This is the 1954 Cooper Mk IX
of D.Price which competed in a 5 lap Scratch Race for 500cc Racing Cars at the
Vintage Sports Car Club’s Richard Seaman Memorial Trophies meeting at Oulton
Park in June 1984.
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After the Second World War
motor racing in the UK was slow to re-start, partly because of petrol rationing
and the cost of running a suitable car. Home-built ‘specials’ powered by 500cc
motorcycle were created to provide a reasonably cheap way means of getting
involved in the sport. John Cooper and Eric Brandon, with the assistance of
John’s father Charles, decided in 1946 to build two cars, and in 1947 in the
second post-war race meeting to be held Eric Brandon won the first race to
feature 500cc cars. In 1950 this 500cc class of racing was adopted by the FIA
as a new Formula 3, and John and Charles Cooper went on to build a series of
these 500cc cars, eventually graduating to Formula 2, then Formula 1
culminating in Jack Brabham winning the World Drivers’ Championship in 1959 and
1960 in the 2½ litre Cooper Climax. There's a 500 Owners Association for all
500cc Formula Three enthusiasts, with lots of information about the different
marques that took part.
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