It’s auto show season. While the latest supercars and minivans are being debuted in Detroit and LA, let’s remember that some of the best racing cars ever made didn’t have so much as a sheet to pull back when they debuted. Today’s vehicle launches are multimedia extravaganzas of celebrity-hosted augmented reality audio visual choreography that seemingly had more effort in their planning than the econobox they’re revealing.
Not so with the Cooper 500 shown here. Just pull up a cafe chair to set the engine on, hand paint a placard with the maker’s name, and park ’em over by the rollup warehouse door. Done and done.
Castro had been sworn in as Prime Minister a year before but the transition to totalitarian regime was slow enough that there was still time for one last Cuban GP. A brief series of races for various classes was held between February 21 and 28, 1960. In a not-too-subtle metaphor for the nation as a whole, the race moved from the bustling and vibrant esplenade Malecón along Havana’s coast, to a closed runway of Columbia Military airport. What a marked transition that must have been for the diehard racing fans that stuck with it through the political transition.
You don’t see Stanguellini Formula Juniors pop up on eBay very often. This 1959 example looks lovely. The car was restored in 2004 and has only had a handful of races in the time since.
My usual sources aren’t turning up specific race history for this chassis number but given the solid history of Stanguellini in FJr, there’s a strong chance that there’s some fun stories back there. While this example is unlikely to have any laps turned by well-known Stanguellini racers like Bandini or Von Tripps; with only a touch over a hundred of them made I suppose it’s possible. At least that’s what I would tell myself while I sat in this one in my garage, goggles strapped on and mouthing high revving Fiat 1100 noises.
There’s 6 Days left and reserve not met at $75K. More info on the lot detail page. As always, if it’s little and Italian, Cliff has details for you.
Our earlier post about the ex-Team Tyrell championship winning 1961 Cooper T56 for sale had me wanting to see her in action. If you can find Tony Maggs’ Cooper in this very brief clip of a 1961 Monaco Formula Junior race, then you have better eyes than me. The car would have been wearing number 126 for the event.
Let’s take a moment to set aside the provenance of Steve McQueen’s car collection and the fervor that the mere mention of his name seems to send rippling through the racing community. Let’s ignore that baggage for a moment: that baggage that makes people spend one-and-a-quarter million dollars on a bone stock 911S; that baggage that makes people spend 150K on a well-worn old husky 400. Let’s ignore all that… Just for a moment. Let’s simply look at this beautiful little Cooper T56 and let her hold her own without the Hollywood associations.
Steve McQueen in his 1961 Cooper T56 Formula Junior
Let’s just look at it for what it is, because—like the 1970 911S and the 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross—this Cooper is a piece of motoring perfection that stands on its own just fine, thank you very much. Iconic design and racing lineage? Yep. There aren’t many machines with as close a familial tie to the rear-engined revolution and the Owen Maddock-designed T43 that shook open-wheeled racing to its very core when Jack Brabham took her to the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix.
Imagine the joy you would get walking up to this little piece of fantastic in your garage. Walking past that little ridge that flows along the engine cover that harkens to it’s larger cousin on the D-Type Jag and certainly to the mighty T51 that gave Cooper the constructor’s championship in 1959. Sure, you might not beat Jack Brabham’s 1959 Monaco GP fastest lap time of 1:40.4 with a 994cc BMC formula junior engine in place of the T51’s Cooper Climax. Then again, with the better tires you’d be running today, you might get close.
Steve McQueen and his 1961 Cooper T56 Formula Junior
Ok. Let’s face the inevitable and bring Mr. McQueen back into the discussion. The truth is that this example of the T56 has a remarkable history even without the Cooler King. The car was one of the two Cooper Works cars campaigned by Team Tyrell in 1961. With Tony Maggs winning at Goodwood, Magny-Cours, Monza, Kalskoga, Rouen, Zandvoort, Oulton Park, and Montlhery this car won Tony and Team Tyrell the European Formula Junior Championship for the season. After the season, the car was returned to Cooper and subsequently snatched up by McQueen while Steve was in Europe pickup up a Mini Cooper and attending John Cooper’s racing school. After taking the T56 back to the States, Steve captured a few wins with her in California. Indeed, this may be the car and the string of races that finally alerted the studio to Steve’s dangerous extracurriculars that famously resulted in the ultimatum that continuing to race would be the end of his acting career. The bastards.
After Steve and this Cooper parted ways, the car continued on to greater successes stateside with Al ‘Buster’ Brizzard winning SCCA championships with this car (fitted alternately with the BMC, Alfa, or Cosworth engine). The car eventually made its way back to Steve McQueen’s racing mechanic, Skip McLaughlin, for many years before its magnificent restoration by Hardy Hall. Today the car is on offer from the Canepa Collection and looks ready to grid up at the Goodwood Revival. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Looking back into the Topps World on Wheels trading cards. This time, Effyh.
From the card’s reverse:
Horsepower 40 Cylinders 1 Speed 130mph This Swedish midget racer appeared in America the first time in 1951, taking part in races at Bridgehampton, Long Island. At that time, it had defeated some of Europe’s most powerful cars in open competition. These tiny cars can go surprisingly fast… faster than many cars with greater horsepower.
