1956 Cooper T39

This car competed in the HGPCA Sports Car Race at the Christie’s International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of John Beasley, more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,460cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1956 Cooper T39

This car competed in the Louis Vuitton 1950s Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in August 1996.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of Marshall Bailey, more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,460cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1954 Cooper T39

This car took part in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Cars [HGPCA] race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of George Cooper, more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,450cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1955 Cooper T39 Bobtail

This was one of the competitors in the 1950s Sports Racing Cars race at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in May 2011.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 of Michael Thorne, more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,460cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.

1956 Lotus Eleven

This car competed in the BRDC Historic Sports Car Championship Race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1956 Lotus Eleven of Neil Davies which the programme of the event says has a 1,480cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was designed by Colin Chapman and the aerodynamic body by Frank Costin and was intended to compete in the 1,100cc sports car class. A Lotus Eleven with a 1,098cc Coventry Climax engine driven by Reg Bicknell and Peter Jopp finished in seventh place in the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, winning the 1,100cc class. The Lotus Eleven was raced with various other engine sizes up to 1,500cc, and for the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hour Race Coventry Climax produced the 744cc FWC engine that enabled the Lotus Eleven of Cliff Allison and Keith Hall to win the 750cc class, and also the Index of Performance.

The car immediately behind the Lotus is the 1956 Cooper T39 Bobtail of Marshall Bailey that competed (with the number 19) in the Bonhams Drum Brake Sports Car Race. The number 6 car appears to be the 1955 Jaguar D-Type XKD505 that won the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour Race driven by Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb, but the car isn't listed in any of the races in the programme of this event. Just visible on the right-hand side with the WEB 6 number plate is the 1950 Jaguar XK120 of Nigel Webb.

1956 CooperT39 Bobtail

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Vintage Sports Car Club's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2007.

It's the 1956 Cooper T39 Bobtail of Scotty Taylor with a 4-cylinder 1,475cc Coventry Climax FWB engine, and it competed in the 1950s Sports Car Race. Next to it is the 1953 Cooper Bristol of David White.

1956 Cooper T39

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Race for pre 1959 Drum Brake Sports Cars at the Silverstone Historic Tribute meeting in June 2004. 

It's a 1956 Cooper T39 of George Cooper (no relation as far as I know), more commonly known as the Cooper Bobtail because of the truncated tail of the car which was aerodynamically effective, but which John Cooper claimed to have been shortened so that it would fit inside the works transporter. The car was used in the 1,100cc and 1,500cc classes of sportscar racing and this car has a 4-cylinder inline 1,450cc Coventry Climax engine. It was reputedly the road-holding characteristics of this car that led John Cooper to produce first the rear-engined 1½ litre Formula 2 car and then the 2½ litre Formula 1 car that gave Jack Brabham the World Drivers' Championship in 1959 and 1960. Cooper's successes led all the other teams to adopt the rear-engine layout, and the last Formula 1 Grand Prix to be won by a front-engined car was Ferrari's victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.