by Ross Finlay (08 Dec 99)

George Cooper's Cooper-MG is a car with quite a pedigree. He's no relation of the builders, but this is the 1950 prototype, based on an extended version of the Mark IV chassis used for the JAP-twin single-seaters. It is one of the most charming little cars of its period, and it has competed at both the historic race meetings, in 1998 and 1999, at its old Goodwood stamping ground.

Stirling Moss gave it its debut race there in June 1950. The 1250cc engine was off-colour and he finished fifth. But it was running better later in the day, when John Cooper won a handicap.

John Bolster road-tested it for Autosport, and was impressed. Ken Wharton hillclimbed it, and also drove it in the 1000-mile Daily Express Rally. For part of the 1000 miles, anyway, because the car ended up stuffed through a hedge.

It was sold to the Reece cousins of Liverpool, and continued its varied competition career before passing to Frank Dundas, who used it, now with a 1350cc XPAG engine, mostly in rallies. He did better than Ken Wharton by winning his class in a later Daily Express Rally. That was quite a performance for a cramped sports-racer with absolutely minimal weather protection.

The Cooper-MG drifted through various ownerships, at one time going in a straight swap for a Jaguar XK120. It then disappeared until 1990, when George Cooper heard of it, stored away in poor condition with no engine or gearbox, and a proprietary Falcon glass-fibre body.

He bought the remains, commissioned a replica body to the correct style - and then heard that the original body was in a barn near Carlisle. He got it for £50.

Within a year, George had the car ready to go. But the MG International meeting at Silverstone was not a great success. A cooking engine and the wrong suspension set-up didn't help, although he did go home with an award from the high-speed trial.

Matters soon improved, and Ian Bogie, who had been Frank Dundas's navigator, helped a lot. The Wolseley-sourced engine George had begun by using was replaced with a proper MG XPAG unit. The Cooper-MG began to pick up pace, mixing it with Le Mans Replica Frazer Nashes, and winning awards in the 1500cc class where it belongs, though even there giving away a chunk of engine capacity.

George has also driven it in historic events at Oulton Park, Dundrod, Ingliston and Knockhill, as well as abroad at Spa and Montlhéry - where "the car ran fine, but the circuit knocked seven bells out of it" - and in a 150-miler at the Nürburgring. His co-driver there was his wife Carol, whose usual race car is a J2 MG.

The car has hillclimbed at the likes of Loton Park, Doune, Fintray and Lerghy Frissel on the Isle of Man. There have been Manx sprints too, and another at Alford. One disappointment was that George couldn't get an entry at Prescott, although John Cooper had climbed the car there in 1950. There was compensation, though, at the 1998 Goodwood meeting. As well as taking part in one of the greatest historic motor racing events of the decade, George met up with John Cooper himself, still enthusiastic about a car he'd built long before his company's Grand Prix days.

And there were more ex-Cooper Car Company folk at Goodwood to reminisce about the Cooper-MG. In this overwhelmingly nostalgic atmosphere, it's not surprising George admitted to "tears in the eyes".

The emotion doesn't get in the way of the driving, though. George and the Cooper-MG have just won the pre-1955 class, for the third time, in their local historic racing championship. Not bad for an ensemble whose combined ages come to 114.

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