1955 Cooper T39 Sports Racer

During the years of 1954 through 1957 the Cooper Car Company in Surbiton, England designed and constructed a new series of rear-engine sports racers designated the 'Cooper Bobtail.' The early cars (Type 39 of 1954 and 1955) were equipped with alloy bodies and Coventry Climax FWA (1100cc) engines. These cars shared some components with the early Formula III cars, such as the 15-inch artillery style wheel with integral brake drums, cross leaf springs suspension, and driver seated on the centerline. Other advance features included the radiator air exiting from the top of the car as well as the bottom and the body with a chopped tail. These features contributed to the high-speed stability of the design. Later the cars were equipped with Coventry Climax FWB (1500cc) engines and one was built with a 2-liter Bristol engine.

The chassis was strong and light lending racers to modify cars with various engines, including Volvo, light-weight V8s, Porsche, and Corvair. Since the car was a center-seater some cars were modified to open wheel racecars. One of the more famous modified cars was Peter Lovely's 'Pooper.' The original build records were lost and some of the cars were modified therefore, there is not a good count of the total number of Bobtails constructed. The Bobtails were driven by famous drivers of the likes of Stirling Moss, Roy Salvadori, Jack Brabham, Lance Reventlow, Carroll Smith, Bill Watkins, and many others.

During 1959, this car was driven in several SCCA events by Carroll Smith. At the time he was severing as an NROTC instructor at the University of Texas. Carroll Smith would have a distinguished career racing in Europe and then became team manager for Carroll Shelby's LeMans winning race teams.