Cooper T45
The Cooper T45 was a formula racing car that was built by the Cooper Car Company in 1958 in a Formula 2 and a Formula 1 version.
Development history and technology
The Cooper T45 was the successor to the Cooper T43 . The chassis remained almost unchanged, but the wheel suspension was revised. The engine was set lower. The cars had drum brakes until 1959, which were then replaced by disc brakes .
Cooper built 24 T45 Formula 2 cars, almost all of which were sold. The small racing cars were also used in the company's own works team. In 1959 Jack Brabham used two T45s under his own name in Formula 2. Rob Walker and the British Racing Partnership equipped their T45 with Borgward engines with Bosch injection. Stirling Moss won the French Formula 2 championship with the Rob Walker T45.
Racing history
For the Formula 1 version, Climax developed a 2.2 liter engine. Since this engine was exclusively available to the works team, Rob Walker had to fall back on the 2-liter engine, which had less power. In 1958 , the Frenchman Maurice Trintignant surprisingly won the Monaco Grand Prix with the Walker 2-liter T45 . However, the car lacked power on the fast routes. Especially against the competition from Ferrari and Vanwall , the Cooper had no chance. Works driver Roy Salvadori finished third at Silverstone and second at the Nürburgring and fourth in the overall ranking of the drivers' championship. Cooper was third in the Constructor's Championship, which was driven out for the first time. The season ended with two wins for Stirling Moss, who won the Australian and New Zealand Grand Prix with the T45.
literature
- David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 62.
