Our research into the history of the Schaghticoke Streets Manning Special has helped Rob Manson identify an iconic photo of the car in race conditions which he has had for many years… but whose date and location were not known. There is every evidence that photo was taken at the Tuppence Races near Montreal on Aug 10 1958.
John Streets raced the Schaghticoke Streets Manning Special in eastern Canada in the late 50s… for example the Tuppence Cup Race at the #13 EFTS aerodrome at Connor Airport, St Eugene, Ontario, on Saturday August 10th, 1958. We pieced this together from program notes found by Dan Grogan of Schaghticoke NY, the birthplace of Rob’s Manning, as revealed in our recent post at https://dmtrg.com/the-manning-in-canada-1958/
Rob watched the video referenced there (https://www.facebook.com/reel/726804565147135) and spotted to his amazement (at 2’20 static and at 6’20 in race conditions) the Lotus IX which features in his unidentified still photo. The blue Lotus IX (written incorrectly at the time as Lotus 9), race number 145, was driven by S.E. Ward to victory in Race 2, for under-1600cc race cars, on that same day in August 1958. The Lotus’s race number 145 is identifiable in Rob’s still and in the video.
There is no sight of the Manning in the video footage because it did not compete in Race 2 and Did Not Finish in its Race 4 in the 1958 races. The background of Rob’s photo does not match any of the scenes in the video but there remains the possibility that this was at Connor Airport, St Eugene, on that date. maybe in practice for this meeting. Being on the same patch of race circuit with Mr Ward’s Lotus IX certainly ties the two cars and Rob’s photo to Canada in 1958 or close to. Note that the video is attributed to 1958-1959 so it is possible that it’s footage of two meetings.
Note another shot of a Lotus IX at speed at 5’10, left to right through a corner. The Lotus appears to be white and the number is not visible, but the color could be an effect of the primeval 8mm movie stock. The driver’s helmet is light colored whereas #145 Mr Ward’s is dark. We think the car at 5’10 is not Mr Ward’s blue Lotus IX
There are three types of movie camera which could have been used. I looked them up so I share this gem with you… 1) Kodak Brownie Turret f/1.9 (a user-friendly 8mm camera that offered a turret with different lenses for various focal lengths), 2) Kodak Brownie Home Movie Camera (1958) (a simple, well-known camera for home movie enthusiasts, marketed as being easy to use) and 3) Revere Electric Eye-Matic 8mm (introduced in 1958, this camera was marketed as the first fully automatic camera, using a light-sensitive “Exposure Computer” to adjust the lens aperture without batteries).
We express our thanks again to Dan Grogan of Schaghticoke NY for the research which has given us these leads.
Researched and written by Marcus Bicknell, 16 Oct 2025