hard and Jimmy Winstanley |
| Helio | Heinz Lindermann's 1950 Eigenbau |
| Hell Spezial | Austrian car by Franz Hell. |
| Hell’s Hammers | Wally Cuff's. Iota based, special. |
| Herrmann Eigenbau | Heinz Hermann's 1955 eigenbau |
| Hill | R.G. Hill's 500. |
| Hooper | Bill and Jack Hooper's Australian car. |
| Hornet | The Hornet JAP which won the Parker Trophy in 2004. |
| HPN | Roger Hillier's modified Effyh |
| Hvĕzda | Jiri Bulicek's Jawa engined car. |
| IER | Ian Raby's Cooper based special. |
| Imp | J.H. Pratt's 1949 car. |
| Iota | Iota Racing Cars, Bristol . |
| J.B.S. | The J.B.S. 500 conceived and driven by Alf Bottoms. |
| J.K.Z. | Jakob Keller's second car from Switzerland. |
| J.L.R. | Les Rowbotham's car. |
| Jason | Geoffrey Messervey's fuel injected, Triumph powered car. |
| Jawa | Czech and Jawa powered |
| JB II&II | Specials by Jean Bernardet |
| Jonsson – FN | Special by Sten Jonsson |
| Jordan | Canadian 500 by Herb Jordan. |
| JP | The Scottish 500, by Joe Potts of Lanarkshire |
| JTS | John Thompson's South African special. |
| K.G. Special | Finnish 500 by Karl-Erik Kronqvist and Fred Geitel. |
| K.N. | Kenneth Neve's two specials |
| Kaha Eigenbau | Johannes Hädrich's BMW eigenbau |
| Kahn | Robert Kahn, a pioneer from Belgium. |
| Kaspar | Swiss 500 by Hubert Pattaey. |
| Keller Special | Jakob Keller's Swiss car. |
| Kent Smith | J.B. Kent and Gerald Smith's Norton engined special. |
| Kieft | Cyril Kieft, one of the most successful constructors. |
| Kiehn Special | Danish Alfa Dana derivative by Kiehn Berthelsen. |
| KJ 500 | Ken Kitchen and Roy Jones, from Cardiff, built their car in 1952. |
| Klemm | Rudolf Klemm's BMW powered Eigenbau. |
| Kondor | BMW engined car derived from the Condor. |
| KP Special | Danish Alfa Dana derivative by Per Krogh of the Ecurie Centre Nord. |
| Krenkel | Willy Krenkel's Cooper style eigenbau. |
| KTS | South African special by Billy Kay and AJ Trebble. |
| Kumbang | The Kumbang Special by Chris Summers, nee Messenger, nee Marwyn. |
| Kurtz | Alfred Kurtz's JAP special |
| Labrani | Victor Labrum built his special in 1951 |
| Lampy Spezial | Later incarnation of the first Austrian car. |
| Larkens | Early Dutch one-off 500 |
| Lauer Eigenbau | Early Kleinstrennwagen by Jakob Lauer |
| Lawhart | South African car by Ken Hartley |
| Leprechaun | Irish 500s by Nick Flynn and Redmond Gallagher. |
| Leston Special | Les Leston's JBS, modified by Ray Martin to swing axle configuration. |
| Lockey | Tony Lockey, the youngest constructor of a 500. |
| Loweno | Andre Loens special from 1956. |
| LTE Brillant | Ferdi Lehder's second kleinstrennwagen car. |
| LTE Juwel | Ferdi Lehder's 1948 kleinstrennwagen. |
| Lück Eigenbau | Hans Lück's early kleinstrennwagen from 1948 |
| Ludewig Eigenbau | Rolf Ludewig's early kleinstrennwagen from 1948 |
| Ludwig Eigenbau | Max Ludwig's 1952 kleinstrennwagen |
| Luna | JAP engined car driven by DGS Cotter |
| MAC | John Gibbs' 1948 car. |
| Mackay | Wally Mackay's Triumph special. |
| Mackson | Gordon Bedson and "Mac" Macgee's 500. |
| Marott | Denis Flather's first special aka Blue Flash |
| Marshall | Early Australian 500 by Bob Joass. |
| Martin | Ray Martin initially worked with Cyril Kieft and later built cars under his own name. |
| Marwyn | The Marwyn Car Construction Company, Dorset, builders of the first production 500. |
| MBMG | Geoff Monk's P Type MG based 500. |
| McCandless | Rex McCandless, well known in the field of bike racing, built a front engined, four wheel drive car. |
| Melkus | Heinz Melkus' Cooper inspired 500 which won the 1958 East German Championship. |
| Messenger | A modified Marwyn by Ron Messenger |
| Meteor | One off car by Competition Cars, Colchester |
| Mezzolitre | Gordon Bashford's BSA engined cars of 1951. |
| MH 1,2&3 | Manfred Herbster's specials |
| MHM | Jock and James Moncrieff's early special |
| MHW | Triumph engined Marwyn by Alex McGlashan. |
| Milli-Union | Gerry Millington's Iota car, one of the very first 500s. |
| Mini Moke | South African special by Bill Dunlop |
| Minouflet | Freiss or FRS while in the hands of André Minouflet |
| MM | BMW engined car from 1959. |
| Monaco | George Hartwell's early 500. |
| Monopoletta | Helmut Polensky's 500. |
| Moreaux | French Panhard powered car |
| Nami 041M | Russian car by Alexander Pelttser |
| Nardi | Enrico Nardi, better known for steering wheels, also built a 500. |
| Nellemann | Robert Nellemann's first car. |
| Norton Cub | South African car of ER Kemp |
| OK | Otto Kolan's eigenbau |
| Ortschitt Eigenbau | Josef Ortschitt's eigenbau. |
| Otto Mathé Special | A one off appearance by Lothar Rafael at the Commander Yorke meeting in 1956 |
| P.R.A. | Preston Racing Automobiles. |
| P.R.S. | Norman Dewis' DNC renamed by J. Reason. |
| P.S.A | Or possibly PRA, an early Spanish 500 |
| P.S.W. | Paul Schorch's DKW engined kleinstrennwagen. |
| Parker-Kieft | Don Parker's modified Kieft. |
| Parker Special | Don Parker's one off, originally developed with Charlie Smith.. |
| Parsenn | Jeremy Fry's lightweight 500 of 1949. |
| Petty | Ray Petty, best known as a Norton tuning specialist, built his own car. |
| Piccolo | Karl Weber's first eigenbau. |
| Pradeau | Andre Pradeau from Limoges |
| Pugh Special | Norman Pugh's 1950 special |
| RALT | Ron and Austin Tauranac's first racing car. |
| RC Special | Bruce Campbell's 1950 car. |
| Reeves Rudge | Early Australian 500 by Norman Rook and A.F. Reeves. |
| Revis | Reg Bicknell's two specials. |
| RGR | Special based on Cooper Mk IV by Robert Learnan. |
| RJ 500 | Scandinavian car. |
| Robbins | Australian car by R.M. Robbins |
| Ross | Australian Ross 500. |
| Rougier | French Simca based 500. |
| Rowe | Kieth Row'es Douglas powered special |
| RPG | Roger Gaillard's specials |
| Russell | Early special by WH Russell. |
| S.M.S | Jeff Sparrow's Austin 7 and Marwyn based cars. |
| Salut | 1947 Russian car by Mihail Derkovskiy and Alexander Peltzer |
| Saxon | Mackson rebuilt by Cyril Scott-MacArthur |
| Scampolo | German, DKW engined 500 |
| Schwannen | Schwannen JAP. |
| Seepferdchen | Karl Weber's second Eigenbau, the Seahorse. |
| Seifert | Siegfried Seifert's eigenbau. |
| Sidney | Len Sidney's Rudge engined car from Melbourne, Australia. |
| Silverbird | Effyh copy by Robert Nellemann from Denmark. |
| Silverfågel | Swedish car by Olle Grandin |
| Simca Surva | Henri Otterbein's Simca based car from France. |
| Slot | Less than successful attempt by Wagner Slot. |
| Smith | Ken Smith's first special. |
| Smith-Buckler | Ken Smith's second car, constructed by Buckler of Reading. |
| Smith Mk III | Ken Smith's third car. |
| Snipe | Larry Kropp's American 500. |
| Sprog | Burnett-Read's Australian 500 using a BSA engine. |
| Staride | John Habin and Mike Erskine's Star Ride. |
| Stone | Les Stone's Rudge powered special. |
| Strang | Colin Strang's successful early 500 and the first mid engined car. |
| Stromboli | Adrian Butler and Bruce Mardon's Iota based car. |
| Struzka | Czech car from 1951 using a JAWA engine. |
| Swebe | Built by Sven Andersson and Bengt Peterson, father of Ronnie. |
| Tarf | Piero Taruffi's twin boom record cars |
| Tatra | Oscar Madsen's Danish car built from an RAF drop canister. |
| Telna | André Hanlet's Belgian car based on one Robert Kahn's cars. |
| Tiger Cub | Successful South African 500 by Orlando Fregona and Don Hall. |
| Tiger Kitten | Clive Lones' successful series of cars. |
| Tiger Special | Morris Minor based Australian special. |
| Trenberth | Murray Trenberth's Australian 500. |
| Trevellick | Rudolph Trevellick's 1951 car. |
| Trimax | Spike Rhiando's advanced monocoque design. |
| Triton | South African 500 by Mike Renton |
| Turner Kieft | Jack Turner's remarkable four cylinder DOHC engined Kieft. |
| Ultra | Ernst Anner's Swiss car. |
| Underwood | A.A Underwood's Scott engined 500. |
| Urania | Berardo Taraschi's 500. |
| Vergano | Italian special by Francesco Vergano |
| Victress | A 500 from Hollywood, California. |
| Volpini | Gilera powered Volpini |
| VSM | Victor van der Brempt's second car from Belgium. |
| Waco | Gerry Webster's car which he converted for road use. |
| Walkem Special | EJ "Jock" Walkem car from Tazmania |
| Walker Special | Harold Walkers car of 1953. |
| Walla/EAL | Was this Walla's first car? Later owner Austrian Franz Koch. |
| Walla Eigenbau/Lampy Spezial | Possibly the first Austrian special, later owned by Martin Lampy |
| Walton | Bruce Walton's successful Australian 500. |
| Warburton | Clem Warburton and Brian Chatterton's Australian special |
| Wasp | Jack Moor's Wasp IV. |
| Weeke | Auto Union engined car, probably a Formula Junior |
| Wehrlin | R.W. Wehrlin's Swiss 500 of 1948 |
| Weiß Eigenbau | Hansgeorg Weiß's early kleinstrennwagen from 1948 |
| Weiser | Richard Weiser's Eigenbau |
| Wenz | Bob Wenz, from California, rare American 500. |
| WGM Special | Morrie Wheeler and Jack Gow's car with front mounted Matchless engine and featuring disk brakes. |
| Wharton | Ken Wharton's special. |
| WHD | John Densham's front engined special, sometimes called Rotherham |
| White Lloyd | Anthony White's car based on a Lloyd chassis. |
| Whitfill Special | Jerry Whitfill's Triumph engined roadster. |
| Willment | Four cylinder, front engined and all enclosed bodywork by John Willment. |
| Wishart | Alex Wishart of Durban, South Africa's two cars. |
| WR 51 | Eigenbau by Walter and Heinz Weeke. |
| Wright Special | Jimmy Wight's special, also known as "Blackburn" |
| Z | Russian 500 by Alexander Peltzer. |
| Zephyr | Iota special by Jackie Breese |
| ZIG | Cooper copy from Luxembourg. |
| Zimmermann | Daniel Zimmermann, two stroke innovator's eigenbau. |
Histories & Mysteries
Kenny Baird is trying to complete the rebuild a mystery 500 and find out more of its history. The front suspension is by double wishbones and a Kieft style swing axle at the rear but it features three stud Morris hubs. From 1967 until 1969 it went though the ownership of Stewart Hands, Mike Cubbage and then Tony Bianchi bit its constructor is unknown. Click here to see more.
NorJAP Cooper, a remarkable hybrid engine comprising a JAP twin with Norton Heads. Click here for details.
John Dent would like to know what happened to his Cooper Mk IV which featured unusual body work. It's last known owner was Equipe Brutoni. Click here to see more.
Missing in Action! We already have 250 cars and their makes documented but there are still a few missing. If you own, owned, or were involved with any car which doesn't appear, please let us know some details so that we can extend the archive or, if you have any additional details for a featured car, please get in touch. Some missing marques:
"AFF" by AF Fulwood, "AHE" by Alan Eyre in Australia, "Alcedo" by Hans-Bruno Senf, "Alecto" Scotish car by Jim Palmer, driven by Lord Strathcarron at Goodwood, March 1951, "Alpha" Irish modified Marwyn by Jim Stirling, "Amal-JAP" by Wilf Allen, "Antem" by Jean Antem in 1950, "Arter Special" by Arter & Co of Ramsgate, "ATC" by AT Carroll, "Bardahl Special" driven by Lohmann Jorgensen in1955, "Benelli" driven by Herman Benecke during 1951, "Branca" Gilera engined by Aquilion Branca, "Cege" by Raymond Sjoqvist, "CMS" by Gordon Styles at Brands Hatch in 1951, "Cook Special" driven by Vic Worlock at Castle Combe April 1953, "Cullen-Norton" driven by John Cullen in the Waimate 50 (NZ) January 1959, "Darian Special" driven by Ian Smith at Brands, September 1950, Delphin" by Klaus Kuhn at Avus in June 1952, "DSP" at Castle Coombe in 1962, "Duck Anderson Special" from Queensland, "DWS" driven by David Stevenson in Australia, "EE Special" Effyh based car by Eric Engvall, "ELT Special" by JH Elt in 1951, "FG" Douglas engined car driven by F Goodwillie in 1950, "Frisch" a Cooper copy from Germany, "GDC" driven by Marcel Piveteau during 1952 and 53, ""GMD" driven by Roger Goniche at Montlhéry in '54, "Gridley" JAP engined at Silverstone in September '58, "GWM" by GW Mullard, "Hardy Special" driven by Camille Hardy at Montlhéry in April 1950, "Hawthorn" by AD Green in March '62, "Hayles Special" raced at Brands Hatch in 1951 by DJ Hayles, "Hodge Podge" BSA engined by Raymond Poe of Los Angeles, "JR" Triumph engined by Jean Terigi, "KE Special" by Knut Ericsson, "KJ" by Ken Kitchen and Roy Jones, "Landar" by Peter Radnall, "Lincoln" Australian 500 by Douglas, "LT Special" by Jack Newton, "Marrie Special" by Roger Marriè, "MB 500" by Mortlock and Beale in Australia, "Meek Empress" by Chris Meek, "Menzies Special" by Andie Menzies, "Morrow Special" Vincent engine by Harry Morrow, "Naystur" by C.D. Naylor of Leicester, "PSW" Eigenbau by Paul Scorch, "RGW Norton" by Gregory Brain, "RTC" by Reg Spreckley at Croft in July 1951, "Rudge Special" by Ted Huggins, "SBS" by Kauko Bjorkqvist in Helsinki, May 54, "Schoon" by Louis Schoon, "Shaddick JAP" by Trevor Shaddick, "Shenton" driven by A Davison in 1947 "Siata" Crosley powered driven by Bill Friedauer in the US, "Suecia" Swedish car driven by Greger Lutteman "Tarpon" driven by Arnold Putz during 1951, "TDJ" by DH Beale, "Terigi" by Jean Terigi, "Thormin" by Dave Thormin of California, "Viper" by Trevor Shaddick and later Peter Mutton, "Weldon" special, "WGW" BMW driven by Theo Fitzau, "Worlock" driven by Vic Worlock in 1950