Cooper T39
The Cooper T39 was a sports car developed by the Cooper Car Company in 1955 and used in sports car races until 1964.
Development history
Shortly after the end of World War II , the British racing car designer Charles Cooper and his son John began building racing cars. For the Cooper Car Company , they initially developed small single- seater cars with the Junior and 3 racing formulas . Small sports cars were added later.
One of these developments was the T39 “Bobtail” from 1955. The vehicle concept had a lot in common with the monopostos, such as a lattice frame, 15-inch wheels, drum brakes and the wheels that were individually suspended on wishbones and transverse leaf springs. However, the engine was not located in front, but behind the driver in front of the rear axle . The first engine came from Coventry Climax , a 1.1-liter, 4-cylinder in- line engine that was also used in the Lotus Eleven . Over the years, Cooper also used other engines in different chassis, for example, an engine of Volvo , boxer engines from Porsche , the 1.5-liter Coventry-Climax-FWB and a 2-liter Bristol .
The Cooper T39 had a streamlined body made of aluminum . Cooper tried to keep the weight of the car as low as possible through extreme lightweight construction. Some cars were later rebuilt. The American racing driver Pete Lovely converted his T39 into a monoposto-like car with covered wheels.
Racing history
Over the years, T39s have been registered at 343 racing events, and 613 individual uses are known. 82 overall and 40 class wins were achieved.
For the first time a T39 was entered at the Easter race in Thruxton in 1955 . At the wheel of the works car was Ivor Bueb , who finished third behind Les Leston and Kenneth McAlpine (both on a Connaught AL / SR ). Bueb also clinched the first victory; he won a race at Brands Hatch two weeks later .
In the 1950s, different teams drove the model, primarily in national British sports car races, but also in the endurance races of the World Sports Car Championship . 1956 occupied Leech Cracraft and Red Byron in the 12-hour race at Sebring 21 overall and won the class for sports cars to 1.1 liters. In the 1956 Reims 12-hour race , Stirling Moss and Graham Hill drove a works T39 but retired. In Le Mans , Ed Hugus and John Bentley finished eighth in the final standings. This list goes on for a long time, because the T39s were used successfully until the mid-1960s.
