John A. Cooper

John Arthur Cooper was born on the 27th November 1916 in Leicester. He was apprenticed to the Alvis company and became interested in motor sport. He began as a marshal at Donington and later became a scrutineer and was involved with various racing car designs. In 1949, he took over from Sammy Davis as sports editor of the Autocar.

John with Jenks

While researching for an article he met Ray Martin at at the London Jazz Club. John introduced Stirling Moss to Ray, which lead to the design of the new Kieft CK 51 for Moss. He later collaborated with Moss and Martin, again with the design of the Formula 2 Cooper Alta.

Sadly, John lost his life in a road car accident in March 1955.

John with SCH "Sammy" Davis and Spike Rhiando