Thread: Cooper T41
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Old 1 Feb 2009, 22:52 (Ref:2383874)   #5
David McKinney
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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David McKinney should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Walker retained his car into 1958, after which it was sold to John Pringle in Northern Ireland. Bill Smith raced an ex-F2 Cooper in Formula Junior in England in 1959, alleged to be ex-Walker, but probably a later model. Otherwise I remain uncertain of the later whereabouts of F2-1-56 (but see below).

Wharton’s car did one New Zealand race, with a local driver, before returning to the UK following its owner’s death. It was bought by Bill Whitehouse and sold after his death to holidaying Australian Paul England, after which it disappeared. Immediately afterwards however a car called the Miller Special, looking for all the world like a T41 Cooper-Climax, commenced a racing career in Australia. What everyone suspected, that it was actually the ex-England Cooper, was not admitted for many years afterwards, presumably after the expiry of the provisions of the Statute of Limitations as they applied to Australian Customs. Later Australian owners raced it as a Cooper and it is still in that country.

So too is the ex-Brabham car, which seems to have had a later chassis-plate attached to it at some time, and for a while had a 1½-litre Hillman Minx engine, which was subsequently replaced by a non-period Climax FPF of the same size.

F2-4-56 had a long NZ career before being sold back to the UK in 2000, since when it has appeared at varioous historic meetings. The last NZ owner was recently offering a replica which he had had constructed, chassis number unknown

The two 1100s which went to southern Africa were sold there, though one was involved in a fatal accident later in 1957 and is believed to have been written off. The other, F2-1-57, subsequently raced with Alfa Romeo and Borgward engines, and a later owner took it to Australia when he emigrated about 25 years ago. It was still there when I last heard - but that was 1994...

A car numbered F2-5-57 has raced in European historic events for the past 25 years, always in Rob Walker colours (and shown on the T43 page). This might be F2-1-56 wrongly numbered, or a school car (of which no subsequent histories are known) or something else again.
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