For the December 1961/January 1962 "Springbok Series" Yeoman Credit ran 2 Cooper-Climax cars for local drivers Tony Maggs and Bruce Johnstone.
The Johnstone car was particularly interesting and dubbed a "FJ/F1 Special".
This car was 5th in the Rand GP, but crashed in the Natal GP at Westmead whilst Johnstone was lying 4th behind Jim Clark's Lotus 21, the Stirling Moss 18/21 and Jo Bonnier's Porsche.
Because of this crash Johnstone missed the SAGP and the Cape GP.
Can any of our experts give some more details on this car as it seemed pretty "handy"?
Yeoman Credit Coopers
Started by
ry6
, Sep 29 2001 18:15
10 replies to this topic
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#2
Roger Clark
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Posted 29 September 2001 - 19:42
THe car was built by Parnell for John Surtees. It had a FJ chassis and bodywork, F1 suspension and brakes, a 4-cylinder Climax engine and a Colloti gearbox. It appeared in practice for the Modena GP, and the Italian GP. Surtees raced it at Zeltweg, (3rd fastest in practice, retired after 60 laps steering bolt), and in the Oulton Park Gold Cup, (7th fastest in practice, retired magneto problems). THe fact that it was only used in non-championship races suggests it didn't have sufficient fuel capacity for a full Grand Prix distance.
#3
Vitesse2
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Posted 29 September 2001 - 21:54
The car reappeared in early 1962 under the Bowmaker Racing name, driven by Salvadori in the Brussels GP (retired, but he did lead one lap of heat 2) and the Lombank Trophy (retired).
#4
Marcor
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Posted 30 September 2001 - 12:57
Mike Parkes drove a Cooper T56 and finished fourth in the International 2000 Guineas at Mallory Park (June 11th, 1962). Was it also the same car ?
#5
Roger Clark
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Posted 30 September 2001 - 17:29
Originally posted by Marcor
Mike Parkes drove a Cooper T56 and finished fourth in the International 2000 Guineas at Mallory Park (June 11th, 1962). Was it also the same car ?
I think so.
#6
ry6
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Posted 01 October 2001 - 18:09
Thanks for the information gentlemen.
Yes, it seems that the T56 that Mike Parkes drove for the Bowmaker (Yeoman) team on June 11 was the same car. It was, incidentally, his F1 debut.
Interestingly, there was another British F1 race that day, the Crystal Palace Trophy, and the Bowmaker team entered a Lola for Salvadori to drive there.
Regards
Rob
Yes, it seems that the T56 that Mike Parkes drove for the Bowmaker (Yeoman) team on June 11 was the same car. It was, incidentally, his F1 debut.
Interestingly, there was another British F1 race that day, the Crystal Palace Trophy, and the Bowmaker team entered a Lola for Salvadori to drive there.
Regards
Rob
#7
Allen Brown
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Posted 01 October 2001 - 22:10
Three different people claim to have that T56 now. I'd love to know what happened to it after mid-1962.
One suggestion was that it was the spare YC (then Bowmaker) car during the 1963 New Zealand Internationals. Unfortunately, I've never found a photo of the car (as driven by Jim Palmer) to see whther it was a T53 or a T56.
Allen
One suggestion was that it was the spare YC (then Bowmaker) car during the 1963 New Zealand Internationals. Unfortunately, I've never found a photo of the car (as driven by Jim Palmer) to see whther it was a T53 or a T56.
Allen
#8
Roger Clark
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Posted 01 October 2001 - 22:55
This is Palmer in the 1963 New Zealand Grand Prix. i would say that is definitely a T53.
#9
Milan Fistonic
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Posted 02 October 2001 - 09:58
Doug Nye says it was a T53
#10
Allen Brown
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Posted 02 October 2001 - 19:47
Milan
Cooper Cars, p264. Yes, I know. But Doug will have made assumptions - he won't have explored it in detail.
Roger - thanks for your photo. It looks like a T53 but the T56 was a scaled down T53 and I find it hard to tell the difference in photos. Another possibility is the T58, which Bowmaker acquired late in 1962 - but we've discussed that enough already.
The problem is that Bowmaker had already sold or wrecked all the T53s they were supposed to have - one wrecked in Australia, one sold in Australia and one sold to South Africa - so how come they still had one in 1963?
Allen
Cooper Cars, p264. Yes, I know. But Doug will have made assumptions - he won't have explored it in detail.
Roger - thanks for your photo. It looks like a T53 but the T56 was a scaled down T53 and I find it hard to tell the difference in photos. Another possibility is the T58, which Bowmaker acquired late in 1962 - but we've discussed that enough already.
The problem is that Bowmaker had already sold or wrecked all the T53s they were supposed to have - one wrecked in Australia, one sold in Australia and one sold to South Africa - so how come they still had one in 1963?
Allen
#11
Roger Clark
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Posted 02 October 2001 - 20:48
Allen, this is Mike Parkes in the T56 at Mallory Park. The nose cone and the windscreen look different from Palmer's car to me.
