The Ken Miles / John Von Neumann Porsche-Cooper

Until Sir Jack Brabham won the Times Grand Prix in 1961, the Ken Miles-driven, John Von Neumann-owned Porsche-Cooper was the most successful Cooper on the U.S. West Coast. Even though its career was short, Miles achieved the ultimate grand slam. He won both an under-1,500-cc and over-1,500-cc main event in one day.

The first Cooper sports car to attract much attention in Southern California was an 1,100-cc Climax-engined Bobtail owned and driven by Lance Reventlow. The first time I spotted the car was at the first running of the Pomona Road Races on June 23–24, 1956. On Saturday, Lance acquitted himself well. In the race for modified cars under-1,300-cc, he finished 3rd, only 12 seconds behind two very fast Lotus Mk IXs. On Sunday in the under-1,500-cc main event, he was 9th behind a gaggle of Porsche Spyders and Loti. The reason I mention Lance’s car is that it was noticed by Ken Miles. As a matter of fact, Ken took it around Pomona for a few laps during a practice session.