Although now better known for their success as a rally constructor, the Cooper Car Company were, for a brief period, one of the most successful constructors in Formula One. Their innovative approach to car design changed the face of motorsport forever, and their glory years mark the start of the 'modern era of Formula One'.

Formula One in the Mid-1950s

When John Cooper entered his first cars into Formula One racing in 1958, motor racing was all about power. Huge cars with massive engines were the order of the day, with no limits to their weight under the regulations. Each car raced in its national colours, with coloured stripes to differentiate the teams.

Cooper's Stroke of Genius

Cooper had been racing Formula Three cars, which were lighter and less powerful, with enormous success, winning 64 out of the 78 races between 1951 and 1954. At many venues, he was racing on circuits also used by Formula One, and he noticed that the lap times of his cars were often competitive with those of the 'faster' and more prestigious Formula One category.

There were several reasons for this. Most importantly, Cooper's cars had the engine positioned behind the driver¹, which gave superior handling characteristics. They might have been less powerful than most of their opposition, but they also had less weight to drag around the track. This meant they could accelerate faster, brake later and corner at higher speeds without sliding. Perhaps they couldn't reach the same top speeds down the straights, but at most circuits they came out on top overall.

The Glory Years

Although they won the first two races of the 1958 season², teething troubles denied Cooper sustained success in their debut year. In 1959 and 1960 they won the constructors and drivers titles (with Jack Brabham) in both years. Their little cars were physically dwarfed on the grid, and were often out-qualified by the more powerful Ferraris, but in race set-up their comparatively lean-burning engines meant that they could race with far less fuel on board — and consequently less overall weight.

The little green cars with the two white stripes clocked up 11 victories in those two years³ — an impressive tally from the 17 races they entered⁴, capped with a striking demonstration at the Indianapolis Speedway.

The Downwards Slope

That was it, though. Cooper's two years of success in Formula One represent the time it took for other constructors to build new models. When they did so, they were invariably small, light and rear or mid-engined, inspired by Cooper's design philosophy. Cooper was not an innovator like his friend Colin Chapman, whose Lotus team would go on to such sustained success. Nor did he have the spending power of Ferrari or BRM, and his involvement with the British Motor Corporation's Mini prevented Cooper from using the all-conquering Ford DFV engines. Between 1961 and the team's demise in 1968, they won just three more Formula One races⁵, never finishing higher than third in the Constructors' Championship.

Monte Carlo and Everything After

John Cooper was lent a Mini by BMC as a publicity stunt just as he was on the verge of winning his first F1 championship⁶. Having entered souped-up Minis in a few rallies, he approached the board of BMC with the idea for a 'hot' production version, and the Mini Cooper was born. Mini Coopers won the prestigious Monte Carlo rally in 1964, 1965 and 1967, and would have won in 1966 had they not been excluded on a technicality.

Following a serious car crash, John Cooper sold his racing teams and retired from motorsport to run his garages. He died in 2000 at the age of 77.

Legacy

From the moment Cooper entered Formula One, it became clear that smaller cars with the engine behind the driver were the way forward. Later teams — notably Lotus — may have done more to reduce the size of the car, but every car, in each major branch of motorsport, now has the engine fitted behind the driver (except where the rules of a specific class say otherwise).

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¹ This is referred to as 'rear engined' or 'mid-engined', depending on whether the engine is in front of, or behind, the rear axle.
² Argentina and Monaco, with their debut win coming at the hands of Stirling Moss.
³ Monaco, Portugal, Italy and the USA in 1959 and Argentina, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Britain and Portugal in 1960.
⁴ Technically, the Indy 500 counted as an F1 race. However, since it clashed with the Monaco Grand Prix, no F1 teams competed in it.
⁵ Monaco in 1962, Mexico in 1966 and South Africa in 1967.
⁶ BMC had a policy of 'positioning' the Mini by encouraging celebrities to drive them.