Not too many blokes built the car in which they made their World F1 Championship debut, but John Arthur Brabham wasn’t ‘yer average fella.
Having ingratiated himself with John and Charlie Cooper in the early months of 1955, Brabham decided a mid-engined 2-litre Bristol powered, central seat Cooper T39 Bobtail would be just-the-ticket for his GP debut at Aintree in mid-July (above). See here; 60th Anniversary of Jack’s First F1 GP Today, British GP 16 July 1955: Cooper T40 Bristol…by Stephen Dalton | primotipo…
So, with John’s support, he helped himself to the stock of components on the Surbiton shelves and built himself a 50mm longer-wheelbase GP Cooper. It was only 2-litres, despite the oft-quoted 2.2-litres, so Jack was giving away a half-litre in capacity to the more sophisticated twin-cam, 2.5-litre opposition.
The key elements of the car are shown by three photographs taken by Australian mechanic, Fred Pearse, who spent that summer in Europe tending Aussie, Dick Cobden’s ex-Peter Whitehead Ferrari 125. I wonder if Fred helped Jack with the build of the Cooper, christened Type 40?
No way was Cooper designer Owen Maddock’s hula-hoop chassis drawn from his Kingston Technical College engineering course, but was more likely inspired by the organic forms of brilliant Catalan architect/designer Antoni Gaudi. Remember, you read it here first: La Sagrada Cooper has a nice ring to it, n’est-ce pas?
Technical specifications of the Cooper T40 as per the feature article linked above. I know the engine isn’t plumbed and still awaits its Citroen-ERSA transaxle, but the sheer economy of a moteur mounted mid-ship is readily apparent.
Unsurprisingly the car ran late, so Jack had no time to test it before Aintree. He qualified at the back of the grid and failed to finish after clutch problems in the race memorably won by Stirling Moss. It was his first championship GP victory, aboard a Mercedes Benz W196.
The ’55 British was the only F1 GP the Cooper contested, but Brabham took in a number of non-championship F1 races in the UK before the car was shipped to Australia where it won the that year’s Formula Libre Australian Grand Prix at Port Wakefield, South Australia.
The works-machine first contested the London Trophy at Crystal Palace on July 30 where Brabham was third in his heat behind Harry Schell’s Vanwall and Paul Emery’s Emeryson Alta, but didn’t start the final.
Then it was off to Charterhall in Scotland for the August 6 Daily Record Trophy. Jack was fourth on the grid, fourth in his heat, and, you guessed it, fourth in the final, behind the Maserati 250Fs of Bob Gerard, Horace Gould and Louis Rosier.
With time for one more event before shipment to Sydney, the Cooper was entered for the 25-lap RedeX Trophy at Snetterton (above) on August 13. Jack was way back on the grid, but again finished fourth behind the Vanwalls of Harry Schell and Ken Wharton and poleman, Stirling Moss, aboard the family Maserati 250F. Despite giving away plenty of power, T40 #CB-1-55 was plenty quick, Jack was out fumbled by Moss but finished ahead of three Maseratis – two 250Fs and an A6GCM – as well as a swag of Connaughts.
There seemed to be as promising a future for water-cooled, mid-engined Coopers as their air-cooled mid-engined siblings…
Credits…
Fred Pearse photographs via Peter Reynell, MotorSport Images, gnooblas.com
Tailpiece…
On the grid of the 27-lap, 100-mile, January 1956, South Pacific Championship at Gnoo Blas, Orange, New South Wales.
The little Cooper was again blown-off by a Maserati 250F, this time Anglo-Australian Reg Hunt’s machine, Brabham was second, with Kevin Neal’s Cooper T23 Bristol in third place.
Finito…
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