The Cooper-Climax T55 is a

Formula One car A Formula One car (also known as an F1 car) is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formul ...

built by the

Cooper Car Company The Cooper Car Company is a British car manufacturer founded in December 1947 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles's small gara ...

for the 1961 Formula One season. Its best result was third-place for

Bruce McLaren Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor. His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...

at the

1961 Italian Grand Prix The 1961 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 10 September 1961 at Monza. It was race 7 of 8 in both the 1961 World Championship of Drivers and the 1961 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. The race was marked b ...

Development

The T55 was a stop-gap development of the Cooper T53 for the start of the 1961 Formula One season, pending the introduction of a new chassis to take the

Climax Climax may refer to: Language arts * Climax (narrative), the point of highest tension in a narrative work * Climax (rhetoric), a figure of speech that lists items in order of importance Biology * Climax community, a biological community t ...

FWMV V8 for the new 1.5 litre formula. Smaller and lighter than the T53, it was powered by the

naturally aspirated Naturally may refer to: ;Albums * '' Naturally!'', an album by Nat Adderley * ''Naturally'' (Houston Person album) * ''Naturally'' (J. J. Cale album) * ''Naturally'' (John Pizzarelli album) * ''Naturally'' (Sharon Jones album) * ''Naturally'' ...

Coventry-Climax FPF

four-cylinder engine The engine configuration describes the fundamental operating principles by which internal combustion engines are categorized. Piston engines are often categorized by their cylinder layout, valves and camshafts. Wankel engines are often categorize ...

driving through a new Cooper six-speed gearbox.

Racing history

The T55 debuted at the non-championship

1961 Aintree 200 The 6th Aintree 200 was a Formula One motor race held on 22 April 1961 at Aintree Circuit, Merseyside. The race was run over 50 laps of the circuit, and was won by Australian driver Jack Brabham in a Cooper T55-Climax, setting fastest lap in the ...

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

and

finished first and second, and Brabham set fastest lap. However, it would be unable to match the power of the new

Ferrari 156 The Ferrari 156 was a racing car made by Ferrari in 1961 to comply with then-new Formula One regulations that reduced engine displacement from 2.5- to 1.5-litres, similar to the pre-1961 Formula Two class for which Ferrari had developed a mid-eng ...

in the World Championship events, where McLaren's third place at Monza would be its best result. Cooper would finish fourth in the Constructors' championship. The works team continued with the T55 at the start of 1962, along with the V8-powered T60, primarily driven by Brabham's replacement

Tony Maggs Anthony Francis O'Connell Maggs (9 February 1937 in Pretoria, South Africa – 2 June 2009) was a racing driver from South Africa. He participated in 27 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 15 July 1961. He achieved three pod ...

, although McLaren used it in some non-championship events. John Love then obtained one of the cars and campaigned with it in several South African events, including its last World Championship appearance at the 1965 South African Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

: Points were awarded on an 8-6-4-3-2-1 (1961) and 9-6-4-3-2-1 (1962 onwards) basis to the first six finishers at each round, but only the best placed car for each make was eligible to score points. In 1961 and 1962 only the best five results from the season were retained, and only the best six results for 1963 and 1965. : Includes points scored by other Cooper-Climax models : All points scored by other Cooper-Climax models

References

{{F1 cars 1965 Cooper Formula One cars