1961 Cooper Monaco Type 61 Sports Racer

Built by the Cooper Car Company in Surbiton, England, the firm was famous for pushing the rear-engine revolution in racing, starting with their 500cc racers, moving into various Formulas and becoming World Champion Constructors in 1959 and 1960 with cars driven by World Champion Sir Jack Brabham.

In late 1958, Coopers unveiled the next generation of rear-engine sports racer, named the 'Monaco' in honor of their Grand Prix (F-1) victory in Monte Carlo that year. With no driveshaft running between the seats, the car was a barely widened Grand Prix machine, sharing much of the same suspension, steering and running gear. Choice of motors, however, were strictly up to the private owners.

This car was the third chassis produced as the Mark III Version of the Monaco - with some changes to the chassis and suspension from previous versions. These cars also received new bodywork that included the two rear Cadillac-style 'fins' that were thought to appeal to American buyers. At this time, Coopers also changed their nomenclature for chassis numbering and the Mark III became the Type 61M.

This chassis was originally built up for the U.K. driver Peter Berry, but he withdrew the order. Cooper's Grand Prix driver, Bruce McLaren had driven for Team Cunningham in the 1960 West Coast races and thought that a properly prepared 'Monaco' could really be competitive. He convinced Peter Berry not only to take up the order but also finance his American adventure. (The other two CM Mark IIIs were driven by Jack Brabham and Roger Penske.)

McLaren's choice of motor was the Coventry-Climax 2.7-liter FPF unit that had, in fact, been used to power Cooper's entry in the 1961 Indianapolis 500. The car was tested briefly at Silverstone in September and got under the record sports car time set by Stirling Moss in a Lotus 19.

The car's American racing debut came about at Virginia's International Raceway, in April of 1962 when Team Cunningham driver Walt Hansgen was at the wheel. The rest of the season saw the Cooper-Buick one of the fastest cars in the 'C-Modified' and 'Formula Libre' events, including wins at Bridgehampton and Watkins Glen.

The car appeared at the Riverside Grand Prix on October 15th, in 1962 in Cooper's traditional British Racing Green and white striping. McLaren had been right - the car was fast and he led the race until a water leak forced him to slow and take second. The winner was Jack Brabham in another Cooper Monaco.

One Week later, McLaren was at Laguna Seca for the Pacifica Grand Prix and was quick again, but the motor was tired - and a piston seized in the race making him a DNF and leaving Moss to take the win in the UDT Lotus 19. At this point, the chassis was sold to Briggs Cunningham - and the motor was shipped to New Zealand to be used in McLaren's Tasman Series Cooper Formula car.

Cunningham had the chassis shipped to Lance Reventlow's RAI shops in Los Angeles. Revenlow, heir to the Woolworth Stores fortune, had been running his successful SCARAB sports racers and had also created his own rear-engine machine, matched to a small block aluminum Buick motor. A similar 3.5 liter unit was installed in Cunningham's T-61M and the resulting car had more horsepower and weighed about 20 kilos less than with the Coventry-Climax motor.

For 1963, Walk continued his winning ways with the Cooper, including victories at Bridgehampton, Cumberland, Indianapolis Raceway Park and the final Team Cunningham 1st Overall at the second event held at Bridgehampton on September 15th of 1963. The Cooper-Buick was then sold and went thru several owners until being repatriated in the U.K. in 2003 where it underwent a restoration by an ex-Cooper works mechanic and appeared at several vintage racing events including the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The car is now owned and driven by Jeffrey Heller, Berkeley, California and appears at various West Coast vintage and classic events.

By Daniel Vaughan | Feb 2020

Source - Car Owner