Cooper T51
The little Cooper that put the engine behind the driver and carried Jack Brabham to the 1959 World Championship.
About the Cooper T51
Owen Maddock's T51 developed Cooper's T43 and T45, with a curved-tube steel spaceframe, a Coventry Climax four-cylinder engine behind the driver and fuel tanks either side of the cockpit so the handling changed little as fuel burned off. Works cars used modified Citroën gearboxes, while Rob Walker's team ran more fragile Colotti units. Jack Brabham won at Monaco and in the British Grand Prix on his way to the 1959 title, becoming the first world champion with an engine mounted behind him, and Cooper took the Constructors' Championship. At the Sebring finale Brabham ran out of fuel on the last lap and pushed his car across the line in fourth. Designed from the outset to be sold to privateers, T51s appeared in World Championship races until 1963 with eight different engines.
Cooper T51 specs
| Make | Cooper |
|---|---|
| Model | T51 |
| Years | 1959–1960 |
| Type | Race car |
| Body style | Open-wheel single-seater |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Engine | 2.5L naturally aspirated inline-4 (Coventry Climax FPF) |
|---|---|
| Induction | Naturally aspirated |
| Transmission | Manual transaxle (Citroën-based on works cars, Colotti on Walker cars) |
| Drivetrain | Rear-wheel drive |
| Weight | 701 kg (1,545 lb) |
Typical figures for the standard car; options, markets and model years vary. Where our specs come from
Cooper T51 rarity in CarSpot
The Cooper T51 is a Unicorn card in CarSpot, with a rarity score of 25 out of 100. The rarest tier: hypercars, one-offs and cars built in tiny numbers, typically fewer than about 500. A Unicorn card is worth 320 XP.
Each model's tier starts from a 0–100 score based on its value plus its power or production numbers. Once enough players have spotted a model, how often it is spotted can move it up or down one tier. How CarSpot rarity works
Rarity is a collectible game mechanic, not an assessment of real-world scarcity or value.
Cooper T51 fun facts
- Bruce McLaren won the 1959 finale at Sebring in a T51 to become the youngest Grand Prix winner, a record he held until Fernando Alonso.
- Stirling Moss's pole position at the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix was Cooper's first in the World Championship.
- No fewer than 38 drivers were entered in T51s in Grand Prix races, and one still appeared at the non-championship 1967 Rhodesian Grand Prix.