1960 Ecurie Ecosse Cooper Type 57 "Monaco" Mk II

1960 Cooper Monaco Mk II


Jackie Stewart’s First Race Car

Lime Rock Fall Festival


Chassis No. : DM / 773 / W
Reg. No. : DS 288

Engine

Coventry Climax
Engine No. : FPF 430 / 17 / 1177
2 ½ Liter
Four cylinder DOC, 94mm bore x 89mm stroke
Dual side-draft 58mm Weber carburetors
Rated at 260 b.h.p.


This is particular Cooper ‘Manaco’, one of 32 built between 1959 and 1964 and one of only four Mk II’s built in 1960, was purchased in kit form from Coopers and built by Ecurie Ecosse. This Scottish team was a major international force in the 1950’s, winning Le Mans twice for Jaguar in 1956 and 1957. In the 1960’s it was the launching pad for Jackie Stewart, one of the world’s greatest racing drivers. In this ‘Monaco’ he had his first professional contract, first win, first course record and first major racing incident. In it, he was also discovered by Ken Tyrrell for Formula 1, and as they say “the rest is history”.

The ‘Monaco’ was designed by John Cooper as a sports car, directly developed from the 1958 Cooper Grand Prix car. It inherited the suspension, engine and driveline from its Formula forebears. The majority of the later Type 61M ‘Monacos’ were sold to Carroll Shelby to form the basis of the ‘King Cobra.’ There are very few remaining today that retain the original Coventry Climax motor.


1960

DM / 773 / W was originally registered on May 5, 1960 and was first raced by Tommy Dickson at Charterhall on May 28, 1960, where it posted two first place finishes. In October of 1960 the ‘Monaco’ was sent to The States to compete in three SCCA sanctioned events; the International Formula Libre Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, and two U.S. west coast professional sports car races; the Los Angles Times Grand Prix at Riverside, and the Pacific Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. At Watkins Glen, Roy Salvadori came home third overall and first in class behind Stirling Moss and Jack Brabham in Formula 1 cars. At Riverside, Salvadori spun early on and fought back to finish fourth. At Laguna Seca, Jack Brabham drove the car, where, as a result of a blown tire which damaged a rear brake, he was forced to retire.

Roy Salvadori at Watkins Glen 

1961

During the 1961 season, the ‘Monaco’ competed in numerous events in Great Britain with impressive success. In addition, it competed in the 1000 km event at Nurburgring in the hands of Tommy Dickson and Bruce Halford. The car also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans again driven by Dickson and Halford. At Le Mans, the ‘Monaco’ was running in 7th position and moving-up when Halford lost control in the rain and crashed it under the Dunlop Bridge.

Tommy Dickson at Le Mans

1962

For the 1962 season the Coventry Climax motor was taken out of the ‘Monaco’ and used in the Tojeiro-Climax GT, the first prototype rear-engined GT car built in Britain. The Tojeiro competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, retiring as a result of gearbox failure. At Monza, Jack Fairman attempted to set a new 2 ½ liter record in it. He set a new fasted ever speed for that type of car on the banked circuit at 152 m.p.h. and equaled the FIA record.

1963 - 1964

1963 and 1964 saw the best of times and worst of times for the ‘Monaco.’ Jackie Stewart, in his first professional diving contract, drove the car to eight consecutive race wins between August of 1963 and March of 1964. At the Fall Meet at Charterhall, he broke the lap record twice in a period of 15 minutes. In fact, Doug Nye dubbed the car the ‘King-maker’ as it was Jackie Stewart’s performance in the car that led the Goodwood track manager, Robin McKay, to recommend him to Ken Tyrrell for the 1964 Formula 3 season.

However, in April of 1964 at Oulton Park, Jackie Stewart went out on cold tires and crashed the car quite heavily. Of the accident he was later quoted, “…I don’t know what the hell I did but I remember where I went … I climbed down a branch of the tree to get out of the car and it was a sorry sight … Major Thomson’s Monaco met its Waterloo
with me and I was very sorry as it was a wonderful car and I won a lot of races with it….”

1965 - 1966

By 1965 the ‘Monaco’s’ design was ‘antiquated’ and the team decided to rebuild it into a single-seat Formula Libre class racer. In this form the ‘Ecosse-Climax’ competed in 15 races in Scotland, accumulating 9 first place finishes. In its first outing at Ingliston, Bill Stein drove the car to an all-time track record. At the end of the 1966 season, the venerable Cooper ‘Monaco’ Special was retired to the collection Major Edward Thomson, Ecurie Ecosse’s benefactor.

1970

On August 27, 1970, Major Thomson’s collection was put up for auction through Sotheby’s auction house for the benefit of the Royal National Life-Boat Institution at the Gleneagles Hotel outside Edinburgh. A precocious 9-year-old, was vacationing with his family at the hotel. While there, he convinced his father, a racing enthusiast, to bid on the ‘Monaco’ for him. The auctioneer’s hammer fell all too quickly at the father’s bid of 1,160 pounds and the ‘Monaco’ had a new home in The States.

The car sat un-restored until 1995 when an extensive restoration was undertaken by the then owner through Bob Akin Motorsports. The project was completed in August of 1998.

2001

Car was sold through RM Auctions at the Monterey Auction to D*** Skipworth, a major British collector and is regularly seen at vintage events in England, Europe and the US.

2013 

The car was sold through Bonhams at their December sale for £ 219,900 (US$ 305,121) inc. premium

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/20934/lot/9/?category=list

Race History


Drivers:
Tommy Dickson
Roy Salvadori
Jack Brabham
Bruce Halford
Jimmy Blumer
Jackie Stewart
Bill Stein
Bill Dryden

Record:
Events 49
First Place Finishes 26
Second Place Finishs 1
Third Place Finishes 5
Top 10 Finishes 40
Retirements 8

Tracks:
Charterhall
Goodwood
Silverstone
Watkins Glen
Riverside
Laguna Seca
Oulton Park
Aintree
Nurburgring
Le Mans
Ouston
Snetterton
Ingliston
Croft
Rufforth


Course records:
Charterhall (2) Jackie Stewart
Ingliston Bill Stein


Race Detail

Date Circuit Driver Result

1960
May 28 Charterhall Tommy Dickson 1st, 1st
June 6 Goodwood Tommy Dickson 1st, 2nd
July 3 Charterhall Tommy Dickson 1st
16 Silverstone Tommy Dickson Retd.
Oct. 2 Watkins Glen Roy Salvidori 1st
16 Riverside Roy Salvidori 4th
23 Laguna Seca Jack Brabham Retd.

1961
April 3 Goodwood Tommy Dickson 3rd
15 Oulton Park Tommy Dickson 4th
22 Aintree Tommy Dickson 4th
23 Charterhall Tommy Dickson 1st
May 6 Silverstone Tommy Dickson 4th
22 Goodwood Bruce Halford 1st
28 Nurburgring Dickson / Halford Retd.
June 10 Le Mans Dickson / Halford Crashed
Aug 7 Aintree Tommy Dickson 3rd
Sept 24 Charterhall Tommy Dickson 1ST, 1ST

1962
(Car not raced, engine transferred to Tojeiro Climax)

1963
May 11 Silverstone Bruce Halford 6th
June 23 Ouston Jimmy Blumer 3rd
30 Charterhall Jimmy Blumer 3rd
July 14 Snetterton Jimmy Blumer 9th
20 Silverstone Jimmy Blumer 3rd
Aug 5 Snetterton Jackie Stewart 1st
31 Oulton Park Jackie Stewart 1st, 1st
Sept 21 Goodwood Jackie Stewart 1st
29 Charterhall Jackie Stewart 1st, 1st
(Set two new track records within 15 minutes)

1964
March 21 Oulton Park Jackie Stewart 1st
30 Goodwood Jackie Stewart 1st
April 11 Oulton Park Jackie Stewart Crashed

1965
Ecosse Climax (Cooper Monaco modified to single seater after Stewart’s crash)
April 11 Ingliston Bill Stein 1st
(Set old track record)
May 9 Ingliston Bill Stein Retd.
June 19 Silverstone Bill Stein Retd.
July 3 Croft Bill Stein 1st
25 Ingliston Bill Stein 1st
Aug 14 Croft Bill Stein 1st
Sept 19 Ingliston Bill Stein 4th
Oct 3 Ingliston Bill Stein 1st

1966
April 17 Ingliston Bill Stein 1st
May 8 Ingliston Bill Stein 1st
28 Rufforth Bill Stein 1st
30 Croft Bill Stein 1st
Aug 14 Ingliston Bill Dryden Retd.
Sept 4 Ingliston Bill Dryden 4th
Oct 2 Ingliston Bill Dryden 4th

Car retired to collection of Major Edward Thompson (benefactor of Ecurie Ecosse)


Result Summary

Cooper Monaco Ecosse Climax Totals

1st 17 9 26

2nd 1 0 0

3rd 5 0 10

Top 10s 28 12 40

Retirements 5 3 8

Total Races 34 15 49

Following is a partial list of books in-which the car is either mentioned or photographed:

• Ecurie Ecosse, The Story of Scotland’s International Racing Team
by David Murray
• Ecurie Ecosse, A Social History of Motor Racing from the Fifties to the Nineties
by Graham Gauld
• Cooper Cars
by Doug Nye
• Specialist British Sports/Racing Cars of the Fifties & Sixties
by Anthony Pritchard
• Jackie Stewart World Champion
by Jackie Stewart and Eric Dymock
• Jackie Stewart Triple-Crowned King of Speed
by Karl Ludvigsen
• Laguna Seca Raceway, Forty Years through the Corkscrew
by David Friedman & Mary-Ellen Wright-Rana
• The Glen ’98 - 50 Years of Road Racing Excellence
• Watkins Glen From Griswold to Gordon: Fifty years of Competition at the Home of American Road Racing
by J. J. O’Malley and Bill Green