Cooper T39

Following on from producing the Vanwall Maddock began work on a new sportscar, designed around Coventry Climax's new FWA 1,098 cc inline-four engine.

The passenger seat, mandated by sportscar rules of the time, was mounted outboard of the chassis on the driver's left.

John Cooper was, however, somewhat skeptical of the new silhouette, and regularly explained away its lack of tail by telling enquirers that "we had to cut it off because it wouldn't fit in the transporter otherwise".

Jack Brabham had gained a strong reputation as a racer in his native Australia driving a lightly modified Cooper Bristol which he branded the RedeX Special.

Brabham, working almost alone on the car, completed the Formula One special the day before its first race: the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree Circuit.

Although the car's engine failed on this first outing, subsequent development proved that the rear-engined Cooper was competitive with the Formula One machinery of the day, ultimately winning the 1955 Australian Grand Prix, and paved the way for the Cooper works to develop a proper slipper-bodied challenger.

At the wheel of the works car sat Ivor Bueb, who finished the race behind Les Leston and Kenneth McAlpine (both on a Connaught AL / SR ) in third place.

1956 occupied Leech Cracraft and Red Byron in the 12-hour race at Sebring 21 overall and won the class for sports cars to 1.1 liters.