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JOHN COOPER, FAST MINIS, AND AN EVEN FASTER COOPER MONACO

To most people the name "Cooper" brings forth memories of Minis past and present, for it was John Cooper who proposed changing the basic econobox into a sporting sedan that could be used for both street and competition. The Mini Cooper S became a huge success in races and rallies and soon was everyone's favorite. It was obvious that when the modern, BMW-built Mini was launched a faster Cooper version was sure to follow.

My first exposure to the Cooper name was quite different. John Cooper, a successful pioneer of low-cost rear-engine race cars, had been building single-seaters for England's 500 c.c. formula and one of these had fallen into the hands of Canadian motorcycle racer Don Haddow. His plan was to modify the car for hillclimbing, using a motorcycle engine. Fitting a very potent Vincent Black Shadow into the Cooper's lightweight frame, Haddow named it the "Jordan Special" after its builder Herb Jordan. Haddow was successful in the British Empire Motor Club's Hockley Valley hillclimb in 1959, then sold the car to Dan Shaw, who won the event in 1960. I might immodestly add that I was a class winner that same year in a modified VW.

It wasn't long before John Cooper moved into the designing and building of mid-engine sports racers which could be fitted with a variety of engines. Although Canadian Ludwig Heimrath was better known for driving Porsches the young German immigrant also drove a Cooper with a Ford engine in 1964. Americans were also well aware of the Cooper success in racing. Ken Miles was winning in a Cooper-Porsche and by the 1960s Hap Sharpe was buying a Cooper. Another customer was a young Texas up-start by the name of Jim Hall who bought himself a Cooper Monaco sports racer. Clearly a Cooper chassis was the way to go.

CM 3-64 was one of the last Cooper Monacos built, visually similar to the Shelby King Cobras. Originally sold as a rolling chassis, it was fitted with a 327-cubic-inch V8 with Hillborn injectors, BMCD transaxle, Eaton halfshafts, Stewart Warner instruments and Ford linkage. Through the years and various owners it has appeared in vintage races and now has been rebuilt to race-ready condition. Russo & Steele is offering the car at its Monterey auction, August 16-18. As pretty as any race car I've ever seen, it deserves a buyer who appreciates the significance of that Cooper name.

NOTE: I've received an e-mail from Rupert Lloyd Thomas, who is compiling a history of Ontario hillclimbs, in which he corrects some errors that I'd made in this blog: The Jordan Special was not a Cooper, it was entirely self-built by Herb Jordan, (although the design had Cooper-like elements, notably the Fiat suspension). The 500 c.c. motorcycle engine was also home-built, while the Vincent engine came later. The car was owned throughout its competition career by builder Herb Jordan, not by Don Haddow; Danny Shaw drove the car when Don Haddow was injured in a skiing accident. Rupert adds: "This was one of the great Canadian racing cars and should be recognised as such. The real mystery is what has happened to the car since. It was believed sold to a Don Clark after the 1962 season and then disappeared."

SPOTTING THE GREAT RACE FROM 35,000 FEET

Seated in an Air Canada Embraier 190 I looked down on Lake Michigan at what I assumed was the Mackinac Bridge. Thanks to the GPS map on the seatback screen, which I followed throughout the 5-hour flight from Toronto to Sidney, BC, I had a pretty good idea of our location. Try as I may, however, I couldn't spot any cars competing in The Great Race. Not that I really expected to but I was fantasizing about seeing our Marque1 correspondent Nigel Matthews. As Canadian head of Hagerty, the classic car insurance giant, Nigel attends many concours, auctions and events and with Hagerty as one of the lead sponsors it was only natural that he'd be involved.

The event, a controlled-speed endurance contest restricted to cars from the 1969 model year or earlier, has traditionally been held in the lower 48 states. This year, the drivers were circumnavigating the Great Lakes, taking in many of the communities that propelled the development of the automobile and visiting, for the first time, Canadian locations.

In spite of its name, the Great Race is a time-and-distance rally, something I'm familiar with from my own motorsport days. Along the route there are checkpoints recording the exact time that the team passes. The objective is to arrive at each checkpoint at the correct time, not the fastest. The score is the result of the team’s ability to follow designated instructions precisely (usually 220 to 250 per day). GPS, computers, and cell phones are not permitted and odometers are taped over. It's a test of human mental agility and endurance as well as classic car endurance.

The course avoids timed segments on interstate highways, opting instead for scenic local, county, and state highways whenever possible, through some of the prettiest country in the United States and, this year, Canada. Nearly $120,000 in prize money is given to competitors who follow instructions correctly, awarded on July 1 at the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Mich. Don't be deluded into thinking that powerful contemporary machines have an advantage: the starting grid included a 1907 Renault, a veteran of the Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island before World War I. According to the Great Race's official Web site, the Renault would be the oldest car ever to participate, beating out last year’s 1911 Velie.

I try not to be envious of my friend Nigel's motoring activities but this is one event in which I'd love to be involved and if that were to happen I'd probably be feted as the oldest driver to take part. I certainly have the background to justify such a ride but beware, anyone who might step forward to offer a seat. I'm no mechanic and would be next to useless if en route repairs were required. Better I should look down from a Brazilian-built jetliner.

FLY AND DRIVE WITH CLASSIC CAR ART

Much as I admire the work of any automobile fine artist I have a special affection for those who combine cars with other kinds of historic transport. And that includes trains, boats, and aircraft. Thanks to an article in the June issue of Classic & Sports Car I can happily recommend the art of Benjamin Freudenthal. But this talented Frenchman also loves movies, and manages to include images of classic film stars.

The above painting, entitled Hollywood Boogie, is a superb example. Next to the Buick and the TWA Starliner Constellation is an embarking group that includes Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Rita Hayworth, Audrey Hepburn, Gary Cooper, Sean Connery, Marilyn Monroe, and director Alfred Hitchcock, with Freudenthal in the aircraft's cockpit. "Movies and classic TV serials are a source of inspiration," he explains. "I'm a big Alfred Hitchcock fan." Count the great British artist Michael Turner as another important inspiration, for Turner was one of the few artists who could brilliantly capture the feeling of speed on canvas.

Included in his portfolio are a scene depicting Stirling Moss on a night drive in a Facel Vega and in an homage to Hitchcock's North by Northwest, a Cobra racing a Boeing Stearman biplane (above). Freudenthal is now working on a collection devoted to World Speed Record heroes. Quoted in Classic & Sports Car he says "I visited Nevada as a 12-year-old and have never forgotten that amazing landscape. I want to recapture my excitement with the high speed world of Malcolm Campbell and Bert Monroe."

While you impatiently wait I suggest you visit Benjamin Freudenthal's site for more outstanding examples of cars, planes, and movie stars, and the links to order online.

[Image Credits: Benjamin Freudenthal]

CARSPOTTERS IN BROOKLYN. YES, BROOKLYN

My good buddy Bob Schulties, boss of the car sites at About.com, has just about convinced me that Brooklyn is the greatest place in the world to spot interesting old cars. It all began a few years ago when Colin Hefferon and I, then About.com new car testers, visited Bob and his family in Brooklyn, where he lives.

As we three wandered along the streets on a drizzly evening we spotted a lovely Volvo 1800 ES from the 60s, and it's after that when Bob began sending me "car spotter" photos. (He's a photography enthusiast, too.) Ironically none of us was carrying a camera that evening but I suspect we've learned our lesson. Well, partly... as I still tend to forget the little digital wonder, along with my smartphone.

By the way, I've been word processing on computers since 1982 and helping produce automobile Web sites since 1998 but learning the smartphone is like learning computers all over again. Easy for kids but not intuitive for old guys like me. And who was it that decided the things should be called "smart?" And where is there a Samsung Galaxy for Dummies now that I need one?

A knowledgeable car guy/girl will instantly recognise the car in Bob's most recent photo but for the rest of you, it's an Alfa Romeo, an updated version of the Alfa that appeared in the movie, The Graduate. I'm not certain of the model year but suspect it's sometime in the early 80s. I'll have to ask my optometrist when I get back to Sidney from Toronto. He owns one. By the way, the license plate on this car reads 00seven. Did James Bond drive an Alfa? Not that I can recall.

Thanks, Bob, and don't apologise for the background. Though I love looking at those brownstones it's a fact that some of the great car photographers like to place their subject vehicles in a completely contrasting situation. Like a gravel pit. Or a wrecker's yard. Or in front of the neighborhood garbage cans.

[Photo: Bob Schulties]

THE 2012 SATURN, AS IT COULD HAVE BEEN

This would be the 2012 Saturn if General Motors had chosen to keep the brand alive. In reality it's the new Opel/Vauxhall Astra, which is an updated version of the last car that Saturn sold under its own name. In my opinion General Motors may have made a mistake by dropping Saturn and keeping Buick.

Now before all you traditional Buick fans start throwing bricks at me consider where the hallowed brand is today. In China, very successful. In North America still struggling to throw off the image of an "old guy's car." And nothing I've seen has changed that, although being an old guy myself I'm always offended that my generation's choice of vehicle is considered a negative.

Saturn, on the other hand, could have been further developed as GM's "small car" brand, which is where it started in the first place. The Astra, with its European heritage, can compete with the best of the compact hatchbacks. What Toyota has done with the Scion brand is what GM could have done with Saturn. And what it needs to compete with the Japanese and Korean brands.

So much money, so much energy, so much talent went into creating the Tennessee plant, to be rewarded with an owner loyalty that any manufacturer would envy. But it was wasted with minivans and SUVs that nobody cared about. GM had claimed that "we build the best small cars in America," then diluted the opportunity by playing follow-the-leader with "me too" vehicles. Which is exactly what Buick is doing now.

During much of its existence Buick's role in the stepladder of GM hierarchy was to be one step below Cadillac, offering much of the luxury and distinctive styling at a lower price. Today's Buick does not give that impression. Call it the American Acura. I hope the storied marque continues in a path much clearer than what it has now but in the meantime I can't help wondering if Saturn might have been a better bet.

A DAY IN A RESTORATION SHOP, A CAR MUSEUM, AND A TRAIN

Sometimes you get lucky, and so it was with me when I was assigned to write an article about an extraordinary 1939 Talbot Lago that is currently under restoration at the RM shops in Chatham, Ontario. Lucky, that is, because I happened to be in Toronto on a family visit and could take time to journey to Chatham and see the car in the metal.

I'm not going to reveal the details in this blog. That can wait until the restoration is complete and the story can be told in full. So for now you'll have to be content with the photo above. If nothing else it shows just how voluptuous those pre-war French cars could be, especially when the body is designed and built by Figoni and Falaschi.

It was a privilege to watch the RM craftsmen do their work, for these people are artists, truly dedicated to achieving perfection in bringing classic cars back to their original state. When this Talbot is finished, every detail will be exactly as it was when new. Created more than 70 years go by men who were equally determined that each car should be a work of art and sometimes inserted their "signature" in subtle ways.

If ever you have the opportunity to visit RM, I heartily recommend the trip. You may not get as up close and personal as Colin Hefferon and I did but you can spend hours strolling through the RM Museum in the company of a knowledgeable guide. With up to 100 cars on display it's a constantly changing scene. Unlike other museums where the cars are more or less permanent, this one is populated by vehicles in temporary storage, by others awaiting restoration, and others soon to be on their way to auction.

We saw, in addition to several renowned Bugattis, one of the most famous of all classics, a 1939 Lagonda Rapide Boattail Racer with a body made entirely of tulipwood. I'd seen this beauty in photos before but actually standing in front of the car left me awestruck. With hundreds of brass rivets laid in perfect rows to fasten the tulipwood to the chassis, you have to see it to believe it.

If your taste runs to vintage motorcycles you'll find them in the museum, too. Or a famous hot rod. Or even a classic intercity bus. I'm not exactly sure what I'd do with a bus but the latter appeals to me and if it could be outfitted as a mobile home and I could afford a skilled driver I might travel the country visiting concours and other car museums.

Finally, I must say a word on behalf of a transit system we could afford to use: Via Rail. The drive from Toronto is long (4 hours each way), straight, and boring, on an expressway noted for its traffic jams, so Colin and I made the trip by train. We're both "railfans" thus it was a pleasure to climb aboard, relax, read, enjoy a snack, and arrive rested. I heartily recommend it and wish such train service was available from my home in British Columbia.

[Photos: Philip Powell]

THE BEAUTIFUL BARONESS' MAGNIFICENT MERCEDES ON AUCTION

The Mercedes 540 was certainly one of the most glamorous pre-war sports cars, which made it the ideal car for one of Europe's most glamorous women, the Baroness Gisela von Krieger. And that, in turn, makes it the star of Gooding & Company’s 2012 Pebble Beach Auctions, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, August 18 & 19.

The Special Roadster was purchased new in 1936 by an aristocratic Prussian family and was initially enjoyed by the von Krieger’s son, Henning, before his sister, Gisela, assumed the driver’s seat for her own use. Baroness von Krieger was widely recognized for her elegant style, and was named one of the ten most fashionable women in the world.  Among the very elite of international society, the beautiful Baroness enjoyed a privileged life for many years, residing at the Ritz and Hotel Le Meurice in Paris and Hotel Martinez in Cannes, while frequenting the best European destinations and social events, including the coronation of King George VI.

The Von Krieger Special Roadster remained an important possession of the family, carefully stored even while they lived outside of Germany, avoiding orders of the Third Reich. In 1942, at the height of the war, Baroness Gisela shipped the car to Switzerland. After the war ended and the family reunited, Henning and Gisela moved to New York, shipping the Special Roadster on the Queen Elizabeth, in an effort to start a new life.

Following the death of her brother and mother, Baroness Gisela returned to Switzerland where she lived as a recluse until her passing in 1989. The Hermann Ahrens-designed Special Roadster remained tucked away in a Greenwich garage for the better part of four decades, with such items as the Baroness’s driving maps, lipstick-stained cigarette butts and silk gloves intact. After the estate was settled, the car was sold to its current owner, who has cared for it ever since. It was recently returned to its original grandeur by Chris Charlton, whose restorations have won Best of Show at Pebble Beach. Looking just as it did when it left the factory in 1936, it is finished in black and chrome over a cognac-colored leather interior, with the von Krieger family crest hand-painted on the upper portion of the driver’s door.

While Gooding & Company has not placed an estimate due to the car’s unprecedented historical significance and provenance, the auction house is confident that this rare and exquisite car will realize a world record for the marque. Both the car and its original owner could, in my opinion, have played a role in a book (and a movie) by Graham Greene or Ian Fleming. Are you listening Mr. Bond?

[Image copyright and courtesy of Gooding & Company. Photo by Peter Harholdt]

OWN THIS JAGUAR FOLDER AND BECOME A MAD MEN FAN

If Mad Men was a reality show the catalog above would have been created by the mythical ad agency which, in the just-completed season 5, had acquired the Jaguar account. As a former agency creative director whose advertising career began in the late 1960s, I can relate to this show.

I can image how delighted the staff must have been, for an automotive account could be a showpiece for the agency's creative talent. But oh, how I'd love to admonish the agency's creative director, Don Draper (played by John Hamm) when, in a fit of anger, he complained that the Jaguar account wasn't big enough to satisfy his image of the agency's growth. What Draper wanted, he roared, was the Chevrolet account.

I worked on Chevrolet with its agency in the late 70s, and again in the mid-80s as a freelancer, but in the period that Mad Men's latest episode imagines, I was with Ford's ad agency in New York and London. And given the opportunity I'd tell Don Draper that having a major US car account is not worth the trouble. Corporate politics, people protecting their jobs, and endless battles between suits and creatives meant that great advertising was rarely the objective. Survival was.

Whatever agency types that created this 8-page color folder surely had great taste and you can buy it from McLellan's Automotive History for just $45. McLellan describes it this way: Cover shows frontal view of blue Jaguar "at speed". Nine photographs show exterior and interior of Jaguar XK-E Series 2 Roadster and 2+ 2 Coupe and XJ 4-Door Sedan, with emphasis on XK-E. Includes discussion, specifications and four side view drawings.

Was my ad agency experience like Man Men's? In a way, yes. Just don't ask me about the affairs, the drinking, the sex. TV exaggerates. A little.

ON THE WEB: THE GLORY DAYS OF SHIPS AND TRAINS

I've just discovered a Web site about cruise ships and ocean liners of the past which also has, buried in its content, some wonderful tales and photos of streamlined rail transit during its glory days. It's called "Cruising the Past, the Award Winning Cruise Ship, Ocean Liner, Travel and Social History Website." The only problem is that the home page doesn't offer links to its non-cruise ship pages, but more about that in a moment.

While glancing at the photos of classic ships in the golden age of ocean liners I was immediately drawn to the publicity photo seen above. It features Canadian Pacific’s S.S. Princess Marguerite steaming from Victoria, BC, to Vancouver and what captivated me is that I once sailed on that very ship. It was in the late 1950s and I was working as a news announcer in Victoria's CJVI radio station. I needed to spend a couple of days in Vancouver and the only way to get there was via the Princess Marguerite, which offered first class overnight accommodations on the downtown-to-downtown service.

Unfortunately I couldn't afford the price of a stateroom but early in the voyage I met a young lady who was attracted to me, as I was to her. It didn't take long to establish a romantic relationship, for this was one of those love-at-first-sight happenings. Okay, okay, maybe it was lust-at-first-sight but, heck, we were young and eager. Part way into the evening we agreed that a stateroom would be a more comfortable place to cuddle than our bench on the deck and we agreed to share the cost.

Sorry to disappoint you, folks, if you were looking for a sexy end to this tale, but when we pooled our resources we lacked sufficient funds. And so we spent the rest of the night on deck.

The Princess and her sister ships provided service between Vancouver, Victoria and Seattle. They were the finest coastal liners on the Pacific coast, breaking all intercity speed records between Vancouver, Victoria, and Seattle and established an enduring reputation for elegance and beauty.

 

As mentioned, the site also includes fascinating articles and photos about classic streamlined trains and other forms of transit but you won't get to them from the home page. I found this story of the Santa Fe Super Chief by Googling the artist's name. Leland Knickerbocker was a General Motors artist (GM built the diesel engines) and the Super Chief's classic “Warbonnet” livery is arguably the most beautiful paint scheme ever to be applied to a passenger train. It was often referred to as "the Train of the Stars."

The Super Chief was legendary, not only for cutting 15 hours off the Chicago-Los Angeles run, but also for its beautiful exterior and Navajo-inspired interiors. It's maiden voyage began at Chicago's Dearborn Street Station at 7:18 PM on May 18, 1937. Thirty-nine-and-three-quarter hours later it arrived in Los Angeles. Passengers usually included Hollywood stars, corporate big shots, and politicians, willing to pay extra for fine food and service. For example, those who wanted fresh trout the second night would place their orders, which would be telegraphed ahead. The fish would be caught the next morning and served that night as the chef's specialty: Colorado Mountain Trout Grillade.

Forty hours on a train, even with a private compartment, may not appeal to today's in-a-hurry business people. But for service like that plus superb scenery at ground level, they'd arrive in a much better mood. Now known as Amtrak's Southwest Chief, it still runs, though without the glorious paint scheme.

 

WHY WE CHOSE A LINCOLN OVER THE WORLD'S MOST EXPENSIVE CAR

I was about to write a blog about the recent sale of a Ferrari GTO for $35 million, reportedly the highest price paid for a car to date. The automotive media has been giving the story extensive coverage as it always does when such vast sums are being exchanged. However I'll pass on this, even though the car was originally built for Sir Stirling Moss, one of my racing heros. Not that I resent the obvious wealth of buyer Craig McCaw but in the world of incredibly expensive collector cars, it often seems that the price paid, not the car, is what matters most.

Instead I'm happy to bring your attention to Old Car Weekly's "Car of the Week," a 1947 Lincoln Convertible. About the only thing it has in common with the GTO is the color: they're both green. One is built for racing, the other for street use. Both are beautiful but for reasons that are difficult to explain I'd rather have the Lincoln. To my eyes it is elegant, gracious, perfectly proportioned, and far more affordable than the Lincoln Continental that attracted so much attention in those days.

Brian Earnest of Old Cars Weekly writes that "the post-war Lincolns had beefier grilles and much bigger bumpers than their pre-war ancestors. For 1947, the push-button door openers were replaced with more traditional handles and Lincoln badging was added to both sides of the hood. Both the Lincolns and Continentals rolled on 125-inch-wheelbase chassis and shared the V-12 engine that had become the brand’s calling card." The 305 c.i. V-12 produced 130 hp. A total of 19,891 base Lincolns were built for ’47, but only 384 of those were ragtops, according to owner Chuck Gilpatrick’s research.

Gilpatrick purchased the car after seeing an ad in a Lincoln magazine. He was one of three buyers in pursuit of the convertible but was first to show up with the cash. It had already been restored, ran perfectly, and needed only minor updates to make it ready for everyday driving. The odometer indicates about 72,000 miles. Gilpatrick says “I go out as often as I can... I just really enjoy driving it in the back country roads at 40-50 mph—and stopping for ice cream."

Not something you'd do in a 1957 Ferrari GTO.

[Photo: Old Cars Weekly]