Stirling Moss Cooper T53

[Steve Holmes]

Folks, I've had a request from my good friend David Evans in England. His close friend and well known UK historic racer Nick Topliss recently purchased the Rob Walker 1961 Cooper T53 raced by Stirling Moss, chassis F1-7-61. The car has been in a museum in Laguna Seca for many years.

David and Nick are wanting to gather as much history on the car as possible, particularly its time spent down-under. As can be seen below, the Cooper is believed to have raced in New Zealand and Australia during the 1961/62 Tasman Series. However, whats not totally clear is who drove it. This is from David:

"I have checked the first three events in the UK and Moss did indeed win them all in this car.

"Then it starts to get difficult.

"I am assuming that as the car was manufactured in 1961 and was raced in the UK that summer then the Lady Wigram Trophy would have been the one held on the 20th January 1962 but the results that I can find say that Moss did win the event, but in a Lotus 21 Climax and the first T53 to finish was Surtees in 3rd place. Do you have any info on this event and equally importantly any photos of the T53's that took part?"

To that end, David and Nick are after photos, race programmes, press coverage, and anything else relating to this car, and to these events, to help them compile as much information as they can on the car.

Can you help?

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[Steve Holmes]

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[Steve Holmes]

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[Steve Holmes]

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[CRC]

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According to www.sergents.com.au it shows 1962 results as:
Ardmore 6th Jan 1962 Moss 1st Lotus 21
Levin 13th Jan 1962 Moss 2nd Cooper T55
Lady Wigram 20th 1962 Jan Moss 1st Lotus 21
Teretonga 27th Jan 1962 Moss 2nd Cooper T53

They are not showing him as running at Warwick Farm

[Roger Dowding]

According to www.sergents.com.au it shows 1962 results as:
Ardmore 6th Jan 1962 Moss 1st Lotus 21
Levin 13th Jan 1962 Moss 2nd Cooper T55
Lady Wigram 20th 1962 Jan Moss 1st Lotus 21
Teretonga 27th Jan 1962 Moss 2nd Cooper T53

They are not showing him as running at Warwick Farm

CRC, same Lotus 21 Ardmore GP and Wigram the Lady Wigram Trophy but the Cooper at Levin Cooper T55, Teretonga Cooper T53, maybe the first note "T55 " is a Typo ..

[ERC]

Not sure where that list came from, but shouldn't it have been the Lavant Cup at Goodwood, not Levant? Sorry, got my proof reading hat on again... Another Typo?

[Cooper997]

I'm assuming Nick Topliss has recently acquired this car from the Valdez estate in the US?

I know that this car was in the Lukey museum at Phillip Island in 1981. The catalogue for the venue has the car shown twice. At that point the ownership was attributed to Ray Gibbs. He worked for Cooper in the 1950s. I just wish I knew the missing pieces of the jigsaw between 1962 and 1981. Last I was aware Ray isn't in the best of health.

Moss had 2 cars for the 1962 New Zealand and Australian International races (officially the Tasman title didn't kick in until 1964). So did Jack Brabham, because Teretonga and Warwick Farm were just one week apart.

Stirling won in the Cooper at Warwick Farm. The Moss 'All my races' book covers the reason he decided to run the Cooper, rather than the Lotus. He then went off to Daytona, while the others went to Lakeside and Longford. then back to Australiia for Sandown. He ran the Lotus at Sandown (1st ever meeting there), despite the 'All my races' book stating the Cooper was run there

April 1962 Modern Motor has a good WF report by David McKay. There's other stuff too, but it will have to wait to be mentioned.

Stephen

[Steve Holmes]

Just to confirm, David and Nick are aware of the mistakes, as are the bottom two firsts written on the car. Much of this is info that came with the car.

Thanks Stephen (Cooper997) for your information.

Can anyone help with photos, programme entry lists, media coverage of these events etc?

[Milan Fistonic]

Just to confirm, David and Nick are aware of the mistakes, as are the bottom two firsts written on the car. Much of this is info that came with the car.

Thanks Stephen (Cooper997) for your information.

Can anyone help with photos, programme entry lists, media coverage of these events etc?

Levin was run as two heats and a final. Like the previous week's NZ Grand Prix, Levin was affected by heavy rain and the final had to be abandoned after just eight laps.

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[Cooper997]

Nice work Milan.

I'd still like to have confirmed if possible whether this car came out of the Valdez estate please?

What follows is the 1962 Warwick Farm International cover and a cut and paste of the entry list.
https://s25.postimg.org/hxzklbdtb/1962_WF_International_trs.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Event 5 International ‘100’ Race – 45 laps 2.30pm
1 Ecurie Vitesse (Dvr J Brabham) NSW Cooper Climax 2700 Green
2 Bowmaker Yeoman Racing Team (Dvr J Surtees) GB Cooper Climax 2700 Green/Red
3 Bowmaker Yeoman Racing Team (Dvr R Salvadori) GB Cooper Climax 2600 Green/Red
4 Bowmaker Yeoman Racing Team (Dvr A N Davison) Vic Cooper Climax 2600 Green
5 Scuderia Veloce (Dvr J Youl) Tas Cooper Climax 2200 Blue
6 B S Stillwell Vic Cooper Climax 2495 Green
7 R R C Walker Racing Team (Dvr S Moss) GB Lotus/Cooper Climax 2500 Blue – used Cooper
8 R Flockhart GB Lotus Climax 2500 Yellow/Black
9 Capitol Motors (Dvr A Glass) NSW BRM 2496 Red
10 B McLaren NZ Cooper Climax 2700 Green
11 Geoghegan Motors Liverpool (Dvr L /I Geoghegan) NSW Lotus 20 FJ 1099 Black
12 Scuderia Veloce (Dvr G Youl) Tas MRD Ford 1099 Blue
14 Scuderia Veloce (Dvr D McKay) NSW Cooper Climax 2460 Red
15 A Miller Tas Cooper Corvette 4500 Yellow
16 A Hyslop NZ Cooper Climax 2500 White/Blue
17 Scuderia Centro-Sud (Dvr L Bandini) Italy Cooper Maserati 2800 Red
18 A N Davison (Reserve entry) Vic Aston Martin DBR4 2996 Green

These programmes appear of ebay Australia reasonably often.

1962 WF Int Race reports (that I'm aware of) appear in...
14/2/62 The Motor (UK) - brief WF International report p64
3/62 Australian Motor Sports - Moss (#7 Cooper T53) conquers again in Sydney (4/2/62 WF)p34
3/62 Racing Car News (Aust) - WF ‘International’ report p2
4/62 Autosportsman (Aust) p?
4/62 Modern Motor (Aust)report by David McKay. Mal Simpson, Moss mechanic mentioned p27
1964 Bill Tuckey book #7 Moss Cooper with broken down JB Cooper photo p77

There's bound to be a report in Autosport (UK) around the 9/2/62 or 16/2/62 issues. But they happen to be a couple of issues not in my archive.

If it's still live there's a TRS posted link to 1962 film http://www.theroaringseason.com/showthread.php?1730-Old-Programmes-movies-and-memories-from-the-Fifties-Sixties-and-Seventies/page7

Also,as mentioned above in the 4/62 Modern Motor, Mal Simpson was Moss' mechanic. There's a great thread devoted to some of Mal's photo collection and his spannering with Moss and others on TNF.
Post 73 shows a great ‘Int. 100’ grid colour photo. http://forums.autosport.com/topic/199371-mal-simpson-team-lotus-time-sheet/page-2

The photo should show...
Front row - 7 Moss Cooper 1:37.5, 1 Brabham Cooper 1:38.1, 10 McLaren Cooper 1:39.1
Second row - 2 Surtees Cooper 1:40.6, probably Salvadori's empty space, having crashed badly in practice.- 1:41.1
Third row - 6 Stillwell Cooper 1:41.1, 14 Bandini Cooper-Maserati 1:42.0, 5 John Youl Cooper 1:42.4.
Forth row - 4 Davison Cooper 1:42.5, 8 Flockhart Lotus 1.42.7
Fifth row - 16 Hyslop Cooper 1:43.4
Rear of grid - 9 Glass BRM. time? DNP?
DNS Gavin Youl MRD 1:46.1

Stephen

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Milan and Stephen, this is really great info. Got any more?

Stephen, I'll try and find out where the car had been previously.

[Cooper997]

Steve, That would be great if you can confirm it's previous owner/whereabouts and when it was acquired would be good too please.

David and Nick would be wise to have a scratch around autopics website. I was on there today and found a colour shot from Adrien Schagen's collection. Link http://autopics.com.au/62551-stirling-moss-cooper-climax-warwick-farm-1962-photographer-adrien-schagen/

Also worth them looking out for the January and February 1962 weekly issues of UK Autosport magazine. I know the 1962 NZ GP gets Peter Greenslade's coverage in the Jan 19 and Jan 26 issues. The Vic Hudson races get coverage in the later issue too.

Stephen

[Cooper997]

Here's another item that has relevance to this
https://s25.postimg.org/7bxbq5qrj/1962_AMS_Moss_cover.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

This issue also covers the Lakeside and Sandown Internationals, not that Stirling was at the Queensland event and his Sandown efforts concentrated on the Lotus. Being a kiwi based forum it's also worth noting how Bruce McLaren set the first Sandown lap record 1m 08.7 secs.

I also see in the 4/62 The Motorman that Donn Anderson mentions some of the antics the likes of Moss, Brabham & McLaren were doing "off duty" with water skiing, newspaper and TV interviews. Somewhere in a NZ archive these might be lurking. I dare say an earlier issue runs the reports for the NZ Internationals, but the April issue is the earliest I have. Hopefully there's someone else here with access to them.

Stephen

[Milan Fistonic]

Sports Car World report of the 1962 Levin meeting.

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[Milan Fistonic]

Sports Car World report of 1962 Teretonga meeting.

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[Milan Fistonic]

Sports Car World report of 1962 Warwick Farm meeting

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[Cooper997]

The Warwick Farm photo of Moss passing Brabham's stranded Cooper is also published (although cropped) in the 1964 Bill Tuckey 'The book of Australian Motor Racing'

Here's another Aussie mag cover with Moss in the Cooper at WF.
https://s25.postimg.org/5feuaag2n/1962_Autosportsman_TRS.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Stephen

[Steve Holmes]

You guys, Dave and Nick extend a huge thanks for all your great posts. To say they're blown away is an understatement.

Stephen, yes are correct in that the Cooper is from the Valdez estate.

Thanks guys.

[Cooper997]

Steve, good to read Dave & Nick are keeping an eye on things. Also thanks for confirming the car came from the Valdez estate. Do you happen to know when please? Simply for my records.

What follows is the March 1962 Racing Car News. Very hard to find and not a suitable printed format for my scanner. So a bit of a rough effort photographing will have to suffice.
https://s25.postimg.org/pwhf3e6hb/1962_RCN_March_TRS_01.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/dum198x8r/)

https://s25.postimg.org/p6ymr2g8f/1962_RCN_March_TRS_02.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/kxtwowcyz/)

https://s25.postimg.org/pkzyq2sfz/1962_RCN_March_TRS_03.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/i50p4a4qj/)

Stephen

[Steve Holmes]

More great info! Thank you.

[khyndart in CA]

One can see how David and Nick are having an interesting time with this car's history.
This is a copy of the entrants for the 9th NZGP at Ardmore. Jan 6th 1962.
(Note Stirling is entered as driving the Cooper #7 but chose the Lotus 21 on the day.)
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The Sergent.com.au site has this entry.
" For the fourth year in succession the New Zealand Grand Prix, run at Ardmore for the last time, was headed by the ‘eternal triangle' of Moss, Brabham and McLaren. All overseas entrants were now at the wheel of Inter-Continental Formula cars, machines with a maximum capacity of 3 litres, as compared with the current Formula I limit of 1.5 litres.

Moss had Rob Walker send both a Lotus and Cooper car. The Lotus was a new 21 having a 2500cc Climax motor. This car had not yet raced. The Cooper was the latest T55 with a 2750cc Climax motor. It had only raced once in the Aintree 200. Jack Brabham’s car was his own 2750cc Cooper T55, and McLaren was driving his specially modified 2750cc Cooper T53 car belonging to Tommy Atkins. The chassis itself was Brabham's 1960 works car. "

In another article in primotipo.com this was written;
" Whilst Stirling loved the speed of his Lotus’ he revelled in the forgiving ‘chuckability’ and robustness of Coopers. Robust is not an apt adjective to describe the Loti single-seaters of the period. So, hedging his bets for his 1962 Australasian Tour he had Rob Walker ship both ‘935’ as well as a Cooper T55 ‘F1-7-61’ on the long voyage south. Both cars were Coventry Climax FPF powered. Engines of both 2.5 and 2.7 litres capacity were used, our International Series then F Libre in its pre-Tasman formula days."

The same article has this wonderful photo taken by Stirling Moss's mechanic,Mal Simpson, which describes the cars correctly.
(Thanks also to Stephen. cooper997)
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( WF 100 front row, 4 February 1962 ; Moss, Brabham, McLaren in Coopers T53, T55, T53 (Mal Simpson)


(Ken H)

[Cooper997]

Not NZ or Oz, but British soil. Links to a couple of great period Aintree photos of the RRC Walker Moss Cooper.
This Brian Tregilgas photo is a ripper paddock shot at the 1961 200 meeting with Alf Francis and Mal Simpson
https://www.flickr.com/photos/95855909@N02/12409279593/

John Williams was there too https://www.flickr.com/photos/125734368@N02/26125962986/in/album-72157648234068163/

Stephen

[khyndart in CA]

Stephen,
That is a great site for the Aintree photos from that era.
Thanks for sharing that.
Ken H

[Cooper997]

Ken,some great stuff hiding in those 2 groups of photos isn't there.Certainly worthy of more enthusiasts knowing about them. Glad you enjoyed them.

Stephen

[Kwaussie]

Last year someone was looking for colour photos of Jim Palmers Cooper - is this any help?

[Steve Holmes]

Well here she is folks, looking pretty as a picture. Following its rebuild, the Cooper was tested recently as Silverstone and ran well. The team were planning to run it at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb but ran a bit too late with testing and decided to pull out. But it'll be racing again soon.

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[Paul B]

Wow, that's a beautiful restoration Steve. I see they have slightly increased the height & diameter of the roll hoop. (it was not offering much protection to Jim Palmer back then)
Its so great to these these old machines come back to their forma glory.