Extremely Rare Sir Jack Brabham autograhed 1:43 Auto Story Cooper T-51 / 1959 WC

Description: This is one of the rarest offerings I've ever done on Ebay and those of you that follow me know I've offered some very rare items. This 1:43rd scale model was produced by Brumm of Germany. I think I've had it for at least 15 years, perhaps longer. It was released in their "Auto Story" line with the model having a full replica road, curbing and bricks in the scene- in other words telling a story. Sir Jack Brabham's rear-engined Cooper T-51 is rounding a bend on the track. The car # is 24. The race is the 1959 Monaco Grand Prix and the scene is taking place at the Lowe's Hairpin. I sent this model all the way to Australia, at considerable expense both to and from there, and had Sir Jack autograph it on the top of the acrylic case. Sir Jack passed away just a few years later in 2014, but not before also signing his memoirs for me. Jack signed this with a black Sharpie pen; it's a real clear, crisp signature. The signature is a tad shaky which is to be expected since he was in his late 80's when he signed it. Sir Jack Brabham signatures are rare and much more so on any model; you just don't see his signature on anything but pictures or postcards. Sir Jack Brabham won the Formula 1 World Driving Championship for the English team Cooper (John Cooper's team) in 1959 and repeated as champion in 1960. This revolutionary car spelled the doom of the front-engined F-1 car. By the mid-1960's Cooper was lacking in development and were mid-field runners. By then Jack had left them; he went on to build his own cars with Jack winning the F-1 championship in a car of his own make in 1966 with an Australian Repco engine in the back. His team won the championship again in 1967 with Denis Hulme driving. If not for a rather stupid issue, easily corrected if properly diagnosed, Brabham would have won the 1970 World Championship in his Brabham- his last season in F-1. His car kept breaking down in mid-season for an easily fixed issue. He started the season off with a win in the South African GP. He threw away a win at Monaco on the last turn of the last lap (it's on YouTube) and lost the British GP while comfortably leading when he ran out of fuel (on YouTube). The fuel mixture switch had not been turned off its rich setting after warm-ups on the grid before the race, thus the car ate up fuel more quickly. In both cases Jochen Rindt's Lotus won the race when Jack faltered- with Jochen winning the title posthumously. He's one of the few drivers that won races throughout his career, from beginning all the way to the end. I mention this because Jack Brabham could've / should've won 4 F-1 championships; he's truly one of the GREATEST F-1 drivers ever. This 1:43 scale model will take up very little room on your shelve as the base itself is not very wide from top to bottom. It's about 5 inches long by 2 inches wide and two inches tall. This is the only Sir Jack Brabham autographed 1/43 scale model I have!

Price: 159.8 USD

Location: Bedford, Virginia

End Time: 2024-12-26T19:00:37.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD