Cooper Car Company

Did You Know?

• On 1 April 1968, John Cooper leased the building at 243 Ewell Road to the Metropolitan Police, and the local Traffic Division moved in for the next 25 years.
• In August 1968, the police were supplied with two Mini Coopers, index numbers PYT767F and PYT768F, with the steering wheel centre boss replaced by a speaker and microphone.
• The police trialled the vehicles for several months but placed no orders for other garages; the building later became a Porsche dealership.

Origins

The first cars built by the Coopers were single-seat 500-cc Formula Three racing cars, driven by John Cooper and Eric Brandon and powered by a JAP motorcycle engine. Because materials were scarce after World War II, the prototypes were made by joining two old Fiat Topolino front-ends. John Cooper later explained that placing the engine behind the driver—a layout used by German race cars in the 1920s and 1930s—was simply a practical choice: with a motorcycle engine and chain drive, it was easier to put the drivetrain at the rear.

This car, called the Cooper 500, succeeded in hillclimbs and on track, including Eric winning the 500 race at one of the first postwar meetings at Gransden Lodge Airfield. Demand from other drivers quickly grew, leading to the establishment of the Cooper Car Company to build more. The business grew by offering an inexpensive entry to motorsport for many aspiring British drivers, becoming the world's first and largest postwar specialist manufacturer of racing cars for sale to privateers.

Cooper built up to 300 single- and twin-cylinder cars during the 1940s and 1950s, dominating the F3 category by winning 64 of 78 major races between 1951 and 1954. A modified Cooper 500 chassis, the T12 model, gave Cooper its first top-tier race when Harry Schell qualified for the 1950 Monaco Grand Prix, marking the first appearance of a rear-engined racer at a Grand Prix since World War II.

Rear-engined revolution

The rear-mid-engined Bugatti Type 251 appeared at the 1956 French Grand Prix but was not competitive, retiring after 18 laps. A year later, two rear-engined Cooper T43s, using the undersized 2-litre Formula 1 version of the Climax FPF, tried to qualify for the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix. Only Jack Brabham made the grid, starting second-to-last and over six seconds off the pace. After several crashes, Brabham was running third late in the race when his fuel pump failed on lap 100.

He coasted to the harbor and pushed the car across the finish line, taking sixth place five laps down, though no points were then awarded. At the 1957 German Grand Prix on the Nürburgring, 1500cc Formula Two cars were allowed to compete. Formula Two rules permitted closed bodywork, so three Porsche 550A sportscars entered, with only the passenger seat and spare wheel removed. The best Formula Two finisher was Edgar Barth’s Porsche, which qualified and finished 12th, ahead of some 2500cc Formula One cars and six Cooper-Climax entries, including Brabham’s. The first Formula One win for a rear-engined car came at the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix, helped by circumstance and deception.

Most British teams stayed away, leaving only ten cars. One was Rob Walker’s privately entered Cooper-Climax, driven by Vanwall driver Stirling Moss. The race was shortened due to heat, and all teams were expected to stop for tire changes. The Cooper T43, with its four-stud wheels, was at a disadvantage compared to the single centerlock nut of other cars.

Moss took the lead while others pitted, and the Italian teams assumed he would also stop. They realized too late that the nimble car would not pit, and the two Ferraris could not catch him.

Final years

After John Cooper's father died, he sold the Cooper Formula One team to the Chipstead Motor Group in April 1965. That same year, the operation relocated from Surbiton to a new factory at Canada Road, Oyster Lane in Byfleet, situated near Brabham in New Haw and close to Alan Mann Racing. The 1965 season fizzled out, and at the end of the year, lead driver Bruce McLaren departed to create his own Formula One car for the incoming 3-litre regulations in 1966.

Since the new owners held the UK concession for Maserati, they arranged for Cooper to produce a 3-litre Cooper-Maserati car, available for sale and for the works team. The Maserati engine was an enlarged version of the old 2.5-litre V-12 that had made occasional appearances in the works 250Fs in 1957; it was a heavy, thirsty design, and the resulting Cooper T81 chassis had to be quite large, though the bulky V-12 always seemed to spill out of the back.

Three cars went to private owners: one each for Rob Walker (driven by Jo Siffert), Jo Bonnier's Anglo Swiss Racing Team, and French privateer Guy Ligier, but none saw much success. Jochen Rindt was in the second year of his three-year contract, and with McLaren gone, Cooper had an empty seat. Given the team's recent struggles, few drivers were lining up, but Cooper managed to hire Richie Ginther from Honda, who was temporarily idle because Honda was late developing its own 3-litre car.

After a few races, Honda recalled Ginther for testing, and he found their new car even bigger and heavier than the Cooper. Cooper made a one-off deal with Chris Amon for the French Grand Prix, then got a huge break when John Surtees became free after a falling-out with Ferrari. Once fuel contract conflicts were sorted, Surtees joined, and Cooper fielded three cars at the French GP.

Mini legacy

As Cooper's Formula One fortunes declined, the John Cooper-conceived Mini, introduced in 1961 as a development of the Alec Issigonis-designed British Motor Corporation Mini with a more powerful engine, new brakes, and distinctive livery, continued to dominate saloon car and rally races throughout the 1960s. It won many championships and the 1964, 1965, and 1967 Monte Carlo rallies. Various Cooper-marked versions of the Mini and conversion kits have been marketed by different companies. The current BMW MINI, in production since 2001, includes Cooper and Cooper S models and John Cooper Works tuner packages.