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Figure 1.Illustration from the “Motor” Drawing believed by Michael Turner<\/p>\n
Coopermen: \u201cAction with a purpose\u201d \u2013a comparison of Cooper with Lotus<\/strong><\/p>\n Part of the Chapman F1 design peers series <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWith only 1\/27th<\/sup> of Mercedes manpower they [Cooper] won 11 out of 14 races in which they ran\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Posthumous<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThey were used by all but one of the greatest Fifties crop of front \u2013line British racing drivers \u2026\u2026Cooper cars became the world\u2019s largest manufacturer of pure-bred racing cars, and in 1959-60 they achieved ultimate success in twice becoming FI Champions\u2026\u2026.during the period, the Cooper Car Co.Ltd, pioneered quantity production of proper racing cars .from 1946-to the end of manufacture in 1969 as many as 1500 racing Coopers had been built\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n The editors have long intended to provide an article comparing and contrasting Lotus and Cooper in our series analyising the world\u2019s greatest FI designers and marques. Cooper possibly having a slightly less romantic persona as compared to Lotus. However Coopers were great innovators .Both marques were London based and multiple World Champions with differing design methodologies. A comparison of the two provides for challenging and rewarding analysis.<\/p>\n Coopers hold a significant place in British and international motor racing history in relation to technology, drivers and achievement.<\/p>\n In many respects Cooper democratized the sport of motor racing by making available professional cars and kits in the immediate post war period contributing to morale, return to normality and a kick start into innovation. They were the first real mass producers of racing cars for sale.<\/p>\n When Owen wrote his \u201cRacing Coopers\u201d it was the official history of Coopers and he records that father and son were very proud of being British .They used British sourced components when they could. Furthermore they adopted a policy of selling cars to private entrants in the belief it would encourage beginners and build the British challenge in international motor racing by improving its uptake, strength and quality.<\/p>\n The prompt came to complete this piece when the editors read of the Museum of London\u2019s poll to discover London\u2019s most significant individuals. The absence of motorsport personalities despite their achievements \u2013engineering , aesthetic , sporting , economic ,national reputational and their combined impact on 1960\u2019s culture prompted the editors to call attention to their combined outstanding achievement an indeed London loci.<\/p>\n From the net:-<\/p>\n \u201cThe Cooper Car Company<\/strong> was founded in December 1947[1]<\/sup><\/a> by Charles Cooper<\/a> and his son John Cooper<\/a>. Together with John’s boyhood friend, Eric Brandon<\/a>, they began by building racing cars in Charles’ small garage in Surbiton<\/a>, Surrey<\/a>, UK in 1946. Through the 1950s and early 1960s, they reached auto racing<\/a>‘s highest levels as their rear-engined, single-seat cars altered the face of Formula One<\/a> and the Indianapolis 500<\/a>, and their Mini Cooper<\/a> dominated rally racing<\/a>. Due in part to Cooper’s legacy, Britain<\/a> remains the home of a thriving racing industry, and the Cooper name lives on in the Cooper versions of the Mini<\/a> production cars that are still built in England, but are now owned and marketed by BMW<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s believed in total Cooper built 1400 -1500 cars? And of course this ignores the Mini-Coopers.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to note that like Chapman the Coopers attempted minor diversification which included a three wheel economy car and light weight scooter. Although not involved with aviation to the same extent as Chapman, Charles Cooper dabbled in making his own light aircraft.<\/p>\n Subscribers might like to see directly relevant and complementary A&R<\/p>\n Pieces:-<\/p>\n Article Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n Both marques have extraordinary complex history and on occasions obscure and built multiple iconic automobiles.<\/p>\n Here we take the primary prism of Cooper and look at their work in some detail with Lotus material being available in dedicated but separate pieces. The editors do not have the skill and space does not permit the fullest and most comprehensive forensic level comparison.Therefore the editors have been selective in their selection of material that highlights both similarities and differences of design philosophy.<\/p>\n We invite subscribers to examine our dedicated articles on Chapman and Lotus to gain detailed insights were appropriate. Where we discuss comparisons this has been written in italics to distinguish from the main text.<\/p>\n We invite our subscribers to benchmark both marques and we hope the information provided will assist this. We have sought to provide a tabulation of the Cooper types in the belief that;-<\/p>\n The essential comparison of the two marques is as follows. Based on this we proceed to look at some specific examples. We hope too that this article might remind and reconnect people with London\u2019s preeminence in motor sport \u2013both pre and post war:-<\/p>\n Cooper-Lotus peer comparison<\/p>\n![\"Logo\"](\"http:\/\/www.colinchapmanmuseum.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/logo.png\"){kind=logo}
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