Beschreibung:

1961-64 Cooper-Zerex-Oldsmobile 'Transformer' Sports-Racing Two-Seater Chassis no. NZ 25438 (see text) • From 1961 Formula 1 Cooper-Climax Single-Seater To Roger Penske's 1962 Zerex Special Centre-Seater • From 1962 Zerex Special Centre-Seater to Roger Penske's 1963 Offset-Drive Zerex Special • From Roger Penske's 1963 Offset-Drive Zerex Special to Bruce McLaren's 1964 Cooper-Zerex Special • From Bruce McLaren's 1964 Cooper-Zerex Special to his 1964 Cooper-Zerex-Oldsmobile • Bruce McLaren's 1964 Aintree, Silverstone, Mosport Park Players '200' and August Monday Brands Hatch Guards Trophy-winner FootnotesHere the BONHAMS motor car department is delighted to offer for sale by auction the Bruce McLaren Motor Racing Team's first sports-racing car – back at Goodwood for the first time since it started from pole position here in the immensely popular and universally respected young driver/engineer's hands, to lead the likes of Jim Clark, Graham Hill and Denny Hulme (and set fastest race lap) in the 1964 RAC Tourist Trophy race. This incredibly historic 'barn find' Cooper-Zerex-Oldsmobile is offered after returning to its country of origin following no fewer than 57 years – more than 50 spent in storage - in the USA 1965-66 and in South America, 1967-2022. The great New Zealand-born Grand Prix- and Le Mans-winning driver/constructor Bruce McLaren absolutely shone behind the wheel of this 1964 Cooper-Zerex-Oldsmobile, but this extraordinary competition car truly enjoyed unique fame within racing history even before his tenure. Most successful racing cars enjoy just the briefest time at the top. Their surviving fabric usually preserves the touch of just one great driver, one great configuration, or just one great race. It is rare for any frontline racing car to win consistently for more than one or two years. Yet the Cooper-Zerex-Oldsmobile's story saw it as an entity being continually adapted to match developing race regulations over three absolutely jam-packed racing seasons. And during them it won at premier level in each of its sports car guises 1962-64. During those years, this wonderfully historic racing car truly became 'The Great Transformer'. Its stature even extends beyond its being the taproot of the entire modern McLaren marque. For discerning 1960s racing-car hunters it has become something of a holy grail, having achieved tremendous premier level success and fame in the hands of some truly great racing names... In progressively-developing form it was driven by such illustrious stars as the Americans Walt Hansgen and Roger Penske, before being acquired by the Coopor Car Company's premier-league Formula 1 team leader Bruce McLaren for his embryo new private racing team. During the period 1961-1964 this Cooper-Zerex – powered initially by British-built 4-cylinder Coventry Climax engines, then converted by Bruce McLaren's personal mechanics to accommodate what was then regarded as 'a big' American alloy-block Oldsmobile V8 – secured its now legendary status. The car first achieved immense success in the hands of American racing and entrepreneurial business star Roger Penske – still, at the age of 85, head of his often-dominant racing organisation today while his Penske Corporation manages businesses with consolidated revenues exceeding $32-billion, operating in over 3,200 locations and employing more than 56,000 people worldwide. With Roger Penske driving, the developing 'Zerex Special' which formed two of this 'Great Transformer' car's earliest iterations won both the 1962 'Los Angeles Times' Grand Prix at Riverside Raceway and the Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca followed by the year's Puerto Rican Grand Prix at Caguas. In modified form further success followed in 1963 as Roger Penske won both the Sports Car Club of America races at Marlboro and Cumberland, plus the major international Guards Trophy event at Brands Hatch, England. Bruce McLaren then acquired the car for 1964. Using a 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Climax engine, he