Images via William i’Anson
This absolutely gorgeous 1959 Cooper T49 ‘Monaco’ is a vision of ’50s sportscar racing magnificence. Commissioned by Sir Stirling Moss in 1959, it has wins with both Moss and Australian Bib Stillwell on its resume and is up for sale at William i’Anson.
The car, Chassis No. 20, was commissioned in 1959 by Sir Stirling Moss and prepared and entered by Keele Engineering. It was sold as a chassis, to which a 2.5-litre Coventry Climax FPF was fitted and mated to a 5-speed Cooper CS5 gearbox. Coil sprung rear suspension developed by Alf Francis for Moss’ grand prix car was fitted to the rear of the car.
Moss and #20 qualified on the front row for the 1959 British Grand Prix sports car race at Aintree. In the race, Moss stalled on the grid and was rear-ended by another driver, which bump-started the engine and got him going again until an oil pipe burst and forced him out of the race.
The car then went to Scandinavia and Moss picked up wins at Karlskoga and the Soskilde Ring. When he got home, Moss began racing a Lotus 19, removing the engine and gearbox from the Monaco and putting it to rest. Australian Bib Stillwell found out about the car, bought it from Moss and shipped it to Australia. Having bought the car without the engine and box, he fitted a 2.5-litre Coventry Climax from one of his single-seater Coopers.
Stillwell debuted in the car at Warwick Farm in 1961. He won the Australian TT in 1961 and ’62, won the ’62 South Pacific Sports Car Championship and won the Victorian Sports Car Championship in ’62 and ’63.
In 1963 the car was fitted with a 2.7-litre Climax motor and did a 160 mile an hour flying quarter mile at Longford. 1964 saw the motor upgraded again, when Stillwell’s mechanic Gerry Brown got his hands on a Chuck Daigh Buick V8 from a Scarab brought into Australia.
Stillwell sold the car late in 1965 to Dick Thurston, who fitted an Oldsmobile motor to it, racing at Calder and the Australian TT. Thurston sold the Monaco on to Tony Osbourne, who drove it at Calder in 1966 painted in red with a silver stripe and nose. Osbourne also drove it in the Surfers 12-Hour race with co-driver Murray Carter.
The car passed through several people’s hands at this point, landing with Pat McLernon in 1971. McLernon commissioned a new body for it that was made by Ted Proctor in Sydney, and the car was fitted with a 302 Ford V8.
The ’70s and ’80s saw it moving around again, before settling with Paul Moxham in 1987, who began restoring it to its original specification. He sourced a 2.5-litre Climax FPF and had an aluminium body built by Wall Hadley. Chassis No. 20 was sold to Frank Sytner and John Coombs in 2000, with Sytner soon taking full ownership and returning it to the United Kingdom.
Sytner gave it to Simon Hadfield Motorsport to restore back to its original Sir Stirling Moss coil sprung spec. With the help of a former Keele Engineering foreman, period photographs and study of the Alf Francis modification to the T51 Grand Prix car, the rear end was restored to its 1959 specification.
Sytner then returned it to the track, racing with Simon Hadfield and amassing an exceptional collection of race wins and podiums. In 2010 it was fitted with a Crosthwaite and Gardiner 2-litre Climax FPF, making its way to its current owner in 2011.
The Monaco will be sold with current FIA papers and an extensive history file including period and current photographs and invoices. It’s competitive, stunning and has an enviable record, and is up for sale at William i’Anson. See their official website for the full details here.
Images via William i’Anson
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