1962 Brabham BT2

Having won back-to-back Formula 1 World Championships for Cooper Cars in 1959 and 1960, and while still under contract to Cooper, Sir Jack Brabham began a quiet partnership with Ron Tauranac in 1961. That partnership would produce winning cars clear through the BT33 F1 model of 1970. A brilliant engineer and fellow Australian, Tauranac's designs began with the MRD-1 Formula Junior (for Motor Racing Developments), which was driven by yet another Aussie, Gavin Youl. He had very good success in the 1961 British Formula Jr. Championship.

By the end of 1961, with the Brabham-Tauranac partnership out in the open, Sir Jack left Cooper and both MRD (their design/build firm) and the Brabham Racing Organization (their Grand Prix team with Sir Jack racing the cars of his own name) were off and running. While development began on the BT3 Formula 1 car, MRD developed the BT2 customer Formula Junior cars, a refinement of the MRD-1 F-JR. Eleven BT2s were built and only six are known to remain today. This car, #FJ-8-62, was the 8th built and was Frank Gardner's to drive (one of two works cars) to 4th place in the 1962 British F-Jr Championship. At the end of the 1962 season, Gardner shipped the car home to Australia, where it competed in Formula Jr, Tasman, Club and vintage events for many years.

It raced continuously in Australia, through 9 different owners, until brought to the US in 2001 by John Streets. It was purchased by its present owner in 2003 and underwent a full restoration. It made its race debut on American soil at the Wine Country Classic at Infineon Raceway in June 2005. It is a fantastic car to drive and a cornerstone in Brabham race car history.