The Cooper-Climax F1 car that Alasdair McCaig will race in historic events this year starting with the Gold Cup at Oulton Park in August
Back on the Block
Ecurie Ecosse hope to be back in racing at the Silverstone Classic on July 23/24 following the recent purchase of a 1960 low-line Formula 1 Cooper Climax. The driver will be Alasdair McCaig, son of Ecurie Ecosse Patron Hugh McCaig and the team are in the midst of preparing the car for the event.
This is the third type of Cooper raced by Ecurie Ecosse, the first being the T20 Cooper Bristol bought for the team by Major Thompson in July 1952 and raced by Ninian Sanderson, Jimmy Stewart and Jock Lawrence. This car returned to Scotland some years ago in the hands of Barry Wood and will also be racing at the Silverstone Classic. The second Cooper to be bought by the team was the Cooper Monaco- Climax sports car in 1960. It was raced originally by Tommy Dickson before it was taken to the United States by Ecurie Ecosse and raced by Roy Salvadori and Jack Brabham. In 1963 this car helped Jackie Stewart in his early career and was the first car raced by Stewart for the team. It was crashed heavily by Jackie at Oulton Park the following year and in 1965 it was rebuilt as a single seater and called the Ecosse-Climax to race at Ingliston, Croft and Silverstone by Bill Stein and Bill Dryden. In 1970 the car was auctioned by Major Thompson and sold to 9 year old Todd Peyton from the USA whose father bought the car at the Gleneagles Auction for a mere £1100! Later, when he grew up, Todd raced the car and had it converted back to a Cooper Monaco before the car returned to Britain and joined Dick Skipworth’s remarkable collection of Ecurie Ecosse cars.
This latest Cooper to enter the Ecurie Ecosse list of cars is a 1960 Type 53 formula 1 car and amongst the papers with the car is a letter from the late John Cooper confirming that it is F1/53/60. After its early racing life the car disappeared only to re-appear in the United States driven by Jim McAllister. The car then passed through the hands of US dealer/racer Steve Griswold. It was then raced by the late Steve O’Rourke, the manager of Pink Floyd, and who was behind their great hit “Pink Floyd the Wall”. In 2001 O’Rourke sold the Cooper to John Coombs, one of the most successful entrants in modern motor racing who provided cars for Graham Hill, Roy Salvadori and Jackie Stewart. In recent years Coombs has run the car at the Goodwood Revival meetings and amongst those who have raced this car are Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham and Frank Sytner. Now the car will race again under the Ecurie Ecosse banner initially at the Silverstone Classic and probably at the Oulton Park Gold Cup, the Spa Six Hour Meeting and the Oldtimers Grand Prix at Nurburgring.
Footnote: For those who wish to be pedantic Ecurie Ecosse ran two Mini Coopers for Alasdair McCaig and Andrew Smith in a number of races in the Cooper Mini challenge eight years ago but these were modern BMW-built Minis and not Cooper Car Company cars.