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1961 Cooper Kimberly T54 news, pictures, and information | ||
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 |  |  | Chassis Num: 11S01 |
Sir Jack Brabham won two World Championships in 1959 and 1960 at the wheel of the little rear-engined 2.5-liter Cooper Formula 1 cars, but Brabham had the biggest influence on the racing community in the United States when he entered this Kimberly Cooper Special in the 1961 Indianapolis 500. After testing a Cooper at Indy in 1960, Brabham finished ninth in the 1961 race. It was the first time that rear-engined car had ever raced in the Indy 500, and it started the move to rear-engined designs that eventually lead to the end of the front-engined race cars.
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1947 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. In 1947 they began building race cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, they reached auto racing's highest levels as their rear-engine, single-seat cars altered the face of Formula One and the Indianapolis 500, and their sedans dominated rally racing. Brabham took the Championship-winning Cooper to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test in 1960, and then entered the famous 500-mile race in a modified version of the Formula One car in 1961. The 'funny' little car from Europe was mocked by the other teams, but it ran as high as third and finished ninth. It took a few years, but the Indianapolis establishment gradually realized the writing was on the wall and the days of their front-engine roadster were numbered. The rear-engine concept would gradually change forever the face of not just Grand Prix racing, but cars that would compete in just about every category around the world.
| Grand Prix Circuits: Pau Circuit | |
 | Some grand prix circuits just have a mythical status about them. Besides the drivers and great races, a lot of the equation comes down to how memorable the circuit truly is. In the case of the Pau Circuit, its sheer place in motorsport history and lore makes this tight, twisting circuit a true legend. From its very beginnings, Pau would be at the heart of travel and transportation. Situated in a rather deep valley with the Pyrenees mountains lending an imposing back-drop, the area that would ...[Read more...] |
| TAG HEUER SIGNS MAJOR GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP WITH FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP | |
 | LONDON (May 15, 2013) - TAG Heuer, the world's number one manufacturer of luxury timepieces inspired by sport, has signed on as Official Timekeeper, Official Watch and Chronograph and Founding Partner of the FIA Formula E Championship. The agreement was signed at TAG Heuer's headquarters in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland by Jean-Christophe Babin, President and CEO of TAG Heuer (on the right), and Alejandro Agag, CEO of Formula E Holdings. 'Teaming up with Formula E, the world's top competi...[Read more...] |
| Tanner Foust Favored For X Games Medal Rookies Victorious After First-Corner Crash Claims Veterans | |
 | FOZ DO IGUAÇU, Brazil (April 23, 2013) - Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust had a target on his back this weekend in Brazil, where the opening round of the Global Rallycross Championship took place on a challenging X Games course at Foz do Iguaçu. Fans lined up 10-deep before the race to get a glimpse of their favorite rallycross stars and the grandstands were packed for the Sunday race. 'The fans in Brazil are amazing,' said Foust. 'They were totally pumped to watch the rac...[Read more...] |
| 1968 Belgian Grand Prix: A First for McLaren | |
 | McLaren and Formula One are truly synonymous. Over the course of its history, McLaren has completed 714 races and have garnered no less than 178 victories. But while McLaren and victory in Formula One are an almost certainty, the very first would be anything but a complete surprise. In December of 1959, Jack Brabham would be leading the way in his Cooper T51 with Bruce McLaren following along not all that far behind. The final lap of the United States Grand Prix held at Sebring, Florida has j...[Read more...] |
| 1962 Monaco Grand Prix: McLaren Carries the Cooper Flag back to the Top | |
 | By the beginning of the 1962 Formula One season Jack Brabham had left Cooper to form his own racing team. It seemed the glories days of the double World Championship were well and truly behind them. However, left in Brabham's stead would be a man very akin to the Australian in so many ways. And in Bruce McLaren, Cooper had a driver and competitor more than apt to help carry the team forward into the future. The first race of the 1962 season, the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, certainly didn't...[Read more...] |
1961| Monaco T-56 T24 T51 T53 |
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