The Cooper T87 is a special purpose-built

open-wheel An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

race car Race, RACE or The Race may refer to: * Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species * Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...

, originally built by British manufacturer

Cooper Cars The Cooper Car Company was a British car manufacturer founded in December 1947 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles's small gara ...

, that was designed and developed by British racing driver and engineer

Martin Brain Martin Richard Brain (22 December 1932, Birmingham – , Silverstone) was a British racing driver known for his exploits in British hillclimbs and club racing. Brain was a familiar figure within the hillclimbing community both as driver and mecha ...

, specifically for both hillclimb racing and

Formula Libre Formula Libre, also known as Formule Libre, is a form of automobile racing allowing a wide variety of types, ages and makes of purpose-built racing cars to compete "head to head". This can make for some interesting matchups, and provides the oppo ...

competitions, in 1967. The car itself was based around a

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009 to 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned aga ...

chassis, and was equipped with a

naturally aspirated A naturally aspirated engine, also known as a normally aspirated engine, and abbreviated to N/A or NA, is an internal combustion engine in which air intake depends solely on atmospheric pressure and does not have forced induction through a turboc ...

Daimler SP 250, usually found in a

Daimler 250 The Daimler 2.5 V8/V8-250 is a four-door Sedan (car), saloon which was produced by Daimler Company, The Daimler Company Limited in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1969. It was the first Daimler car to be based on a Jaguar platform, the first wi ...

, which produced . It competed in a number of races and events, before it was sold to Clive Oakley, who continued to use it in its original guise for a while, before later fitting it with a

Rover V8 The Rover V8 engine is a compact OHV V8 internal combustion engine with aluminium cylinder block and cylinder heads, designed and produced by Rover in the United Kingdom, based on a General Motors engine. It has been used in a wide range of v ...

. Brain had previously fitted a Chrysler V8 engine to a

Cooper T81 The Cooper T81 is a Formula One car produced by the Cooper Car Company for the 1966 Formula One season. It represented something of a comeback for Cooper's fortunes, winning two races and enabling Cooper to finish third in the Constructors' Ch ...

Formula One car A Formula One car or F1 car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel racing car, open-wheel formula racing car used to compete in Formula One racing events. It has substantial front and rear wings, large wheels, and a turbocharged engine mid ...

chassis.

References

{{Cooper Car Company Open wheel racing cars Cooper racing cars