1960 Cooper Monaco Mk II ex-Ecurie Ecosse

Chassis No. : WD / 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 230 b.h.p.

(For complete history and information, see my Blog)

This is one of 32 Cooper ‘Monacos’ built between 1959 and 1964 and one of only four Mk II’s built in 1960. 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.

This particular example has quite an illustrious history. It was purchased in kit form and built by Ecurie Ecosse, the famous Scottish team that won Le Mans twice for Jaguar in 1956 and 1957, and was originally registered on May 5, 1960. This ‘Monaco’ was first raced by Tommy Dickson at Charterhall on May 28, 1960, where it posted two first place finishes.

1960

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.

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.

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….”

Story continues in my Blog