Cooper T51 Climax 1959

  • Thread starter Thread starter StarLight
  • 10 comments
  • 6,041 views
StarLight

StarLight

Messages
6,629
Portugal
Portugal
vd1xj4.jpg




A Tribute to
Sir John Arthur "Black Jack" Brabham
(1926-2014)
R.I.P.

13jackBrabham1_m.jpg
​

Formula 1 history was made when Jack Brabham pushed his Cooper T51 Climax across the line in the 1959 United States Grand Prix at Sebring. For the first time a mid-engined car was used to win the driver's and constructor's World Championships. It was not just the location but also the type of engine that would have a lasting effect on the sport. Cooper had proven that a customer engine could do the job, which opened the door for teams like Lotus and later Brabham and McLaren to success in a once manufacturer dominated sport. Moments before Brabham's epic effort, Bruce McLaren had become the youngest ever driver to win a Formula 1 race in a sister T51. This record stood for nearly five decades.

Cooper's works drivers for 1959 were Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren while a T51 was also made available for Rob Walker's Stirling Moss. It was Moss, who scored the new Cooper's first major victory during the non-championship Glover Trophy at Goodwood in March. Little over a month later Brabham scored his first win with the T51 during the International Trophy at Silverstone. For the World Championship's first round, the Monaco Grand Prix, no fewer than five T51s were entered. Moss placed his Cooper on pole with Brabham a close second. Moss was forced to retire with gearbox problems, which would continue to dog the Coopers throughout the year. Australian Brabham went through to score his first Grand Prix victory. Tony Brooks in a front-engined Ferrari was second ahead of 1958 winner Trintignant in a Walker entered T51.

In the subsequent Grands Prix, it became increasingly clear that the race for the championship would be between Brabham, Moss and Brooks. With reportedly 290 bhp on tap, Brooks managed to win at Reims and Avus, which were both high speed tracks. Brabham won Cooper's home race at Silverstone and Moss added two more wins to the T51's tally in Portugal and Italy. This left Brabham leading the championship from Moss and Brooks going into the final round at Sebring. Young Bruce McLaren won the race, Moss retired, again with transmission problems and Brooks finished third. Cooper's fabulous season almost ended in bitter disappointment as Brabham's car ran out of fuel on the final lap. A momentous effort saw Brabham push his stricken T51 over 400 metres, up the hill across the finish where he collapsed. He was placed fourth in the race and scored enough points to claim both titles.


Overview
Country of origin: Great Britain
Produced in: 1959
Designed by: John Cooper / Owen Maddock

Engine
Configuration: Coventry Climax FPF Straight 4
Location: Mid, longitudinally mounted
Weight: 131 kilo / 288.8 lbs
Construction: Aluminium block and head
Displacement: 2.495 liter / 152.3 cu in
Bore / Stroke: 94.0 mm (3.7 in) / 89.9 mm (3.5 in)
Compression: 11.9:1
Valvetrain: 2 valves / cylinder, DOHC
Fuel feed: 2 Weber 38 DCO Carburettors
Aspiration: Naturally Aspirated
Power: 240 bhp / 179 KW @ 6750 rpm
Torque: 286 Nm / 211 ft lbs @ 5000 rpm
BHP/Liter: 96 bhp / liter

Drivetrain
Chassis: Aluminium body over steel tubular chassis
Front suspension: Double wishbones, coil springs over telescopic shock absorbers
Rear suspension: Double wishbones, transverse semi-elliptic leaf spring, telescopic shock absorbers
Steering: Rack-and-pinion
Brakes: Girling discs, all-round
Gearbox: Knight C5S 4 speed Manual
Drive: Rear wheel drive

Dimensions
Weight: 472 kilo / 1040.6 lbs
Wheelbase / Track: (fr/r)2311 mm (91 in) / 1181 mm (46.5 in) / 1219 mm (48 in)

Performance figures
Power to weight: 0.51 bhp / kg

Race history - Major wins
1959 Monaco Grand Prix (Jack Brabham in F2-7-59)
1959 British Grand Prix (Jack Brabham in F2-27-59)
1959 Portuguese Grand Prix (Stirling Moss in F2-19-59)
1959 Italian Grand Prix (Stirling Moss in F2-19-59)
1959 USA Grand Prix (Bruce McLaren in F2-23-58)
1960 Argentine Grand Prix (Bruce McLaren in F2-7-59)


3382.jpg

First win: 1959 Monaco Grand Prix





cooper.gif



HERE ARE THE OTHER FORMULA 1 CARS


 
Last edited:
What was exceptional about this car was not only it's engine but it's curved tube frame. Almost every tube making up the frame was curved and every engineer will tell you that's not the right way to do it. Tubes should be straight so that they can be loaded only longitudinally. Curved tubes inevitably have to be loaded on flexion, which compromises rigidity of the frame. However, the big tube chassis was designed intelligently by Owen Maddock and it was to prove remarkably successful.

What is so clever about mounting the engine at the wrong side? There's no need for a driveshaft to pass under the drivers seat so the seat can be lower. This plus the fact that the front bodywork did not need to clear the engine made for a much smaller frontal area improving aerodynamics while the center of gravity is situated lower which improves cornering. No driveshaft and a smaller car means substantial weight saving. The real question is why it took so long to finally take that step.

The weak spot in the cars was the gearbox. The Works cars were fitted with modified Citroen gearboxes with castings reinforced to endure high loads applied by the powerful 2.5 Climax engine.

http://www.grandprixhistory.org/cooper.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_T51
image.jpg

image.jpg

Pushing the car over the line to clinch the Driver's title
 
Last edited:
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the three days of the "Legends of Brands Hatch Superprix" at the beginning of July 2016 which included a race for members of the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association. If Polyphony Digital are interested in the Cooper T51 the HGPCA contains several members who own them. I spent the Friday practise day in the paddock and scrutineering area and got these pictures of the Cooper T51 driven by Historic Racer Paul Griffin.

Slide 3 Cooper T51 2495cc 1958.jpg
 
Last edited:

Latest Posts

Back