John and Charles Cooper’s practical-minded genius in pioneering the post-war mid-engined Grand Prix car may seem entirely natural today but his journey to conquering the Formula 1 World Championship was a long and arduous one. Starting with Formula 3 cars, their little ‘500’ designs powered by motorcycle engines dominated that scene for several years from the late-1940s. A key point in Cooper’s story was fitting a Coventry Climax engine into one of their Bobtail sports cars and from there the basis of the mid-engined Formula 1 revolution began.

Hardly taken seriously by the big teams of the late-1950s, the jokes around “garagiste” Cooper and their diminutive cars stopped when Stirling Moss delivered victory in a T43 at the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix, immediately followed by Trintignant winning the Monaco Grand Prix in a T45—Cooper’s revolution had arrived.

In 1959, the T51 was introduced as a development of the earlier T43 and T45. Built using a spaceframe chassis, the new 2.5-litre, four-cylinder Coventry Climax engine sat behind the driver with the transmission mounted at the rear. Suspension remained the same as before with independent coil springs at the front and a transverse leaf spring for the rear. The T51 carried Jack Brabham to victory at Monaco and Aintree to win the Formula 1 World Championship titles, and in 1960 the updated T53 took the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships again.

This T51 is presented in Works livery and was believed to be a factory team car for many years. Few Cooper Grand Prix cars carried chassis stampings in their frames, being identified by chassis plates instead. Unfortunately the chassis plate of this example has been lost in time. Recent wisdom now places this as being a non-Works car and further research is required to ascertain its period history. It is believed to have passed through the Donington Grand Prix Collection (not to be confused with a Works T51 that formed part of it for many years) and was sold at auction in 2000 to the previous owner, a well-known British collector.

Subsequently prepared for racing, it competed in the hands of Brian Moore at the 2004 Goodwood Festival of Speed and the 2004 Goodwood Revival. In recent years, this Cooper has been displayed at the British Motor Museum at Gaydon. Currently fitted with a 1960 Tasman-specification 2.7-litre engine, power is delivered through a later Hewland HD5 gearbox. Upon inspection by a marque expert, it was remarked that the chassis very much appears to be an original example, along with the bodywork and numerous other features. It should be noted that due to having been on static display for many years, this Cooper will require recommissioning and preparation prior to use.

A charmingly original example of Cooper’s world-beating T51, this car would make a great addition to any Grand Prix car collection, either to be admired for its world-changing ingenuity or enjoyed on a race circuit again.