Cooper twins and twin rears

Sir,

I greatly enjoyed your interesting feature on Shelsley Walsh. I vividly remember Raymond Mays giving what was termed a ‘demonstration run’ in ERA R4D at the June ’54 meeting. It was some demonstration! He shot up the hill dressed in blazer and flannels and without any headgear, just sunglasses.

It was especially pleasing to see you featured a Cooper. They dominated hillclimbs in the 1950s and it’s regrettable that so few are currently campaigned. Dick Henderson was one of the most skilled drivers of these Cooper ‘twins’ – in the wet, especially. As your article made clear, his car was originally constructed for Bertie Bradnack (the largest driver surely ever to be shoe-horned into the Cooper’s confined spaces). It was one of the few Coopers to be supercharged and the only one ever to sport twin rear wheels.