John Cooper autograph
AUT-JC-1

Known for most of his racing career as a successful privateer rider, John Cooper had to wait until 1971 before securing his 1st major factory contract to ride 750cc BSA-3. He won the Champion Spark Plug Classic at his first attempt, at that time the race was one of the classics equal to the Daytona and Imola 200 races.

Earlier that year, on the 750cc BSA-3, John had scored his second successive victory in Mallory Park’s International Race of the Year, beating Giacomo Agostini on the 500cc MV Agusta. That race has long been acknowledged in British road racing folkloreas arguably the greatest race ever seen on the UK mainland.

He was one of the first riders to patent a crash helmet design, also with his distinctive ‘Moon Eyes’ branding. The idea for the design, incidentally, came in 1963 when the scrutineers found a crack in his existing helmet and condemned it. He bought a new one and painted it red and was going to put his usual ‘Jiminy Cricket’ motif on it but instead spotted the ‘Moon Eyes’ in a local shop. He won first time out with them on and decided to keep them for good luck!

A photo of John Cooper at the 1968 IOM TT races is matted with an original autograph and a small brass plaque.

Size of mount: 297mm x 210mm (A4)

Complete with COA.