Cooper T77 Explained

The Cooper T77 is a 1.5-litre Formula One car entered in the 1965 Formula One World Championship by the Cooper Car Company.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Development

1965 saw Cooper in a state of flux. Cooper's founder Charlie Cooper had died in 1964 and his son John sold the company in April 1965. Designer Owen Maddock had left. The 1.5 litre formula was in its final year and the focus was on the new 3-litre formula. No real development was carried out and so the T77 was not much changed from the previous year's T73.

Racing history

The T77 made its World Championship debut at the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix, where McLaren finished fifth and Rindt failed to qualify. The rest of the season proved to be another disappointment for the team, their best result being McLaren's third place in Belgium, and Rindt's fourth place in Germany. McLaren finished ninth in the World Championship with 10 points and Rindt finished thirteenth with 4 points. In the Constructors' Championship, Cooper finished fifth.

This was McLaren's final year with Cooper. He left to form his own team. Jochen Rindt remained, driving the new T81, initially teamed with Richie Ginther, and then by John Surtees following his acrimonious departure from Ferrari.

Rindt's car was sold on and fitted with an ATS 2.7 litre V8 engine. Jo Bonnier practiced it at the 1966 French Grand Prix but found it too slow. Silvio Moser then drove it in the British Grand Prix. Starting twentieth, he did not finish the race because of an oil pressure problem.

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	Constructor	WCC	Points
	Cooper Car Company	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8			RSA	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA	MEX		Cooper-Climax	5th	14
				Bruce McLaren		5	3	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	Ret
				Jochen Rindt		DNQ	11	Ret	14	Ret	4		6	Ret
	Anglo-Suisse Racing Team	ATS 2.7 V8			MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	ITA	USA	MEX			Cooper-ATS	NC	0
				Jo Bonnier			PO
	Charles Vögele	ATS 2.7 V8			RSA	MON	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	CAN	ITA	USA	MEX	Cooper-ATS	NC	0
				Silvio Moser						Ret

Formula One Non-Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

	Cooper Car Company	Climax FWMV 1.5 V8			ROC	SYR	SMT	INT	MED	RAN
				Bruce McLaren	5		4	6
				Jochen Rindt	7		Ret	Ret
	Charles Vögele	ATS 2.7 V8			ROC	SPC	INT	SYR	OUL	ESP
				Silvio Moser				Ret

Notes and References

1. Web site: Cooper T77 car-by-car histories .
2. Web site: Cooper T77 • STATS F1 .
3. Book: 1 1/2-litre Grand Prix Racing: Low Power, High Tech . 9781845840167 . Whitelock . Mark . 10 August 2006 .