Driven in period by Bruce McLaren, Ex-Briggs Cunningham. Recently victorious at Rolex Reunion and Velocity International. Shown at The Quail. Fresh engine by Huffaker, extra engine and Cooper transaxle included. Thoroughly documented, race ready and almost impossible to beat.1961 Cooper Monaco Mark III Type 61 Chassis no. CM/3/61White with Black Interior
The Cooper Car Company is regarded as one of the most important British Motorsports companies in the world. A modest but agile powerhouse of a business throughout post war racing, the Surbiton, England firm elated enthusiasts, drivers, spectators, and press with their engineering efficiency and nimble capacity on racetracks all over the world. Famous for developing rear engine Formula cars, Cooper Cars attracted some of the most celebrated drivers of the period including Sir Sterling Moss, Juan Manuel Fangio, Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, and Pedro Rodriguez, with Brabham delivering two World Champion Constructors victories for Cooper in 1959 and 1960. Throughout the 50s and 60s Cooper rear-engine race cars dominated the scene with pioneering technology including lightweight honeycomb monocoque construction, specialized engine tuning, and several racing innovations. Cooper dominance was not limited to Formula One, as the Mini-Cooper proved on Rally courses worldwide. The Cooper Monaco was a very special, uniquely constructed, low profile, lightweight sports racer, which earned its name in honor of the Cooper victory at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix. First introduced in 1958, ongoing Formula technology was applied to refinements in the Mark II (first offered in 1960) and again in the Mark III. The Mark III development was particularly important in that it included a new stiffer chassis, in-house hand-formed alloy body panels, and replacement of the former transverse rear leaf spring configuration with double wishbone, coil spring suspension. Most memorably, the rear fenders of the Mark III were formed with elevated, pointed fins, constructed in this fashion to aid in high-speed stability. This Cooper Monaco, CM/3/61 must be regarded as one of the most distinguished, historically documented, and important Mark IIIs constructed for racing. The last of three Mark III cars logged in the Cooper factory chassis register, the other two cars were delivered to Hap Sharp, June of 1961 and Roger Penske, August of 1961. Originally ordered by Peter Berry, he withdrew the order, but was convinced by Bruce McLaren to follow through, offering that it could be very competitive with a Coventry-Climax 2.7 Liter FPF engine, which conveniently, McLaren already owned. McLaren completed the assembly of the car at the Cooper works alongside factory mechanic Mike Barney. McLaren tested the car at Silverstone, lapping the circuit a second faster than Stirling Moss’ best time in a Lotus-Climax 19. Outfitted with larger Aston Martin-type calipers and thicker disc brakes, the Monaco was rigged in full International Appendix C regulation spec, with lights, screens, two proper seats etc. Upon arrival at Riverside for practice, Bruce and Mike Barney found that the Americans had not bothered to follow the rules so tightly. They also discovered that Jack Brabham’s personal mechanic Tim Wall had been there for a week, preparing Hap Sharp’s stripped lightweight Monaco for Jack to drive, using a sister 2.7-litre engine, a detail that Jack had neglected to mention to Bruce.McLaren nevertheless opted to run the Berry car in full Appendix C trim just in case a protest arose. The Riverside Grand Prix ran on October 15, 1961, with Brabham in pole position. McLaren running CM/3/61 finished in BRG with white stripe livery proved to be highly capable, though Brabham ultimately prevailed in the lighter Monaco, with McLaren taking second following a water leak in the closing laps. The following weekend McLaren finished 4th driving CM/3/61 at Laguna Seca behind formidable contenders Moss, Gurney, and Brabham. In the Fall, Peter Berry sold the car to the Briggs Cunningham team who commissioned Lance Reventlow’s Scarab team, RAI, to install a lightweight aluminum Buick 215 V8 engine, mated to the Monaco Mark III’s original Cooper C5S five-speed transaxle. The team was well-versed in V8 applications for racing as this emerging use of reliable American engines was beginning to gain traction among privateers. The 215 proved to be more powerful and 20kg lighter than the Climax it replaced. Cunningham’s legendary engineering director, Alfred Momo, soon decided that the Monaco was a far more practicable racing proposition than the Maseratis the team had been campaigning.In 1962 and 1963, the car was campaigned by Briggs Cunningham and driven by Walt Hansgen throughout a variety of sports car races in the United States, achieving victories at the 1962 Watkins Glen Grand Prix and the FIA International 500K race at Bridgehampton in September of 1963, both times driven by Hansgen, beating the NART Ferrari of Pedro Rodriguez, Dan Gurney in the Ferrari 330LMB, Dan Dick Thompson in the Corvette Grand Sport and a trio of Cobras including one driven by Ken Miles. Cunningham then sold the car to Ernie Gravelle, Oakland, CA who ran the car in 1965 at the Phoenix Grand Prix with Chuck Parsons at the wheel, Riverside with Dan Parkinson, placing 8th, and Laguna Seca with Ed Leslie finishing 9th. Race results and documentation accompanying the car confirm these and other period races. Ownership then transferred to Richard Gamboni, Oakland, CA with a 1967 rebuild employing a 327 Chevrolet V8 engine and Huffaker transmission with rear suspension trailing arm configuration. In 1968 the car was sold to William Thompson who retained the car until 1971. Lynn Blehm then competed in various IRRA races before selling the car to Steven Rapp who removed the body with the intention of converting it to a Maurada kit car. Mercifully rescued from this fate, the car was sold to Donald Moriarty, Utah in 1997 who then sold it to the next owner, a resident of the UK. In 2003, the car returned to England for a comprehensive restoration with the restoration overseen by expert engineer Steve Slyfield while Cooper specialist Ken Nichols handled the chassis work. During the restoration, to ensure safe vintage racing operation, significant portions of the chassis were replaced. The original chassis segment has been thoughtfully retained through current ownership for historical provenance and is included in the sale.In 2015 CM/3/61 was purchased by the current owner through Fantasy Junction. The current owner, enchanted by both the car and a family connection to Cunningham, displayed and drove CM/3/61 for four years before health issues sidelined him. The car was further featured at The Quail in 2015, invited and displayed at the 2018 Greenwich Concours, and awarded 2nd place at the 2019 Rolex Concours, Laguna Seca, CA. After a 2017 incident at Mt. Tremblant, the car’s front bodywork was professionally repaired and mechanical work performed as outlined in the accompanying invoices. In 2019 Fantasy Junction proprietor and championship driver Spencer Trenery assumed driving duties with victories at the 2021 Rolex Reunion and 2021 Velocity International events as well as a 1st in class at the 2020 Sonoma Raceway SVRA event as well as the Rolex “Driver Appreciation” weekend held at Laguna Seca during Covid.In addition to top level racing preparation for the car, significant work has been performed in recent years including the installation of a $17,000 ZF gearbox, Kennedy bell housing, extensive machine work for engine to gearbox fitment, drive-shaft angle engineering, shifter linkage, and clutch pushrod engineering. During this time, detailed work was also performed with both the more recently cast Sid Hoole Cooper C5S gearbox and the ZF gearbox to determine the best results for the use of either gearbox. It should be noted that the C5S gearbox remains as an included spare, which can be fitted for European competition use. By 2020, experts at Phil Reiley & Co. were engaged for trackside support and mechanical work on the car including new front hubs, inner wheel bearings, engine clutch and bell housing alignment, driveshaft work, new tires front and rear (2021), and extensive preparation for both the spare C5S gearbox and the ZF gearbox. In March 2022 the engine block was replaced with drill and tap for new head stud bores, machining, additional water holes drilled, block and deck for the engine, and finish bore to 3.54. The completed engine was fitted with the crossflow intake and Weber carburetors. This rebuild, which was completed October 2022 by Huffaker Engineering, is an FIA legal displacement Buick V8. This fresh engine has approximately one weekend of use with roughly 1 hour of track time including ten laps of shakedown. The dyno test for this fresh engine revealed nearly 400 hp and suitable torque. During the weekend at Velocity International this Cooper held a lead position every lap from pole position with victories both Saturday and Sunday in races against top cars including Listers, Birdcages, Testarossas, and Sadlers among the field.Today this important Cooper Monaco presents in excellent overall condition featuring a correctly configured Buick V8 engine as assembled when racing with the Briggs Cunningham racing team. Finished in Cunningham historic white and blue livery, the paint is in excellent condition with beautiful cosmetic finishes applied to the alloy body panels, combining years of excellent racing engineering and qualified preparation. The beautiful yet purposeful look of the Mark III is both wicked and delightful. The engineering, stance, and impossibly low profile are beguiling in photos, particularly as it conceals the V8 engine beneath the rear body panel. Even the upswept tail fins deliver a purposeful balance to the car, echoing the power exploding from the rear wheels. The plexiglass windscreen and side screens a