Former racing driver and race-school owner Jim Russell was reunited with his 1958 F2 Cooper at the Silverstone Classic weekend in July. Aussie racer Scotty Taylor bought the chassis of the car last October. Taylor commented, “The history of the car, since Jim had it, is that it went from the UK to South Africa, and stayed there unmolested for some 35 years. It came to Sydney six years ago and I got it last October. I must have been out of magazines and, coincidentally, bought a copy of Vintage Racecar, which had an interview with Jim. I emailed VRJ, got his details, and was right-gripped when he rang me on my mobile phone. He told me the body was finished in hand-polished aluminum with a British racing green stripe. We had to build a new body, and decided to put it back in Jim’s colors.”
A beaming Jim Russell said, “It’s just as I had it, although the pedals are shorter to accommodate Scotty. I had some good results with the car winning the British Empire Trophy from Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori. I won the Grand Prix of Berlin, the Daily Express International race, and held the lap record here at Silverstone for about nine years.”
By Mike Jiggle
