Description:

The Cooper Car Company is synonymous with the rear-engined revolution which they instigated in Formula 1 in the late 1950s. Their chassis designed coupled with the versatile Coventry-Climax engine in various guises and capacities yielded success in sports cars, F2 and of course F1, culminating in back-to-back Drivers and Constructors World Championship Titles in 1959 and 1960.

Successes were limited in 1961 and it wasn’t until 1962 that Cooper was again competitive enough to challenge for multiple podiums, but another Championship wasn’t on the cards. Other manufacturers were able to out develop Cooper through the 1.5litre era, but the ‘return to power’, the tag line of the 1966 3-litre engine regulations, offered Cooper the opportunity to reinvent themselves.

Coventry Climax decided against producing a 3-litre engine, and so Cooper had to turn to other suppliers, the first of which was Maserati. The Maserati engine deal came about because the Cooper Car Company had been sold to the Chipstead Motor Group in 1965, following the death of Charles Cooper. The Maserati works would supply 3-litre V12 engines, an updated version of the 1957 2.5 litre unit that was the last development of the famed Maserati 250F grand prix car.

For 1966 Cooper developed their first Monocoque chassis, following the lead of other manufacturers including Lotus and BRP. The T81 paired with the Maserati engine proved to be heavy and underpowered when compared to its competitors, however John Surtees was able to win the Mexican grand prix in late 1966, and Pedro Rodriguez was quick out of the blocks in 1967 winning the South African Grand Prix, a real race of attrition, again in a T81 chassis, which Cooper continued to use throughout 1967.

During 1967 Cooper produced one T86 chassis for their lead driver Jochen Rindt. The new lighter and visibly narrower monocoque, that incorporated magnesium-elektron panelling, debuted with Rindt at the 1967 British grand prix. The new car, dubbed ‘the ugly duckling’ by the press, was reputedly 50kgs lighter than the preceding T81, and Rindt immediately proved it to be quicker than teammate Pedro Rodriguez who was driving the older T81 chassis.

It was noted in testing of the T86, that it tended to lift its nose at high speed, which resulted in a front spoiler being added for the Italian Grand Prix onwards, and which remains on the car today. It was at Monza that the T86 achieved its most notable result, where it is said that Rindt drove his heart out to finish in fourth place. The T86 was powered by the Tipo-10 36-valve Maserati engine, their latest development, and this was mated to a Hewland transaxle, instead of the ZF unit used in the T81. A further update to the T86 came at the US Grand Prix, where an additional spark plug was added to each cylinder – the extra 12 being in the centre of the vee! The car, this time driven by Jackie Icyx who had swapped his T81B with Rindt, retired from that race having suffered chronic overheating and burned pistons, according to Doug Nyes book ‘Cooper Cars’. The T86 did not race again in 1967, and its next appearance was in 1968 driven by Ludovico Scarfiotti at the South African Grand Prix, unfortunately this was another retirement – this time a water pipe failed scalding the driver. For the remainder of 1968, the Maserati engines were replaced by BRM V12 engines in an updated T86B chassis.

The sole T86 (F1-2-67) was sold to Colin Crabbe and his Antique Automobiles outfit and was raced a further three times, firstly by Vic Elford at the Silverstone International Trophy, then by Neil Corner in a combined F1/F5000 race at Jarama and finally again by Vic Elford at Monaco in 1969. The car had now been returned to Tipo-10 twin-spark spec. The 1969 Monaco Grand Prix was the last appearance of a Cooper in a World Championship Grand Prix, a circuit at which Cooper had had many successes in the previous decade. The marque that revolutionized grand prix racing closed the doors on their racing team in May 1969.

For the next 30 years the T86 was preserved in Switzerland in the private collection of Mr Walter Grell, whose estate it was sold from in 2000. The new owner, Ben Leibert, had the car restored, including new magnesium monocoque skins and a new engine block, ready for use in historic racing. The car made an appearance at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2006, and the Goodwood Revival in 2007 celebrating the life of Cooper stalwart Roy Salvadori. In 2009 the car was sold to a Japanese collector, and now resides in Japan, where it has been well maintained and used sparingly in demonstration runs since. The car has previously held an FIA HTP. The T86 is eligible for the prestigious Masters Historic Racing series and of course the Monaco Historique Grand Prix.

Spares included with the sale include a new cylinder block, 1 set of magnesium wheels and an original nose (car currently fitted with a GFRP version).

Further images available on request.

Period competition history:

British GP Silverstone - 15 Jul 1967 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Jochen Rindt Retired

German GP Nürburgring - 6 Aug 1967 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Jochen Rindt Retired

Italian GP Monza - 10 Sep 1967 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Jochen Rindt 4th

US GP Watkins Glen - 1 Oct 1967 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Jackie Ickx Retired

South African GP Kyalami - 1 Jan 1968 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Ludovico Scarfiotti Retired

International Trophy Silverstone - 30 Mar 1969 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Vic Elford 12th

GP de Madrid Jarama - 13 Apr 1969 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Neil Corner 5th

Monaco GP Monte Carlo - 18 May 1969 Cooper T86 F1-2-67 - Maserati V12, Vic Elford 7th

Car located in Tokyo, Japan.

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