1963 COOPER CLIMAX T59 MK III « F1 » Lot n° 34

° Competition car, sold without registration title Chassis n°CPMB163 Driven by Patsy Burt, the most famous English female driver of the 1960s’ Extensive and documented track record History followed since the beginning 1500 Coventry-Climax DOHC engine rebuilt by Crosthwaite & Gardiner Eligible for F1 Historic HGPCA With the construction – and success – of the rear- engined Racer 500 Cooper, John Cooper is truly the father of the modern era single-seater. After the small and agile Cooper 500, the constructor will build single-seaters for all categories, from F3 to F2, to F1, including Formula Junior. The adventure will be crowned by the titles of World Champion of the manufacturers in F1 in 1959 and 1960. In Formula Junior, a very popular series between 1958 and 1964, which temporarily replaced the F3 and F2 championships, and which saw the emergence of drivers such as Jim Clark, John Surtees, Jochen Rindt, Jo Schlesser and Lorenzo Bandini, the British chassis manufacturer pro - duced three models in succession. While the first two Cooper FJs, T52s and T56s were derived from existing F1 and F2 cars, John Cooper decided to build an entirely new Formula Junior for the 1962 season. The chassis was narrower and much improved compared to the previous versions, with disc brakes as well. About 30 T59s were built, and one of them, named AIden Cooper, was modified to race in F1, with a Coventry Climax FPF 1500 engine. The Anglo-American driver Ian Burgess took the start of the Grand Prix of Great Britain, Germany and Italy... The car we offer is exceptional, as it was origi - nally powered by a Coventry Climax FPF 1500, to allow Patsy Burt, the most successful British female driver of the post-war period, to com - pete in hill-climbing races. It also sported a “Burt Blue” color, a requirement of its talented driver, as a reminder of the Jaguar XK 120 of her debut. In 1961, she became the first British driver to compete in a full season of the European hillclimb championship, and over the course of her long and prolific career, she would go on to win 43 scratch races, 151 women’s prizes, and set 8 international records. This Lotus T59 1500, conforming to the F1 regulations of the time, was like her other cars, impeccably prepared by her engineer – and long-time companion – Ron Smith. Bought as a kit, the chassis was numbered CPMB163: C for Christmas (name of the mechanic), PMB for the name of the garage where it was assembled, 1 for chassis number 1, and 63 for the year of construction. Patsy Burt will race with this very powerful Lotus until 1964, signing some nice performances in England and in Switzerland in particular (Course de Cote d’Ollon-Villars). The car quickly became a col - lector’s item and, equipped with a BMC 1100 engine, raced in the historic Formula Junior Championship. In the years 1980-1990, it is given in its original configuration, and equipped with an FPF 1500 engine remanufactured by Crosthwaite & Gardiner, to run in F1, in the famous races organized by the Historic Grand Prix Car Association. The next owner of this very historic Cooper will only have to renew the PTH to race again, for a reasonable budget, in the middle of mythical F1 cars of the 1960s.