Beschreibung:

This superb and historic 1.5-liter Formula 1 Grand Prix and 2.5/2.7-liter Tasman car marks the end of double-World Champion Jack – today, Sir Jack – Brabham’s race-winning career with the Cooper Car Company works team. It was in its heyday an intermediate design which introduced the Cooper marque to the season’s newly-introduced 1.5-liter Formula 1 class and which bridged the gap until the latest Coventry Climax V8 engines became available. Having achieved back-to-back Driver’s World Championship titles in 1959 and 1960, the Cooper team suffered as delays were so bad for the new 1.5-liter BRM and Coventry Climax Formula 1 engines, they were forced to use Formula 2 derived Coventry Climax FPF 4-cylinder power plants. This restriction imposed a tremendous handicap against the competition with the latest 120-degree V6 4-cam engined “Sharknose” Ferraris, which dominated the season. To compensate for the modest power, each of the British teams built smaller cars than ever before, even though the new Formula regulations imposed a minimum weight limit, higher than that of the 2.5-liter class of the previous year. The design team of Owen “The Beard” Maddock, John Cooper and Jack Brabham himself, scaled down the preceding 2.5-liter and the new “Slimline” was created. Only two of these dedicated works team cars were built – chassis numbers F1/10/61 (offered here) and F1/11/61, campaigned by Sir Jack’s celebrated team-mate, Bruce McLaren. The reduced power and torque of the new engine permitted Cooper’s engineers to slim down the original gearwheels and so pack six where once lived five. It worked well, and this helped the driver’s balance the relatively narrow torque band, particularly when the track was wet. Upon the new T55s’ debut at the Aintree ‘200’ race, the team did their best to keep the 6-speed ‘box secret, and in heavy rain, recounts Bruce McLaren, it greatly contributed to the 1-2 win with Jack Brabham winning in the car offer, with Bruce following suit. At Monaco, Jack Brabham drove this T55 ‘Slimline’ in midfield before retiring with ignition trouble. For the Dutch Grand Prix, ‘Black Jack’ finished sixth; and fourth at Brands Hatch on June 3rd, 1961. At the British Grand Prix in Aintree, Brabham finished fourth, again, in the wet.. The next race was the German Grand Prix, for which a third T55-based 1961 chassis – the unique T58 – was readied, ending T55 chassis number 10’s works career. In all, the T55 cars finished 13 times from 19 starts in the 1961 Formula 1 season, the highlight of which must be Jack Brabham’s victory first time out at Aintree in the extraordinary car offered here. Sir Jack then took the car to New Zealand and Australia in early 1962, where it was campaigned in the Tasman series, uprated with 2.7 and 2.5-liter Climax FPF engines to suit. At Longford, Tasmania, Sir Jack finished second in this car, narrowly beaten by John Surtees’ similar 2.7-liter T53. Both were clocked at 171mph on the narrow public road circuit! The car then sold to Tasmanian John Youl and campaigned though 1964. Since then it has been preserved and passed in to private collections, including Hollywood direcor, David Cronenberg who has raced it successfully in various vintage events. It is now offered here as being easily one of the most original, unspoiled, early ‘60s Formula 1 Cooper-Climaxes around. With numerous wins in Europe and its Tasman history at the hands of three-time World Champion, Jack Brabham, is a very special Cooper indeed.