NEWS

STEWART BROTHERS’ RACING CARS TO APPEAR SIDE BY SIDE AT BONHAMS DECEMBER SALE

Wednesday 20 November 2013

Racing Cars driven by Britain's most famous motor racing brothers, Jimmy and Jackie Stewart, will be auctioned by Bonhams. 
The 1952 Jaguar C-Type sports racing roadster and the 1960 Cooper Monaco sports racing prototype form part of the Dick Skipworth Collection of Ecurie Ecosse motor cars.
The C-Type is one of just 54 built and estimated to realise £2,000,000 - 3,000,000 when offered by auction at the Bonhams London Sale on 1 December 2013.
Raced by the elder of the two brothers, Jimmy Stewart, the C-Type was bought brand-new by Glasgow motor trader Bob Sanderson as one of the three C-Types to be raced by his son Ninian, and his Scottish team-mates – including Jimmy Stewart – in 1953.
It was during the 1953 campaign that Jimmy Stewart took to the wheel of the car - known as ‘042’ after its chassis number - where he came third at Charterhall and a magnificent sixth at the daunting Nurburgring. After Jimmy’s death in 2008, Sir Jackie Stewart also drove 042 in homage to his late brother, whom he credited with nurturing his interest in the sport during his “dark” days at school where he suffered from dyslexia.
In Jackie’s autobiography he said: “What do I owe Jim? I owe him almost everything... It was almost as if Jim was beckoning me to join him on a magic carpet ride, carrying me out of the wilderness at school into the exciting, glamorous, colourful world of motor racing.”
Meanwhile, another car in the Dick Skipworth Collection of Ecurie Ecosse motor cars saw the younger of the two brothers, Jackie Stewart, first noticed on the track.
The 1960 Cooper Monaco sports racing prototype carries a pre-sale estimate of £200,000 - 300,000.
This highly competitive race car was entered in the 1960 Le Mans 24-Hour endurance race by David Murray’s Ecurie Ecosse team and was their first rear-engined car.
Fitted with a 2.5-litre Coventry Climax FPF twin-cam, four-cylinder engine, it made its racing debut on 28 May 1960 at Charterhall aerodrome, driven by Tommy Dickson – and immediately won two races.
With a colourful racing history with the team on both sides of the Atlantic, the car was shipped back to Scotland in 1963 by David Murray, who entrusted it to Jackie Stewart – then a relative newcomer – who unbelievably won his first six races in a row using the Cooper Monaco.
It was from his success in the Cooper Monaco that Jackie Stewart was signed up to the 1964 1-litre Formula 3 racing team owned by Ken Tyrrell and John Cooper called Formula Junior, which launched his career as a full-time professional racer. One of Britain’s most respected and quickest drivers, he would later become three-time Formula 1 World Champion driver and knighted for his services to motor racing and charitable causes.
The C-Type and Cooper Monaco will be offered to auction on Sunday 1 December 2013 at Bonhams’ New Bond Street headquarters in London. For further information on the Bonhams 1 December sale please click here
Bonhams_Ecurie_Ecosse_Jaguars