11 replies to this topic

[Snakedriver]

I bought a Cooper T-75 in 2011 with no known history or serial number.  I posted here looking for any information, but no one knew of the car.  

 

Well last last fall I got an email from the President of the Cooper Car Club Peter Jackson, with a slice of the cars history, including a few period pics!

 

What we know now is that the car was bought new by an unknown English gentleman with a bespoke rear suspension.  Then sold to Svenharry Akesson and then to Roland Hedmo both of Sweden.  

 

So the quest for the original owner and perhaps how it got back to England is still ongoing...if anyone might know dont be shy!

 

I also thought that the pics were simply cool period snap shots that some may enjoy looking at.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Edited by Snakedriver, 24 March 2021 - 06:36.

[Bloggsworth]

I know that John Kendall (the only survivor of a drunken 3 man swim across the Serpentine - allegedly) had a red one with a BMC engine and Jack Knight Hillman Imp based gearbox - IIRC he won a race at Monza with it.

[The Mountaineer]

The T75 was a F2 car, so it should be easily possible to track it down in international racing. But  I have never heard of a F2 and/or Monza winner named John Kendall. And the BMC engine, did it ever run properly?

[Dipster]

The T75 was a F2 car, so it should be easily possible to track it down in international racing. But  I have never heard of a F2 and/or Monza winner named John Kendall. And the BMC engine, did it ever run properly?

I am not sure if you are alluding to a special F2 BMC engine but the old A series did pretty well in F3, particularly when used by a certain young Scot named Stewart driving a Cooper run by some wood merchant somewhere.  I hear they both went on to better things after that....

[GazChed]

Chris Helliwell seems to have sorted his Cooper T75 BMC Formula 2 car and is doing well in HGPCA races as well as competing in the Glover Trophy at Goodwood. Chris started a thread on here back in April 2016 titled 'BMC Twin Cam engine in the 1960s' and is also on Instagram.

Edited by GazChed, 23 March 2021 - 09:37.

[Myhinpaa]

There's an article by/about Svenharry Akesson here : https://www.spoca.se/svenharry.php

 

At the bottom there is an email address for the editor, he should be able to put you in contact with Svenharry,

he even mentions the Cooper as a 72 in the article and that he would like to know where it and other of his old cars are today.

 

There is a Roland (Alvar) Hedmo born in 1944 which might be the other owner. He lives north of Stockholm, details here.

[JtP2]

Nobody was going o win anything with BMC twin cam F2 motor. It only appeared about twice in JYS's hands in a Tyrell Cooper. In the early 70s the parts came up for sale and I was asked if I wanted in on the deal to build engines for racing minis. So I phoned Tyrell and spoke to one their mechanics who had worked with the engine. "What was wrong with it?" Reply "just didn't work". So we passed on the deal.

 

As for car being an F2 car. Buying an F2 car for F3 in period was quite common. Same car and engine; but chassis beer speced.

[RacingCompagniet]

There's an article by/about Svenharry Akesson here : https://www.spoca.se/svenharry.php

 

At the bottom there is an email address for the editor, he should be able to put you in contact with Svenharry,

he even mentions the Cooper as a 72 in the article and that he would like to know where it and other of his old cars are today.

 

There is a Roland (Alvar) Hedmo born in 1944 which might be the other owner. He lives north of Stockholm, details here.

 

Sadly, Svenharry Åkesson is no longer alive.  He was a close friend of mine and I am the one who has provided Peter Jackson with all Åkesson told me about the Cooper F2 (which was an F3 when he owned it). I also provided the pictures in the first post in this thread, one from Åkesson's own collection and the colour picture from a Swedish magazine.  The Roland Hedmo you refer to is the one who later raced the Cooper, and his input is also included in the info I gave Peter Jackson.

[Snakedriver]

Thank you so much for that information!

 

Is Roland still alive?  I’m assuming that if he is, there is a chance he recalls who he sold it to?  Or perhaps remembers if Svenharry ever mentioned who he bought it from?

 

Leo

[pete53]

I know that John Kendall (the only survivor of a drunken 3 man swim across the Serpentine - allegedly) had a red one with a BMC engine and Jack Knight Hillman Imp based gearbox - IIRC he won a race at Monza with it.

I don't know about winning at Monza, but John Kendall raced his F3 Cooper BMC in 1965 and 1966 in the UK . He started 1965 in a T67 but appears to have gone on to a T76 by the end of the season.

Edited by pete53, 24 March 2021 - 14:55.

[RacingCompagniet]

Thank you so much for that information!

 

Is Roland still alive?  I’m assuming that if he is, there is a chance he recalls who he sold it to?  Or perhaps remembers if Svenharry ever mentioned who he bought it from?

 

Leo

 

Roland is still alive, but he does not remember to whom he sold it. Svenharry did not remember the name of the gentlemen he bought it from, he only said it was an Englishman.

[Snakedriver]

Thanks again!