1953 Porsche Racing Special Roadster

John Cooper and his father Charles Cooper began the Cooper Car Company in 1946. With the help of John's friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England. During the 1950s and early 1960s, they achieved much success on the world's highest levels of racing with their rear-engined, single-seat cars which would alter the face of Formula One and the Indianapolis 500.

In the early 1950s, John and Eric decided to create a pair of race cars to contest the newly form 500cc Formula racing. The idea behind the 500cc class was to provide an economical series built around motorcycle engines; most competitors select the 'JAP' (J.A. Prestwich) single-cylinder powerplant. After a customer special-ordered a slightly longer chassis to accommodate a 1000cc JAP V-twin engine, Cooper began offering both short and long versions.

As the 1940s were coming to a close, the FIA announced the creation of a new class of international racing which would basically use the British 500cc club's rules. The new class would be called 'Formula 3' and would open a new market for Cooper Car Company's products. It is believed that six of the Cooper MKV cars were shipped to the United States in 1951.

An American customer named Gordon 'Tippy' Lipe purchased the fifth Cooper MK7 and used it in competition at least once, winning a first-in-class trophy at the Giant's Despair hillclimb in Wilkes-Barre, PA, in 1953. It is not known if Lipe competed with the MK7 in any other events, or if he began modifying it with a Porsche 1500cc engine. Robert Harbinson and Bill Lloyd assisted in the process.

Lipe's MK7 was transformed into an F-Modified (1000-1500cc) class racer. It was given a lightweight, one-off aluminum sports car body built by Harbinson and constructed to conform to SCCA rules for the Modified sports car class. Thus, it was originally given a passenger seat, horns, lights and other necessary items to qualify for competition.

During some of the inaugural outings with the car, it would prove to be fast and a potential contender, but teething problems often caused it to DNF. One of the most memorable outings for the little sports car was in May of 1955 at Cumberland, Maryland where it won first place against other F, G, and H Modified cars. This was followed by a first in class and sixth overall in the Mt. Equinox hillclimb held in June. Another first-in-class victory was earned in July at Beverly Massachusetts in The Tea Party Trophy Race. Later that day, Lipe won the Clippership Trophy. He would finish 6th in class at Thompson Connecticut in September. He would finish the season in third place in the SCCA F-Modified national championship points race.

After removing the engine, the Cooper-Porsche Special was sold in 1957 to Ed Walsh of St. Louis. Walsh installed an OSCA 750cc engine and then went racing in the H-Modified (500-750) class. It won the June Sprints at Road America in 1959 and 1960.

Near the close of 1961, Ed Walsh sold the Cooper-OSCA to Mack Barlow. Barlow raced the car on a few occasions before putting it into storage in the late 1960s. The car would sit in a barn in Wichita, Kansas until August of 1991 when 'Duck' Waddle of Hutchinson, Kansas purchased the car from Virginia Barlow, Mack's widow. In December of 1991, the car was purchased by John Muller of Kansas City. Mr. Muller commissioned Brian Haupt of Carriage & Motorworks to perform a restoration to its original configuration. Between 1993 and 1999, Mr. Muller raced the Pooper. After which, he decided to give it another restoration before offering it for sale. The frame-off restoration work was completed in February of 2001. In August of 2001, the car was purchased by Cameron Healy of Portland, Oregon. Mr. Healy has continued its racing career by competing in vintage events.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2013