1953 Cooper Bristol T23 Mk2

Stephanie Wilton, Cooper Bristol T23 Mk2, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Bénouville 2016

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Cooper, Surbiton, England.  This was the car that Cooper produced for the 2 litre Formula Two of the early fifties that became the Grand Prix Formula in 1952 and 1953. The Mk2 had a tubular space frame and front engine rear wheel drive like most cars of the time but unlike the F3 Cooper that preceded it.  The T23 was an upgrade of the T20  which had a box frame chassis.  Mike Hawthorn used the F2 Cooper Bristol car to great effect in 1952 and earned his 1953 works Ferrari drive as a result.   The Bristol 6 cylinder engine produced about 135bhp and was developed from the pre-war BMW 328 engine.  Top speed of the car was about 140mph which was not enough to beat the contemporary Ferraris and Maseratis very often.  Best GP result for the Mk1 was third place in the 1952 British GP of 1952 driven by Mike Hawthorn.  He also won the Lavant Cup at Goodwood and International Trophy at Silverstone.  in 1953 Ken Wharton won at Charterhall and Bob Gerard won at Castle Combe and Snetterton but these were minor races.

1960 Cooper T56 Formula Junior

Alan Harrison, Cooper T56 Formula Junior, Course de Cote d'Etretat-Bénouville 2016.

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For more photos of the 2016 Etretat speed hill climb VHC cars, follow the link above.

Cooper, Surbiton, England.  The was the second Cooper Formula Junior car, replacing the T52,  and raced in 1960 and 1961. It looked very much like the contemporary Cooper F1 car.  There were both works cars and those sold to privateers.  Steve McQueen raced one in the USA.  In Europe Tony Maggs won eight races and tied Jo Siffert in the  European Formula Junior Championship driving one.  Many other famous drivers drove them including Denny Hulme, Richard Attwood, John Love, John Rhodes, Ricardo Rodriguez, and Walt Hangsen. They normally had 1.1 litre Ford Cosworth or BMC engines.