1961
Cooper
T56
MK
II
Formula
Junior
Owned
and
raced
by
Hollywood
and
\"Le
Mans\"
movie
celebrity
Steve
McQueen
McQueen
took
part
in
California
races,
including
Santa
Barbara
street
races
One
of
2
Works
cars
campaigned
by
Team
Tyrrell
for
Cooper
in
1961
8
first
place
finishes,
18
total
podium
finishes
under
Tyrrell
racing
Owned
by
Skip
McLaughlin,
Steve
McQueen's
personal
mechanic
during
racing
Fully
restored
by
Hardy
Hall
Restorations
of
Herefordshire,
England
Eligible
for
Goodwood
Revival,
Monterey
Motorsports
Reunion
This
Cooper
T-56
Formula
Junior
is
one
of
only
two
Works
cars
campaigned
by
the
famous
Team
Tyrrell
(known
for
their
6-wheeled
racecars)
for
Cooper
in
1961.
At
the
hands
of
South
African
driver
Tony
Maggs,
the
duo
won
eight
races
that
season:
Goodwood,
Magny-Cours,
Monza,
Kalskoga,
Rouen,
Zandvoort,
Oulton
Park,
and
Montlhery.
Those
8
first
place
finishes
and
18
total
podiums
gave
Maggs,
Cooper
and
Tyrrell
the
European
Formula
Junior
Championship.
With
a
championship
under
its
belt,
the
Cooper
went
from
racing
star
Maggs
and
sold
to
up-and-coming
Hollywood
legend
and
\"King
of
Cool\"
,
Steve
McQueen.
At
the
end
of
the
1961
racing
season
Tyrrell
returned
Magg's
car
to
Cooper,
who
then
refurbished
the
car
and
sold
it
to
rising
Hollywood
star,
Steve
McQueen
in
January
of
1962.
McQueen
had
attended
Cooper's
race
school
in
England,
and
had
become
close
friends
with
John
Cooper.
McQueen
would
even
stay
in
Cooper's
son's
room
when
he
visited.
After
becoming
enamored
with
the
championship
car,
McQueen
purchased
it,
along
with
a
Mini-Cooper,
and
had
both
of
them
shipped
back
to
California.
McQueen
immediately
began
racing
his
Cooper
T-56
in
California,
scoring
a
number
of
victories,
including
the
Santa
Barbara
street
races.
McQueen's
performance
in
the
car
was
so
impressive
that
John
Cooper
personally
invited
him
to
come
and
test
for
a
Formula
drive
in
Europe.
Just
as
luck
would
have
it
for
a
competitive
and
aspiring
race
car
driver,
McQueen's
Hollywood
bosses
learned
about
his
\"other
job\"
as
a
moonlight
racer
and
decided
to
intervene.
In
the
pits
right
before
his
race
at
Laguna
Seca,
studio
lawyers
surrounded
him
and
asked
him
a
question,
\"Are
you
a
movie
star
or
a
race
car
driver?
Choose.\"
McQueen
had
just
finished
his
TV
series
\"Wanted:
Dead
or
Alive\"
,
and
had
to
made
a
huge
splash
starring
in
\"The
Magnificent
Seven.\"
With
\"The
Great
Escape\"
on
the
horizon,
the
studio
wasn't
about
to
take
a
risk
with
their
new
star.
The
ultimatum
worked,
and
the
King
of
Cool
would
go
onto
become
a
Hollywood
icon,
not
an
F1
driver.
He
wouldn't
return
to
the
track
until
he
created
his
own
studio,
Solar
Productions,
where
he
was
the
boss,
and
the
boss
liked
racing.
When
McQueen
made
his
decision
to
suspend
his
racing
activities,
he
left
the
car
with
his
mechanic,
Stanley
Petersen,
to
put
to
put
it
up
for
sale.
In
1963
Stanley
sold
the
car
to
Al
'Buster'
Brizard,
an
extremely
competitive
driver
in
the
SCCA.
He
ran
the
Cooper
with
the
BMC
engine
in
1963,
a
Cosworth
engine
in
1964,
and
finally
an
Alfa-Romeo
1600cc
engine
in
1965,
winning
the
Pacific
Coast
Formula
B
championship.
He
captured
5
straight
wins
with
the
Cooper,
and
its
third
championship
in
five
years.
Brizard
sold
the
Cooper
to
Robert
Badilla
in
1966,
but
reportedly
bought
it
back
again
in
1977,
still
racing,
but
now
with
wings
and
wide
tires.
Skip
McLaughlin,
McQueen's
original
mechanic,
was
in
possession
of
the
car
from
1980
into
the
1990s
and
gathered
a
great
deal
of
information
on
the
car
while
in
his
ownership.
Donald
Sandy
is
noted
as
an
owner
in
2000,
and
the
last
owner
acquired
the
car
in
October
of
2003,
after
its
discovery
was
reported
in
Classic
and
Sports
Car
Magazine's
Lost
and
Found
section.
The
owner
commenced
a
profound
restoration
and
engaged
Hardy
Hall
Restorations,
of
Herefordshire,
England
to
return
the
T-56
to
its
Tyrrell/McQueen
configuration
of
dark
green
with
white
roundels
and
stripes.
It
was
restored
from
the
ground
up,
a
true
nut-and-bolt
restoration,
to
race
condition.
Any
parts
that
were
not
up
to
that
standard
were
replaced,
rebuilt,
or
simply
re-fabricated.
An
original
and
correct
five-speed
ERSA
gearbox
was
sourced,
and
the
car
was
fitted
with
the
appropriate
1098cc
BMC
engine.
The
documentation
file
contains
not
only
extensive
photographic
restoration
documentation
but
also
period
photographs,
including
some
with
the
\"King
of
Cool\"
news
clippings,
invoices,
ownership
records,
and
correspondence
with
both
Ken
Tyrrell
and
John
Cooper.
Canepa
purchased
his
piece
of
McQueen
history
to
be
displayed
in
the
Canepa
Motorsports
Museum,
and
is
one
of
the
very
few
members
of
the
museum
that
are
for
sale.
This
T-56
is
eligible
for
the
Goodwood
Revival,
the
Monterey
Motorsports
Reunion,
and
celebrated
classic
series
in
Europe,
American,
Australia,
and
New
Zealand.
With
its
successful
storied
past
that
makes
it
unique
among
a
mere
30-odd
survivors
and
a
race-ready
restoration,
the
new
owner
can
be
assured
that
this
special
Cooper
T-56
MK
II
is
as
right
now
as
it
was
over
50
years
ago.