[3] He saw active service throughout the war, invalided home after being gassed during the capture of Valenciennes in late 1918, only weeks before the signing of the Armistice with Germany.

He bought a plot of land on Ewell Road in Surbiton, near his family home, and built the business that would form the foundation for his future success.

During the early years after the Great War Cooper's interest in motorcycles and motor sport brought him into contact with another record-breaking pioneer driver, Kaye Don.

In his spare time, Cooper constructed a midget car for his nine-year-old son, with a custom-made chassis and bodywork, powered by a 175 cc (10.7 cu in) motorcycle engine.

He built himself a Flying Flea light aircraft from plans published in Practical Mechanics, and in 1936 he constructed a second special for John, now in his early teenage years, this time based on an Austin 7. Cooper's Brooklands connections later blossomed into a partnership with Alfa Romeo racer Ginger Hamilton.

[2] However, when John and his friend Eric Brandon returned from their wartime service in 1946 they decided to use the Coopers' garage facilities to build themselves a racing special to the newly issued National 500 cc (30.5 cu in) regulations.

[5] John's 500 cc racer, swiftly followed by a second example built for Brandon, proved to be highly competitive and spawned a rush of interested parties keen to purchase a replica for their own use.

The Coopers continued to refine and improve their 500 and 1000 cars for the next decade, with demand boosted still further by the 500's eligibility for the international Formula Three rules introduced in 1950.

American driver Harry Schell even entered a Cooper 1000 – fitted with an expanded, 1,100 cc (67 cu in) engine – for the Formula One-level 1950 Monaco Grand Prix.