The first mid-engine car in the history of Formula 1 was put up for sale (31 photos)

Auction house RM Sotheby’s has put up for sale a 1955 Cooper-Bristol T40 sports car. The car, as the sellers stated, is notable for several reasons: it was the debut car of the future three-time Formula 1 champion Jack Brabham and, in fact, the first active Royal Race car with an engine layout behind the driver’s seat. Finally, the car is fully operational. The final price tag for the rarity is 350 thousand euros.





The Cooper Cars company of Charles and John Cooper is known not only for its participation in the creation of the iconic Mini, but also for a number of successful track cars. It is generally accepted that it was its chassis that made the mid-engine revolution in Formula 1 in the second half of the 1950s, when sports cars of this layout first won individual races, and in 1959, the world championship. This was the first title for Jack Brabham, who would later become famous as the creator of the team of the same name and a car of his own design.

Jack's debut in the Royal Races took place in 1955. Brabham took a risk and competed in the British Grand Prix in a Cooper T40 sports car with a number of modifications that engineers made at the insistence of the athlete and a 2-liter Bristol engine behind the driver's seat. This race cannot be called successful: the driver qualified as one of the last, spent most of the race in the back and eventually dropped out of the race for technical reasons.

The British Grand Prix was the car's only F1 race on the calendar, although Brabham raced it in lower-profile events, including Australia. He sold the car in 1956, which was then owned by a number of prominent collectors before being restored in 2023. Auctioneers believe the Cooper-Bristol T40 is of great interest to collectors as an integral part of modern motorsport history.