1961 Cooper Kimberly T54

Construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway began in 1909 and the first 500-mile race held on the course was on Memorial Day, May 30, 1911. Forty cars competed and every example had their engines in the front. This front-engine conventional design would continue for the next 50 years. In May of 1961, an English car named the Cooper-Climax T54, appeared at the raced with its engine mounted in the year. Within five years, nearly all the cars that raced at Indy had rear-mounted engines, and by 1969 all Indy 500 qualifiers had joined the 'Rear Engine Revolution.'

American born Rodger Ward began racing in the early 1960s and would compete for nearly a decade earning 26 victories in highly contested open-wheel racing in North America, including two victories at the Indy 500. He met John Cooper in 1959, the same year Ward won the Indy 500. Ward was impressed by the agility and capabilities of the rear engine Cooper-Climax T51 and convinced Cooper to bring a car to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for testing in 1960. Driving duties were bestowed upon the most recent (and two-time) Formula 1 World Champion Jack Brabham. Impressed with the car, Jim Kimberly agreed to sponsor a car, the T54.

The T54 was derived from the T53 and was built in just four months. In comparison to the T53, it had a longer wheelbase and an offset chassis to best handle the oval track at Indy. Power was from a 2.7-liter experimental Climax engine tuned to produce slightly more than 250 horsepower. A second engine was installed in mid-May and offered an additional five horsepower. This was considerably less than the larger 4.4-liter Offenhauser engines which offered over 400 bhp. Despite having less power, the T54 offered better handling characteristics than the competition.

The T54 was dubbed the 'Kimberly Cooper Spl.' With Brabham behind the wheel, it qualified 13th at a speed that was just 2.3 mph slower than the previous year's pole time set by Eddie Sachs. It ran as high as 3rd place before finishing the race in 9th place.

The first engine (ET-892-1204) which had resided in the T54 was later installed in a Cooper 'Monaco' owned by Hap Sharp and driven by Brabham. The other T54 engine went into the Works Monaco that was driven by Bruce McLaren at the 1961 Times Grand Prix at Riverside. ET-892-1204 was later sold to Roger Penske who installed in a custom-built car called the 'Zerex Duralite Special' in 1962. After racing with the engine for a year, the engine was sold to John Mecom. The racing career of the original engine continued until it was damaged in a race in Pensacola, Florida, when Hap Sharp missed a shift.

By 1962, the Cooper-Climax T54 had been sold by Jim Kimberly to Kjell Qvale. Mr. Qvale had a Works six-cylinder Aston Martin engine installed by Joe Huffaker. Pedro Rodriguez was tasked with driving duties at the 1963 Indianapolis 500, however the engines performance was not enough to qualify for the race.

From that point, the T54 disappeared for over a decade, later resurfacing with a Chevrolet engine and in Sprint Car configuration but retaining many of the original pieces. It raced in the Pacific Northwest through 1977.

In 1990, a restoration began on the car which included sourcing the 'Indy' engine. After the work was completed, it has appeared at the Monterey Historic Races several times between 1991 and 2006. In 1991 it won the Phil Hill Trophy. It has also appeared at the Goodwood Festival of Speed five times between 1994 and 2011 and was exhibited at the Pebble Beach Concours in 2010.

by Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2018