The story of the Cooper Car Company is well known where father and son team Charles and John Cooper in 1946 set up shop in the south-west London suburb of Surbiton. John was keen on motor racing and the first cars built were comprised of joining the front ends of two Fiat Topolinos. Seems simple enough, but the surprising step taken by the Coopers were to use a JAP motorcycle engine in the rear driving the gearbox by way of a chain. Logical really, as the gearbox, also from a motorcycle, was driven by chain so both engine and box had to be close together. Little did they know, of course, the impact that would have on the construction of racing cars into the future.
Also not long into the future was a marriage between Cooper and the long established engine manufacturer Coventry Climax. Before World War Two Climax had been manufacturing engines for many vehicle manufacturers, but not many of them could be labelled sporting. Of course, during WWII they produced a range of engines to suit military purposes.
Due to the Korean War, the British government specified the need for a lightweight water pump engine and Climax won a contract to produce 5,000 of their FW (FeatherWeight) alloy SOHC one-liter engines. In an effort to capture a wider market Climax took a stand in the marine section of the London Motor Show. It didn’t take long before such British racing car specialists as Lotus, Kieft and Cooper were pestering Climax into converting the FW engine into something suitable for the popular 1100 and 1500-cc sports car racing category. The smaller capacity of the two developed all of 72 bhp at 6,100 rpm, but not only was the engine light it was also reliable.
So was born the Coventry Climax FWA (FeatherWeight Automotive) engine with the first recorded use in competition in the 1954 Le Mans 24 Hour powering a Kieft. The 1,098-cc engine behaved perfectly, but after ten hours the back axle of the Kieft failed. It wasn’t long before there were FWA powered Lotus and Kieft cars being raced on the major UK circuits.
At Coopers
The gentleman who laid out the ideas of Charlie and John Cooper on paper was Owen Maddock and he had been putting pen to paper in the design of Cooper’s contribution to the 1,100-cc sports car genre. Maddock had become interested in the ideas of German aerodynamicist Wunibald Kamm who championed cutting off the tails of vehicles to provide for better aerodynamic assistance.
Even with just 72 to 75 bhp on tap it was Maddock’s aim to produce a car that would have a top speed of around 125 mph. It was John Cooper’s decision that, based on their experience with the 1.1-liter JAP V-twin, that the Climax engine should be rear mounted as it offered the greatest possibilities.
Maddock designed a chassis with the usual 1 ½ inch tubing that curved downwards at the front with the normal Cooper welded-in suspension brackets. All up, the chassis weighed just 65 lbs which when coupled with the lightweight engine and alloy bodywork would provide for the desired top speed. As for the gearbox, this first proved to be a problem, but it was suggested that a unit from the Citroen Traction Avant, turned around, would be suitable. Close-ratio gear sets and shafts were made by the Parisian firm ERSA.
Perhaps one of the most significant differences with the new Cooper, designated as the T39, was the placement of the driver in the center of the vehicle. The other being the cut-off tail in the design advocated by Wunibald Kamm. After its release, it wasn’t long before the T39 was dubbed the “Manx” or “Bob-Tailed” Cooper. It is believed that John Cooper never approved of the looks of the T39 and told everyone that the tail had been cut off so it would fit in the Cooper Car’s transporter.
While the total production of T39s is unknown, some suspect that it was less than 50, with around 15 still known to exist.
Brands Hatch in April 1955 was the first time the Bobtail was seen in competition. Driven by Ivor Bueb it finished third. It was first seen at Le Mans in the ill-fated 1955 race driven by John Brown and Edgar Wadsworth. The following year another works entry came in eighth driven by American drivers Ed Hugus and John Bentley. Then, in 1957, another Cooper entered car driven by Jack Brabham and Ian Raby came in 15th behind two Lotus 11s.
Brabham
In early 1955, Jack Brabham had moved to the UK to further his motor racing career. He had previously driven a Cooper Bristol, in Australia, with great success and on arrival in England bought another Cooper, so it was natural that he gravitated to the Cooper factory initially for parts but soon in the hope that he would get a works drive. Before long Brabham appeared to spend all his time with Charles and John Cooper, not necessarily as an employee, but working wherever needed.
Brabham’s first drive with Cooper was in a Cooper Alta, at Ibsley, in April 1955 and later in the Tourist Trophy at Dundrod he had his first race in a T39. Brabham was sharing the car with British driver Jim Mayer, who was tragically killed when he crashed into a concrete pillar.
The following year Charles Cooper asked Brabham to take a T39 to Australia to run in the Australian Tourist Trophy, scheduled for November 1956 at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit. Hearing of the plan, Brabham’s close friend and Melbourne car dealer Bill Patterson asked if two T39s could be shipped, with the second one for himself, powered by the Climax 1,460-cc FWB version of the FWA engine. New T39s were in short supply, but Brabham obliged his friend by intercepting a car that was scheduled for the U.S.
Both cars eventually arrived in Australia and the car (CS11-12-56) listed for Patterson was finished in the same white and blue-striped livery enjoyed by Briggs Cunningham.
The 1956 Australian Tourist Trophy was won by Stirling Moss in a Maserati 300S with Brabham finishing in 11th position, but first in class. Patterson unfortunately rolled his car on the first lap of the race, but thankfully without much damage to himself or the car. He entered the car again for the following weekend and in the main event he finished third outright and first in class. The car was featured as the cover car on the new published Sports Car World magazine.
Born Gerald William Riggall Patterson in Melbourne, Australia on August 30, 1923, Bill Patterson was prominent in Australian motor racing from just after World War Two through to the early 2000s. His name first appeared in the 1948 Australian Grand Prix driving a stripped MG TC. The early 1950s saw Patterson in a Cooper Mk V, winning the 1954 Australian Hillclimb Championship.
Cooper GP cars became Patterson’s steed of choice and perhaps his best year was 1961 when he won the Australian Drivers’ Championship. He continued driving through to the early stages of the Tasman Championship, however he soon hung up his helmet and became a hands-on entrant and sponsor through his Holden dealership. He stayed active in the sport until the late 1970s and allowed his name to be used through to the early 2000s. He died in 2010, at the age of 86.
Patterson also entered the Bobtail in the 1957 Australian Grand Prix, but failed to go past the preliminary heats due to gearbox problems. On race day, Patterson teamed with Lex Davison to win the AGP in a Ferrari 625 F1. His next race in the Cooper was in the 1957 Victorian Tourist Trophy where he finished third, having completed the same number of laps as Doug Whiteford’s winning Maserati 300S and the D-type of Bill Pitt. Over the next couple of years the car was run successfully finishing second at the Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst in the 1957 South Pacific Championship and also second in the ’58 Victorian Hillclimb Championship.
The Bobtail Moves On
In August 1958, the Cooper was put up for sale and purchased by Alan Jack, who drove it to a fifth in the 1959 Australian Grand Prix and seventh in the same event of 1961. In the 1961 event there were six Cooper cars that finished in the top seven positions. Jack’s last run in the car was at the 1961 Australian Tourist Trophy, at Bathurst, in October where he finished fourth overall behind a Cooper Monaco, D-type and a 300S Maserati.
By the beginning of late 1960s, the Cooper was starting to look a little like yesterday’s racing car and passed through a number of hands before ending up in a country car museum in Western Australia by 1972. There it was destined to stay until 2007 when the current owner Paul Savoy approached the museum to see if they were interested in selling the car.
Needless to say they were prepared to sell the car, but it didn’t take long for Paul to realize that the car was in a dreadful condition. Paul added that it did have its original chassis complete with the all-important chassis plate. With the chassis also came the lower suspension arms, magnesium brake hubs, drums, uprights, rims, steering wheel, instruments, undertrays, fuel tank, body and driver’s seat. Unfortunately, sometime in the car’s past the Citroen/ERSA gearbox had been replaced by a split-case Volkswagen unit.
We sat down and spoke to current owner Paul Savoy of Sydney to talk about his Bobtail.
“When I first bought it out of the museum collection, without thinking I fitted new tires, tried to do a wheel alignment and went racing. However, with the solid lower I was unable to do any toe-in adjustments whatsoever. So I had jumped straight from a Porsche 356A, which was impeccably assembled with every adjustment available to this 1950s Cooper that had none.”
“My first race in the car was at Mt Panorama, Bathurst, which is a circuit not to be trifled with. Did I get the shock of my life! I found that while I was the quickest thing getting up the mountain and across the top, but going down the straight was just diabolical. At one stage, towards The Chase, I was actually looking at the Rydges Hotel sideways which meant that I wasn’t heading in the right direction. So I pulled into the pits and said to my son and pit crew that I was finished for the day. They asked why and I said that the reason why so few Bobtails were remaining was that they had all been crashed over the years. I didn’t want this car to be part of that history.”
“So I took it home and went to Heasmans Suspension in Sydney and asked them what the problem was. After checking, they advised me that the front had toe-out and the rear had toe-in. They said there was no way in the world that I could continue to race the car as it was basically a museum piece.”
“So with the help of some people where I worked at the time, I had a jig made up so that I could make new lower suspension arms. I included turnbuckles which allowed toe-in on the front and neutral at the rear. So the next time I went out it was a totally different story as not only did I feel a lot more confident, but instead of using the tires that I thought were correct I fitted 4 ½ on the front and 5 inch on the rear. It was a totally different car as I found that the suspension was more compliant after also fitting new bushings on the front and rear leaf springs, lower arms and uprights. I also installed grease nipples where they weren’t before. It went back to Heasmans who did all the adjustments with me sitting in the car.”
“The following time I drove the car was at Wakefield Park and it was fantastic. I was first into the corner and first one out of the corner. I was very impressed with the gear ratios in the Hollinger-prepared split-case gearbox as I would go from fifth on the grid to second or first inside100 meters. This car was so light and nimble— it now actually worked. Mind you, I also replaced the steering box that came from a Holden Torana. It was terrible and actually positioned outside the chassis which meant that it was possible to lift the steering wheel upwards when you got into and out of the car.”
“I bought the right steering box from Crosthwaite and Gardiner in the UK and changed the various hydraulic cylinders so that I had a car that steered and braked safely.”
“Back in 1994, Stirling Moss drove the car in an exhibition event at Albert Park in Melbourne and when years later I asked him about it, he said ‘That piece of shit!’ as the steering was terrible.”
“As to the engine, the most surprising thing about the Coventry Climax engine was that when it was disassembled the wear and tear on the sleeves was negligible. I was told that I could have put it back together and ran it as it was. Anyway, I bought new pistons, bearings and whatever else was needed to put it back together. However, I was asked a few times by Mike Brotherwood in the UK if I wanted to go oversize, but in response I said that I needed to stay in the class for which it was built. What was happening was that I was being given hints that everyone who rebuilds these engines actually brings them up to 2-liters. This explains why some other cars go past me going down the straight!”
“It has a bulletproof engine with torque to burn. It’s nimble and quick while going into corners, you can brake really late. At first, I was a bit concerned with the drum brakes all round, but this car brakes very well. Frankly, I was quite surprised that the Coopers had it sorted when they built the cars. It’s probably the safest car I have driven at high speed, which is amazing when you think that it was made in 1956. I feel more confident in driving the Cooper than I ever did with the rear-engined Porsche that I was running previously.”
In 2010, while competing at the Tasman Revival at Sydney Motorsport Park, Paul was thrilled to show the car to Sir Jack Brabham, who in turn was very pleased to see it there and was happy to sign the car’s dash. The signature remains in place to the current day.
Paul ran the Bobtail is Historic events over the Australian Eastern Seaboard until May 2015 when it was T-boned in an accident, leaving it very second hand indeed. The best course to repair the car was by fitting a new body which was made to exact 1-mm lightweight alloy specifications over a period of three years. It was run for the first time looking absolutely resplendent in December 2018 where the majority of these photos were taken.
The car is for sale and Paul hopes whoever inherits the car will enjoy it as much as he has. His dream now if to get a Cooper Monaco or an Elva Mk8.
