Motorsport enthusiasts in Australia and throughout the world were saddened to hear the news of the passing of Sir Jack Brabham on Monday, May 19, 2014.
In 1959, Australian Jack Brabham, driving for the Cooper Car Company, won his first Formula One World Drivers Championship. The following year he repeated his success, again for Coopers. Later Brabham joined with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac to form Motor Racing Developments with the purpose of building Brabham racing cars.
Four years later Jack Brabham would go on to win his third F1 Championship, at the wheel of a Brabham car. The first and only time anyone has won the Championship in a car bearing his own name.
John Arthur Brabham was born April 2, 1926 in Hurstville, now a suburb of Sydney, just 10 miles south. His father had developed a greengrocery business and also ran a few trucks as part of his successful store. From an early age, young Jack developed a keen interest in the trucks, and at the age of 12 was driving the family car. At 15, he left school to study a course in mechanical engineering, while also working in a local garage.
With World War II still raging, Jack joined the Royal Australian Air Force with the hope of becoming a pilot, but with his skills he found himself as a flight engineer charged with the maintenance of Bristol Beaufighters.
After the war, Jack set himself up in a workshop next to his home to service and repair vehicles within the vicinity. He was soon buying, repairing and selling war-surplus vehicles, but at the same time was introduced to midget speedway racing. Intrigued by what he saw, Jack built a car for a customer using a J.A.P. engine. It wasn’t long before Jack was driving the car and in his first season (1948-’49) won the New South Wales Championship.
While assisting his father in the family business, Jack soon found himself occupied almost full-time with Speedway. However, a run in a hillclimb soon turned his attention to circuit racing where he met brothers Austin and Ron Tauranac. Not long after, Jack purchased a series of Cooper chassis and fitted them with various air-cooled engines. They were followed by a front-engined Cooper-Bristol in which he achieved great success.
Those successes carried Jack to England in 1955 where he hoped to emulate them. While the purchase of a Cooper Alta didn’t prove as successful as was hoped, it did lead to a strong association with Charles and John Cooper, who allowed Jack virtually free rein at Cooper Cars. The result was a Cooper Bobtail fitted with a two-liter Bristol engine. It was this car that Jack believed was the crucial turning point of his career. He brought the car back to Australia, winning the 1955 Australian Grand Prix.
From then until the start of the 1959 season, Jack and Coopers focused on sports cars and Formula Two, while he had an unsuccessful foray into Formula One in a Maserati 250F and tried Le Mans in an Aston Martin.
When Coopers were finally supplied with the Climax 2.5-liter engine, Brabham won the 1959 Monaco GP and by season’s end had clinched the World Championship, while Cooper took the Manufacturers Cup.
While clearly pleased with his success Brabham knew he could do better, so he enlisted the help of Ron Tauranac who joined him from Australia. Almost under the table the result was the Cooper T53 with which he scored five straight victories during the 1960 season and repeated as World Champion.
The following year Brabham and Tauranac established Motor Racing Developments with the intent of building racing cars under the Brabham name. They started with Formula Juniors, so it wasn’t until 1962 that the first Brabham F1 car appeared. In 1966 Brabham partnered with the Australian engineering firm Repco, winning the World Championship in a Repco-powered Brabham.
Jack Brabham would continue in Formula One until the end of the 1970 season, after selling his share of Motor Racing Developments to Tauranac.
Retired from the sport, Jack and Betty Brabham returned to Australia and bought a country property. He managed their many business interests and continued to be active in motorsport through to 2000.
In the later years of his life, Sir Jack suffered from poor eyesight and hearing as well as kidney disease requiring dialysis three times a week.
Jack Brabham married Betty Beresford in 1951 and they divorced in 1994. They had three sons David, Geoff and Gary. In 1979 he was awarded a Knights Bachelor for his service to motorsport. In 1995, he married his second wife Margaret. Betty Brabham died in 2013.
On the weekend before his death, Sir Jack spent the time with Lady Margaret and friends. On the Sunday he made a public appearance with a Brabham F1 car and even enjoyed a ride in a helicopter. Sir Jack died peacefully during the early morning of Monday.
by Patrick Quinn
