1960 Cooper T52-Lancia Formula Junior Monoposto

• Unique specification
• Delivered new to Elaborazione Facetti in Italy
• Raced in period by Enrico Agostini (Cesenatico, Monaco and Monza)
• Recently restored to original specification
• FIA HTP valid until December 2031
• Eligible for Goodwood, Lurani Trophy, Monaco Historics, etc

A unique car, this Cooper T52 was delivered from the factory as a rolling chassis to Elaborazione Facetti, the Facetti family workshop in Bresso near Milan, for wealthy young driver Enrico Agostini. Agostini was an experienced racer, having won the Italian Hill Climb Championship (1100cc class) in his Lancia Appia Zagato in 1959.

It is understood that '16/60' was the last T52 constructed by the Cooper factory; 29 cars were built but only the 16 exported examples carried chassis numbers. The car was delivered engine-less but otherwise complete with a Cooper (Citroën ERSA) gearbox (confirmed via email from Giuliano Facetti), into which legendary engineer/racer Carlo Facetti installed an FJ-specification Lancia Appia V4 engine.

Elaborazioni Facetti prepared many Appia competition engines, and for 1960 Carlo had built his own successful Facetti-Lancia FJ with a FIAT 600 gearbox and powerful Appia engine, a specification he used on other Lancia-engined cars including the Agostini Cooper (see photographs and Orsini extract, p.143, p156).

Agostini is known to have raced the car at Cesenatico in April 1961 at the XI Circuit del Garda (finished 8th); the Monaco FJ race in May 1961 (entered by Milan-based and F1 entrant Scuderia Sant'Ambroeus as the 'Cooper-Lancia-Facetti'); and at Monza in June 1961. For the 1961 Monaco heats (placed 8th) and final (DNF), it appears the Agostini Cooper ran with the engine from Facetti's own car.

Little is known of this car's history after 1961 but it resurfaced in the 1980s in the hands of Rodney Tolhurst running a fairly standard Appia engine and Renault gearbox. After going to the USA for a number of years, where it ran with a BMC engine and Hewland gearbox, it returned in the UK and was raced with the non-compliant BMC/Hewland combination until no longer eligible for FJ races in that form.
The car is now back in its original specification for the first time since the early 1960s, following a five-year restoration which included sourcing the correct 1950s Lancia Appia eight-port engine (used by commercial Appia vehicles) and Cooper-ERSA gearbox. The restoration was carried out with the direct assistance and verification of Carlo Facetti.

The chassis and running gear (other than engine) were restored by FJ specialists MRM Racing at Salford, Surrey and the engine rebuilt to race specifications by Setford & Company, one of the UK's most respected and experienced restorers and preparers of pre- and post-war historic racing cars.

The car has been a Goodwood Revival invitee on two occasions and is a likely entry to Goodwood, Lurani Trophy, Monaco Historics and other events. The new class for rear-engined Lancia and FIAT-powered cars now make it a potential overall winner of the UK Formula Junior Championship. It has a current FIA Historical Technical Passport (valid until December 2031) and, other than general testing, is fresh from restoration.