Solved NIC#970 - 1962 Aiden-Cooper Formula 1

[nicanary]

I couldn't believe we hadn't had this one before. What is it?

[smodmog]

F1 of the early sixties ?

[nicanary]

F1 of the early sixties ?

Yes.

[smodmog]

English ?

[nicanary]

English ?

Yes, although the design was funded from outside that country.

[smodmog]

Lotus base car ?

[nicanary]

Lotus base car ?

No.

[smodmog]

BRM ?

[nicanary]

BRM ?

No.

[smodmog]

Cooper ?

[nicanary]

Cooper ?

Yes. It is based on a Cooper.

[smodmog]

Cooper Climax ?

[nicanary]

Cooper Climax ?

The puzzle car is not a Cooper-Climax. The car was based on a Cooper and powered by a Coventry-Climax engine, but it was not the usual Cooper we would know about.

I require the name of the car, and the model of Cooper upon which it was based.

[smodmog]

Aiden-Cooper- Climax T59

[nicanary]

Aiden-Cooper- Climax T59

Yes. It was designed by Hugh Aiden-Jones who was a mechanic for Anglo-American racing, financed by American heiress Louise Brydon-Browne. It consisted of a Cooper T59 Formula Junior chassis fitted with the usual Climax FPF, and raced in the 1962 season. Originally it was supposed to have a pointed nose and side radiators but that idea was soon discarded.

Not a successful car.

[D-type]

 By 1962 the 4-cylinder FPF was outdated.  You had to have a V8 - either Climax or BRM.

[nicanary]

By 1962 the 4-cylinder FPF was outdated.  You had to have a V8 - either Climax or BRM.

Indeed - even SCM would have struggled, had he not been down to drive a works-spec Ferrari tampered with by Alf Francis. Yet another "what might have been" season for the Great Man, had the season ever really taken off.

Sorry - OT on my own thread!