These pages are a living archive of the cars and the people who built and raced them.
Click on any name to see more.
| Aikens | One of the very first cars to be completed. |
| 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. |
| Atlas | Gottfried Vollmer's Coopers. |
| Baldock | Austin Seven based car of 1949. |
| Bardon-Turner | The Bardon-Turner 500. |
| Bec | M. Adrien Bec's Gilera Saturno engined car. |
| Beels | Lex Beels' Cooper copies from Holland. |
| Bendy | The first South African car by Vic Cavanagh. |
| Bernardet | Jean Bernardet's French 500. |
| Berte | Rene Berte's French cars. |
| 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. |
| Bombsk | Arthur Mallock's Austin Seven based special. |
| Bond | Laurie Bond's Type C. |
| B.R.M. | Baker's Road Motors by Alan Stanton and Ken Gayfer of Melbourne. |
| Buzzie | Jim Bosisto's early car with Douglas Dirt Track engine. |
| CASS 500 | Les Cass' Australian 500. |
| C.B.P. | T.J Clarke's two cars. |
| C.F.S. | Charlie Smith's special. |
| Chaix | Rene Chaix's front engined 500 based on his sports car. |
| C.H.S. | C.W.A. Heyward's car based on Cooper Mk IV and VI parts. |
| Clayton Scott | Sid Clayton's Australian 500. |
| Clubman 500 | Jack Godbehear's Australian 500. |
| C.M.S. | G.S. Styles' Triumph engined car. |
| 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 | Sid Creamer's cars which proved successful. |
| C.R.M. | Special by G.D. Colquhoun and D.H. Stone. |
| Cudmore | Early Australian car which used a two stoke engine. |
| Cutler | Raymond Cutler's shaft driven car. |
| Dane | Stuart Dane's American car. |
| Dastle | The Dastle 500 JAP. |
| Delhaes | Belgian car by Lambert Delhaes. |
| Demesse | Paul Demesse's car from Belgium. |
| Denis | Zundapp engined 500 by Denis. |
| Deslandes | Roger Deslandes 500, one of the first French cars. |
| Deutch Bonnet | DB 500 based on Dyna Panhard flat twin engine. |
| D.H.W. | D.H. Woods' car had an exceptionally long wheelbase. |
| D.N.C. | Norman Dewis' Rudge engined car. |
| Dofin | The first Belgian 500 by Victor van den Bremdt. |
| DS | Andre Denis front engined, rear wheel drive car from France. |
| D.V.D. | D.V. Delafoss' Flying Saucer. |
| D.W.S. | Dave Stephenson's early Australian car. |
| EAL | aka Walla, a less than successful German 500. |
| Echo | Mike Siakooles' Californain 500. |
| Effyh | Successful Swedish 500 made by the Hĺkansson Brothers . |
| Eigenbau | German word for Special, intended to confuse race historians and web editors.......... |
| Emeryson | Paul Emery's front wheel drive 500. |
| Estonia | Ants Seiler's cars from Tallin. |
| Ettorne | George Henrotte's car. |
| ETZ | Ernst Zierk's Eigenbau. |
| Fairley | Reg Phillips' Austin 7 based car. |
| Falcone | Italian 500 built by Giovanni Savonuzzi for Ugo Puma. |
| F.H.B. | Frank Bacon's early 500. |
| Fiat Special | A Fiat Topolino based car from Belgium |
| Fidget | Early South African car by Harrington-Johnston. |
| Fillingham | The Fillingham Norton. |
| Flash Special | Albert Zains' Cooper Mk XI derived special. |
| Flather | Flather Steel special by Dennis Flather. |
| Flying Pencil | Arthur Rosenhammer's Volkswagen/BMW car. |
| F.M.S. | JAP engined special. |
| Freikaiserwagen | The Fry's pre war Shelsley Special and post war Iota 500. |
| Freiss | Riehl Freiss' BMW engined 500 also known as the FRS. |
| GDA | Gerhard Demmrich's car. |
| Giaur | Attilio Giannini and Berardo Taraschi's 500. |
| G.M. | The GM Special. |
| Graham 500 | Mystery Cooper style special. |
| Granville Grenfell | The Granville Grenfell 500. |
| Grose | Bill Grose's Norton powered 500. |
| Grün | Walter Grün's East German 500. |
| G.S.I. & 3 | Gerald Spink's "Squanderbug". |
| G.S.W. | G.S. Whitby's 500. |
| GvB | "Geheimnis von Bobby" of Bobby Kohlrausch |
| Halldon | Buzzie renamed by Jimmy Ebdon. |
| Hansen | Kaj Hansen's two Danish cars. |
| H B Special | Hector Bossaert's car, from Belgium. |
| Hell | Austrian car by Franz Hell. |
| Hell's Hammers | Wally Cuff's. Iota based, special. |
| 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. |
| Hvezda | 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 . |
| JAP | The JAP 500cc engine. |
| Jason | Geoffrey Messervey's fuel injected, Triumph powered car. |
| J.B. | J.B. Special. |
| J.B.S. | The J.B.S. 500 conceived and driven by Alf Bottoms. |
| J.K.Z. | Jakob Keller from Switzerland. |
| J.L.R. | Jack Rowbotham's car. |
| Jordan | Canadian 500 by Herb Jordan. |
| J.P. | Joe Potts Scottish 500. |
| Kahn | Robert Kahn, a pioneer from Belgium. |
| Kaspar | Swiss 500 by Hubert Pattaey. |
| Kent Smith | J.B. Kent and G.G. Smith's Norton 500. |
| K.G. Special | Finnish 500 by K.E. Kronquist and Fred Geitel. |
| Kieft | Cyril Kieft, one of the most successful constructors. |
| Kiehn Special | Danish Alfa Dana derivative by Keihn Bertelsen. |
| KJ 500 | Ken Kitchen and Roy Jones, from Cardiff, built their car in 1952. |
| Klemm | Rudolf Klemm's BMW powered Eigenbau. |
| K.N. | Kenneth Neve, a big supporter of early 500 racing. |
| 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. |
| Kumbang | The Kumbang Special by Chris Summers. |
| Lawhart | South African car by K.G. Hartley |
| Leprechaun | Irish 500 by Nick Flyn 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 Juwel | Ferdi Lehder's 1948 car. |
| LTE Brillant | Ferdi Lehder's second car. |
| Luna | JAP engined car driven by DGS Cotter |
| Mackay | W.T. Mackay's 500. |
| MAC | John Gibbs' 1948 car. |
| Mackson | Gordon Bedson and "Mac" Macgee's 500. |
| Manx Special | Jack Walkem's Norton engined car from Australia. |
| 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 | H.H.G. Monk's 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 derived 500. |
| Mezzolitre | Gordon Bashford's BSA engined cars of 1951. |
| MHW | Triumph engined Marwyn by Alex McGlashan. |
| Milli-Union | Gerry Millington's Iota car, one of the very first 500s. |
| MM | BMW engined car from 1959. |
| Monaco | George Hartwell's early 500. |
| Monopoletta | Helmut Polensky's German 500. |
| Nami | Russian car by A. Pelttser. |
| Nardi | Enrico Nardi, better known for steering wheels, also built a 500. |
| Nellemann | Robert Nellemann's first car. |
| Norton | Manx Norton "Double Knocker" engine which came to dominate 500cc racing. |
| Ortschitt | Josef Ortschiff's Eigenbau. |
| Parker | 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, Limoges. |
| P.R.A. | Preston Racing Automobiles. |
| P.R.S. | Norman Dewis' DNC renamed by J. Reason. |
| P.S.W. | P. Scorch's DKW engined car from Germany. |
| RALT | Ron Tauranac's first racing car. |
| Reeves Rudge | Early Australian 500 by Norman Rook and A.F. Reeves. |
| Revis | Reg Bicknell's 500. |
| RGR | RGR by Robert Learnan. |
| RJ 500 | Scandinavian car. |
| Robbins | Australian car by R.M. Robbins |
| Ross | The Ross 500. |
| Rotherham | J.R. Densham's 500 christened after being discovered in a Rotherham scrap yard. |
| Rougier | French Simca based 500. |
| Russell | Early special by WH Russell. |
| Scampolo | German, DKW engined 500 |
| Schwannen | Schwannen JAP. |
| Seepferdchen | Karl Weber's second Eigenbau, the Seahorse. |
| Seifert | Siegried Seifert's Eigenbau. |
| Sidney | Len Sidney's Rudge engined car from Melbourne, Australia. |
| Silverbird | Effyh copy by Robert Nelleman from Denmark. |
| 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. |
| S.M.S. | Jeff Sparrow's Austin 7 and Marwyn based cars. |
| 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. |
| Strang | Colin Strang's successful early 500. |
| Stromboli | Adrian Butler and Bruce Mardon's Iota based car. |
| Struzka | Czech car from 1951 using a JAWA engine. |
| Svezda Salut | Russian 500 from 1952. |
| Swebe | Built by Sven Andersson and Bengt Peterson (father of Ronnie). |
| Tatra | Oscar Madsen's Danish car built from an RAF drop canister. |
| Telna | André Halnet's Belgian car based on one Robert Kahn's cars. |
| Trenberth | Murray Trenberth's Australian 500. |
| Tiger Cub | Successful South African 500 by Orlando Fregona and Don Hall. |
| Tiger Kitten | Clive Lones' successful front engined 500. |
| Tiger Special | Morris Minor based Australian special. |
| Trevellick | R.J. Trevellick's 1951 car. |
| Trimax | Spike Rhiando's advanced monocoque design. |
| Triton | African 500. |
| 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. |
| Victress | A 500 from Hollywood, California. |
| Volpini | Gilera powered by Volpini |
| VSM | Victor van den Brempt's second car from Belgium. |
| Waco | Jeremy Webster's car which he converted for road use. |
| Walla | Josef Walla's German/Austrian Eigenbau, AKA EAL-JAP |
| Walker Special | H.W. Walkers car of 1953. |
| Walton | Bruce Walton's successful Australian 500. |
| Wasp | Jack Moor's Wasp IV. |
| Weeke | Auto Union engined car. |
| Wehrlin | R.W. Wehrlin's Swiss 500 of 1948 |
| Weiser | Richard Weiser's Eigenbau |
| Wenz | Bob Wenz, from California, rare American 500. |
| WGM Special | Morrie Wheeler and Jack Gow's Australian car which used disk brakes. |
| White Lloyd | Anthony White's car based on a Lloyd chassis. |
| Whitfill Special | Gary Congdon's All American Racers car. |
| Willment | Four cylinder, front engined and all enclosed bodywork by John Willment. |
| Wishart | A.G. Wishart, of Durban, South Africa's BSA engined car. |
| WR 51 | Eigenbau by Walter and Heinz Weeke. |
| ZIG | Cooper copy from Luxembourg. |
| Zimmermann | Daniel Zimmerman's 500s. |
John Dent would like to know what happened to his Cooper Mk IV which featured unusual body work. Its last known owner was Equipe Butoni. Click here to see more.
David Whiteside would like to know more about his Cooper Mk VII. It was raced by A.E. Prince from 1957 to 1961 but who made the extensive modifications and when? Click here to see more.
Steve Smith is trying to rebuild a mystery 500 back to its original specification. The front suspension is by double wishbones and a Kieft style swing axle at the rear but it features three stud Morris hubs. Click here to see more.
Missing in Action! We already have 200 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:
"Arter Special" by Arter & Co of Ramsgate, "AJS", "A.E.F" JAP engined driven by John Coundley, "ASA" built by Forbes Clark, "AHE" by Alan Eyre in Australia, "Benelli" driven by Herman Benecke during 1951, "CMS" at Brands Hatch in 1951, "Cook Special" driven by V. Worlock at Castle Combe April 1953, "Cullen-Norton" driven by John Cullen in the Waimate 50 (NZ) January 1959, "Debuire" by Jean Debuire with Zundapp engine, "Demesse" by Paul Demesse from Belgium using a BMW engine, "DMRA" by D Adams, "DSP" at Castle Coombe in 1962, "DWS" driven by D Stevenson in Australia, "Elhoo" from Finland, "EZT" special by Ernst Zierk, "Frisch" a Cooper copy from Germany, "500" by Brian Chatterton and Clem Warburton in Australia. "Gladstone" by J.P Gladstone in 1949, "GDC" driven by M Piveteau during 1953, "Goettgens" Dutch with BMW engine by Josef Goettgens, "Hardy Special" driven by Hardy at Montlhery in April 1950, "Hayles" raced at Brands hatch in 1951, "HPN" driven by Roger Hillier during 1955, "Juwel" by Ferdi Lehder, "JR" Triumph engined by Jean Terigi, "Labrani" by Vic Labran, "Lincoln" Australian 500 by Douglas, "Marrott" Scott engined, based on Marwyn, driven by D.G. Flather in 1948, "Messenger JAP" finished 5th in the Silverstone 100 mile race July 1950, "MH" German car by Manfred Herbster, "Naystur" by C.D. Naylor of Leicester, "RGW Norton" by Gregory Brain, "Rowe" Douglas powered car from Australia, "Shaddick JAP" by T. Shaddick, "Siata" Crosley powered driven by Bill Friedauer, "Stone" with Rudge engine, "Tarpon" driven by Arnold Putz during 1951, "Viper Norton" by Peter Mutton, "Weldon" special.
You can contact the editor, Neil
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