HAIGH BRINGS COOPER T72 BACK TO UK TRACKS AFTER 57 YEARS
Former Austin Healey Sprite racer Nigel Haigh will join the Historic Formula 3 grid this season in a Cooper T72 that last raced in the UK in 1967.
Haigh acquired the BMC-engined car a year ago and set about finishing the restoration. He hopes to have it ready to run at Mallory Park later this month and will then join the Historic F3 grid.
The car was originally raced in the UK when new in 1964 before being exported to Canada in 1967, where it raced in several different categories and was eventually fitted with a Mazda rotary engine for use in Formula Libre. After a serious accident it spent many years in storage until it was found and brought back to the UK in 2001 by Richard Neale of the Cooper Car Club.
Neale started to piece the car back together and it was later purchased by Richard Hurst who continued the work with help from John Waggitt. However, the project was abandoned in 2013 and it stood unfinished for another decade. Now Haigh has brought the car back into race-ready specification.
Haigh explained how he found the car: “On a work call I bumped into Richard Hurst who told me he had a part restored Cooper for sale and did I know anyone who might be interested? I thought he meant a Mini Cooper. But when he opened the garage door I couldn’t believe my eyes. I’d had a secret desire to have a T72 ever reading since reading Jackie Stewart’s book and without warning, there it was!”
Haigh says that help, particularly from Tim Harrison and Andrew Tart, has enabled him to complete the project and without their support the car would not be ready in time for the start of this season.