1961 Cooper T-56 FJ

John Cooper and his father, Charles, founded the Cooper Car Company in December 1947 in Surbiton, Surrey, England. From humble beginnings (in a small garage), the Cooper Company would achieve enviable success in motorsports, with their single-seaters competing in Formula One and the Indianapolis 500, and their Mini Cooper excelled in rally racing.

John Cooper and his friend Eric Brandon initially built and drove single-seaters equipped with 500cc JAP motorcycles in Formula Three competition. These Cooper-built F3 cars provided the likes of Graham Hill and Stirling Moss an opportunity to demonstrate their talents and the performance capabilities of the machines. Other racing greats took notice and were soon behind the wheel of the Cooper-Bristol front-engine Formula 2, further strengthening Cooper's position in the emerging post-war motorsport community.

Jack Brabham piloted a privately entered Cooper Formula 2 to a 6th-place finish at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix. The car's rear-engine configuration marked a significant transformation in the realm of motorsport, sending ripples that would influence nearly all forms of automobile racing. The momentum continued into 1958, with Moss winning the Argentine Grand Prix and Trintignant at Monaco. Jack Brabham became the Formula One World Champion in 1960 in a rear-engine Cooper.

The Cooper Mk2 Formula Junior T56 was often fitted with BMC engines and occasionally with a Ford unit. It had an 89-inch wheelbase, four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes, an independent suspension by wishbones and coil springs at the front, and transverse leaf springs and wishbones at the rear.

The first series of Cooper Formula Junior racing cars was the T52, built for the 1960 racing season. The chassis was formed by four longitudinal tubes with hoops at the cowl and behind the driver, and the BMC powerplants were paired with Citroen gearboxes.

The Cooper T56 made its racing debut in 1960 and was officially built for the 1961 season. It was followed in 1962 by the Cooper T59, which was five inches narrower than its predecessor, an inch lower, and featured a semi-reclining seat position for the driver.

Formula Junior
Formula Junior competition commenced in late-1958 and was intended as a low-cost, entry-level series with cars built to pre-defined specifications. Italian marques dominated the first year of the formula, but were quickly surpassed by British constructors. By the close of 1960, over 100 constructors were building Formula Junior race cars, and this figure ballooned to nearly 500 by the end of 1963. Mid-engine Formula Juniors built by British-based constructors, including Cooper and Brabham, were the most successful.

by Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2025