Home | Taylor & Crawley - 1959 Cooper T51 · 2019-05-13 · 1959CooperT51!! Year1959 MakeCooper!...
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1959 Cooper T51
Year 1959 Make Cooper Model T51
Chassis Number F2-‐23-‐59 Engine 2500 Climax FPF
F2-‐23-‐59 started life in 1959 as a “works” car for the Cooper Grand Prix team. The car was used by Bruce McLaren throughout the year. The Cooper team won the World Constructors championship and McLaren in his first full season took his maiden Grand Prix victory at
Sebring in the US Grand Prix.
For the 1960 season the T51 was replaced by the “low-‐line” T53 thus making F2-‐23-‐59 redundant for “works” use. The car was sold to Fred Tuck & Horace Gould. Tuck privately entered the car into numerous Grand Prix in 1960 with various drivers taking the wheel
including Roy Salvadori and Lucien Bianchi. Bianchi scored a best result of 6th place finish in the Monaco Grand Prix.
When in 1961 the regulaSons for Formula 1 changed he car was fiTed with a 1.5litre Coventry Climax engine and liTle is known about the races it did. At the end of the season American Frank Dochnal bought the car and shipped it to the States where he won first Sme out at a race at the Riverside speedway. Dochnal conSnued to use the car and even entered
the 1963 Mexican Grand Prix where he failed to start due to a pracSce accident.
NaSonal racer Ed Mackey purchased the car from Dochnal and campaigned the car naSonwide. His relentless determinaSon and the Cooper’s amazing reliability won him the
1966 SCCA Southern Pacific Division Formula A championship.
A[er another ownership change Steve Froines purchased the car in early 70’s. He restored the car to the correct specificaSon and reunited her with the correct 2.5litre engine and ERSA gearbox. A[er over thirty years of ownership he sold the car to well known historic
racer Murray Smith in 2006
The current owner purchased the car in 2008 and with preparaSon from Neil Twyman’s team they achieved fantasSc results in HGPCA events in the past four years including
outright wins in the Monaco Historique.
The car is referred to and documented in Doug Nye’s Cooper Cars book.
Contact:
David Clark: [email protected] +44 7831 392800
Monaco Historique 2012-‐ 1st overall grid B