Welcome to Steve Welsh Photos automotive collection. My first foray into the photography of car events was with rallying from the early 1980s. A friend who was a Vintage Sports Car Club member introduced me to historic motoring and competition that opened up an engaging opportunity to photograph machinery and the people who preserve and use historic vehicles.
History is all about connections, the past with the present and into the future. Those threads through time are a mesmeric part of the attraction of historic motor racing to me and have led to my archive now being curated and accessible using the connections, accidental or otherwise, between the images and experiences I have enjoyed over more than 40 years. Our plans are to continue creating new galleries and editorial features exploring automotive connections that will hopefully entertain and stimulate.
RALLY
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The opening rally section features the career of Colin McRae upon the 30th anniversary of the Scot becoming the UK’s first World Champion. Images begin with a fresh-faced McRae and co-driver Derek Ringer heading into scrutineering for the 1988 RAC rally and ends with a tail shot of his works Ford Focus in 2002.
A postscript image shows McRae’s protégé Kris Meeke watching Sebastian Loab, Citröen successor and the most successful WRC driver of all time, play the Colin McRae rally video game in 2009.
Next year 2026 will be 40 years since the end of the Group B era. The team look forward to presenting a gallery that reflects the drama and the gloriously mad machinery that raced through UK stages.
The Steve Welsh Photos archive contains images from Group A, World Rally cars and historic rallying.
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To learn more about this collection of Colin McRae images read the blog below.
RACE
To open the race section, we have a selection of general track action, pit and paddock scenes from a wide range of historic events, including Edwardian up to more recent historic machinery. These are some examples of the photographic coverage we can produce. However, it would be remiss not to reflect the 75th anniversary of Formula 1, so we have curated two Special Feature Galleries dedicated to F1 as well.
TRACK ACTION
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F1
Steve Welsh Photos has responded to F1’s 75th anniversary in 2025 with two galleries. Choices are entirely biased to memorable encounters with the people and cars that have appeared at historic events over the last 30 plus years.
Gallery 1 celebrates six of our UK F1 champions, within that we also acknowledge Sir Stirling Moss, regarded by many as the greatest race driver not to win the world championship. The image shows a meeting between Moss and then rising star Lewis Hamilton a few weeks before the latter won his home grand prix for the first time and went on to be the UK’s most successful F1 driver to date.
Gallery 2 is a celebration of some iconic cars and people that played their part during the 75 years of F1 that have appeared at historic events. We begin the gallery with the mighty Alfa Romeo 158/9 that dominated the championships first years, to a Mercedes AMG from 2021.
All of images from these galleries come from historic racing festivals and events such as Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed, Monaco Historic, Silverstone - Christies, Coys, the Classic and Festival, as well as VSCC and HSCC events.
F1 BRITISH CHAMPIONS
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F1 AT 75
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TRIALS
Classic trialing remains one of the most popular and affordable motor sports on the calendar. It is possible to enter a classic trial with very little mechanical or fiscal investment and enjoy 24 hours of competition. Some competitors may consider the latter to be an understatement to the reality and rigours of the Motor Cycling Club (MCC) Exeter, Lands End and Edinburgh trials! These galleries show the breadth of cars entered for classic and Vintage Sports Car Club (VSCC) pre-war trials and the type of terrain tackled while illustrating the coverage we produce.
Our feature gallery focuses on MG, a major player in trials since 1925.
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2025 saw an important anniversary of Moss Garages works’ involvement with trials. It is 100 years since MG’s Cecil Kimber, who recognised the commercial benefit brought by competition success, entered the Motor Cycling Club (MCC) Lands End Trial at Easter that year. This one-off car, the first designed by Kimber, used an adapted Morris Cowley chassis along with other Morris components. The car was powered by a Hotchkiss overhead valve engine delivering around 12hp that was built up by Charlie Martin. Kimber achieved his goal and scored the top MCC gold award. 1925 saw MG sales take off.
In 2005, Steve Welsh recorded the Kimber Special’s return to Blue Hills Mine on the MCC Lands End to celebrate its 80th anniversary. In 2025, the car ran up Blue Hills Old Road once more almost exactly 100 years to the day Cecil Kimber first made the climb.
MG PA midget ‘Cream Cracker’ team
Only 10 years after Kimber’s successful attack on the Lands End, the famous ‘Cream Cracker’ team of MG PA midgets were in action on the same event led by Maurice Toulmin again achieving gold awards. In 1995, Steve Welsh covered the 60th anniversary of the 1935 Cracker team as they returned to the Lands End Trial. A few weeks later, the cars and drivers gathered again, this time in Gloucestershire for an event that saw other trials teams from the period join in for a weekend celebration on the Kimber Trial including an assault on the infamous 1930s trials section Nailsworth Ladder.
Providing a historical connection to the 1935 MG team, Maurice Toulmin’s son Jonathan entered the 2025 Lands End Class R still with an MG, this time with an F Type, climbing Blue Hills Old Road 90 years after his father took the ‘Cracker’ to the top.
KIMBER SPECIAL
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MG CREAM CRACKER
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LANDS END TRIAL
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ASTON MARTIN
What is in a name? For one of the UK’s premier manufacturers, it involves a heritage that stretches back more than 112 years and began with connections to a sporting venue from the early days of motoring and competition.
In 2025, a celebration recalled the end of hill climbing at Buckinghamshire’s Aston Clinton hill; an incident at the Kop Hill involving spectator injures forced the government’s hand with regard to speed-trialling on public roads. Robert Bamford and Lional Martin of Bamford and Martin had been competitors and winners at the venue since the company began dealing and maintaining Singer cars in 1912. Initially entering a 10hp Singer and subsequently from 1913 cars of their own design and construction, this led to a re-brand as Aston Martin to make use of the hill climb success in marketing the cars.
These galleries are dedicated to Aston Martin, cars and people, with a broad selection of images from Steve Welsh Photos that illustrate almost 100 years of sporting production. Beginning with the oldest known marque survivor, a 1921 A3, to second generation Vantage GT4s from 2018, images are curated from contemporary historic motor racing events, such as Silverstone Classic and Festival, Goodwood Revival and Festival, Vintage Sports Car Club and Aston Martin Owners Club meetings.
ASTON CLINTON
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Steve Welsh Photos has responded to F1’s 75th anniversary in 2025 with two galleries. Choices are entirely biased to memorable encounters with the people and cars that have appeared at historic events over the last 30 plus years.
Gallery 1 celebrates six of our UK F1 champions, within that we also acknowledge Sir Stirling Moss, regarded by many as the greatest race driver not to win the world championship. The image shows a meeting between Moss and then rising star Lewis Hamilton a few weeks before the latter won his home grand prix for the first time and went on to be the UK’s most successful F1 driver to date.
Gallery 2 is a celebration of some iconic cars and people that played their part during the 75 years of F1 that have appeared at historic events. We begin the gallery with the mighty Alfa Romeo 158/9 that dominated the championships first years, to a Mercedes AMG from 2021.
All of images from these galleries come from historic racing festivals and events such as Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed, Monaco Historic, Silverstone - Christies, Coys, the Classic and Festival, as well as VSCC and HSCC events.
1920's ASTON
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1930's - 1940's
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1950's - 1960's
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DBR4 GRAND PRIX
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ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE
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