The Cooper T45 was an open-wheel formula racing car, developed and built by the Cooper Car Company in 1958, and designed by Owen Maddock. It competed in Formula 2 racing as well as in Formula One racing, where it won one World Championship Grand Prix, the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, being driven by Maurice Trintignant.
Development history and technology The Cooper T45 was the successor to the Cooper T43. The chassis remained almost unchanged, but the wheel suspension was revised. The engine was lowered. Until 1959 the cars had drum brakes, which were then replaced by disc brakes.
Racing history For the Formula 1 version, Climax developed a 2.2-litre engine. Since this engine was exclusively available to the works team, Rob Walker had to resort to the 2-litre engine, which had less power. In 1958, Frenchman Maurice Trintignant surprisingly won the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix with the Walker 2-litre T45. However, the car lacked power on the fast stretches. Especially against the competition from Ferrari and Vanwall, the Coopers had no chance. Works driver Roy Salvadori was third at Silverstone and second at the Nürburgring and fourth overall in the Drivers' Championship. Cooper finished third in the Constructor's Championship, which was held for the first time.
Complete Formula One World Championship results (key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points WCC Cooper Car Company Climax FPF L4 ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR 31 3rd Jack Brabham 4 8 Ret 6 6 Ret 6 Ret 11 Roy Salvadori Ret 4 8 11 3 2 9 5 7 Ian Burgess Ret Jack Fairman 8 R.R.C. Walker Racing Team Maurice Trintignant 1 9 3 Ret Ret High Efficiency Motors Maserati L4 MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA 0- Roy Salvadori 6 Ret Ret Jack Fairman Ret Climax FPF L4 Ret 401st Jean Lucienbonnet Jean Lucienbonnet DNQ Equipe Alan Brown Mike Taylor Ret Peter Ashdown 12 Gilby Engineering Keith Greene DNQ R.H.H. Parnell Tim Parnell DNQ Equipe Nationale Belge Climax FPF L4 ARG MON 500 NED BEL FRA GBR POR ITA USA 48 (58)1st Lucien Bianchi 6 Arthur Owen Arthur Owen Ret Wolfgang Seidel Wolfgang Seidel 9 Gilby Engineering Maserati L4 Keith Greene Ret 0 - Fred Tuck Cars Climax FPF 1.5 L4 MON NED BEL FRA GBR GER ITA USA 14 (18) 4th Jack Fairman Ret
Formula Two entry. Points also scored by the Cooper T43. All points scored by other Cooper models. Points also scored by other Cooper models.
References