1959 Cooper T51

This is one of the competitors in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Pre '65 Grand Prix Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1959 Cooper T51 of Martin Stretton, and is in the colours of the British Racing Partnership/Yeoman Credit Racing Team of 1959-1960. It is one of two cars that were raced by the British Racing Partnership in 1959, mainly in Formula 2 races with a 1½ litre Borgward engine, then by the Yeoman Credit team in both Formula 1 and some Formula 2 races in the 1960 season with 2½ litre and 1½ litre Coventry Climax engines. Martin Stretton's car has the 2,495cc Coventry Climax engine.

Cooper T51 and ERA Delage

These unlikely looking competitors took part in the 12 Lap Allcomers Race at the VSCC's Richard Seaman Trophy Vintage Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in August 1992.

Number 1 is Martin Stretton in his ex-BRP/Yeoman Credit 1960 2,495cc Cooper T51 and 229 is Chris Mayman in his cousin Anthony Mayman's 1927/36 ERA Delage, a 1927 Delage 15 S8 Grand Prix car with a 1,982cc supercharged 1936 ERA engine. The Cooper is passing the ERA Delage going into Lodge Corner.

The Coopers were raced by the British Racing Partnership in 1959, mainly in Formula 2 races with a 1½ litre Borgward engine, then by the Yeoman Credit team in both Formula 1 and some Formula 2 races in the 1960 season with 2½ litre and 1½ litre Coventry Climax engines.

The ERA Delage was created by Rob Walker who replaced the original engine of a 1927 Delage Grand Prix car with an ERA engine.

On 19 December 2016 I showed a photograph of one of the ex-BRP/Yeoman Credit Racing team's Cooper T51s, and on 9 April 2018 photographs of the ERA Delage.

Cooper T51

This car took part in the Maserati UK Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix & Tasman Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's the 1959 Cooper T51 of Peter Gooch, and is in the colours of the British Racing Partnership/Yeoman Credit Racing Team of 1959-1960. The two British Racing Partnership cars of 1959 ran with 1½ litre Climax and Borgward engines, but the programme of this event says the car is fitted with a 2½ litre engine as used by the Yeoman Credit Racing Team in F1 races in 1960. On 20 May 2014 I showed a photograph of the late Sir Jack Brabham at the wheel of a Cooper T51 at the Coys meeting at Silverstone in July 1993.

Roy Salvadori

I took this photograph of Roy Salvadori in the paddock on the Friday practice day for the Aintree 200 race in April 1961.

In the race he drove one of the Cooper-Climax T53P cars for the Yeoman Credit Racing Team, qualifying in ninth place on the grid and ending the race in eighth position. You can see the Yeoman Credit Racing Team transporter behind Roy Salvadori in the photograph.

Here are the Yeoman Credit Racing Team cars of Roy Salvadori (no. 6) and John Surtees (no. 5) in the paddock. John Surtees finished in fourth place in the race, nearly two minutes behind the winner, Jack Brabham, in a works Cooper-Climax T55.

Roy Salvadori drove in the Formula One World Championship for eleven years from 1952 to 1962, for a variety of teams, mostly in British cars. His best season was 1958 when he finished in fourth place in the World Championship driving for the Cooper works team, but he's probably best remembered for a winning drive in the 1959 Le Mans 24 Hour race partnered by Carroll Shelby in an Aston Martin DBR1/300.