We are delighted to offer this rare 1952 ex-John Barber, ex-Sir Clive Edwards Cooper Bristol T20 Sports Car for sale on behalf of its long-term owner.
John Barber was racing an F3 Cooper-JAP 500 at the start of 1952 before buying T20 CB/7/52 in F2 spec and racing it for the first at the beginning of August at Boreham. He then brought it north to Scotland, to Turnberry in South Ayrshire, for the 1st Scottish National Trophy. The race attracted a fairly good entry among which Hawthorn, Moss, Villoressi, Gaze and a few others. Barber took part in the Libre race which allowed in the F1 cars, but retired, but finished 2nd in the F2 "Grand Prix", so called because F2 was the GP class for the world championship. These races were the closest thing Scotland has ever had to a Scottish GP. Barber then finished 8th at Goodwood before bringing the car back up to Scotland and racing it at Charterhall at the end of the season, where he crashed it pretty heavily.
Barber rebuilt the car over the winter as the Golding-Cooper with Disco Volante bodywork and road registration “NXH586” (which is still with the car today!), radiator slung under the nose, and left-hand drive. It was based on a concept that Cooper had been considering for a Mille Miglia effort, but which never happened. Barber finished 4th with the "flying saucer" at Snetterton in May '53. He then took the car to the Douglas circuit in the Isle of Man for the British Empire Trophy after which he did another race at Snetterton finishing 3rd, but the car failed to start it's last race as a "Disco Volante" at Silverstone.
At the end of 1953, the car then passed through the hands of "MacKenzie-Lowe" who sent the car back to the Cooper works who sent it to Peel Coachworks. They took off the loose hanging and flimsy Disco Volante bodywork and replaced it with the DB3S style body it wears today !
CB/7/52 was then sold to Sir Clive Edwards who used it extensively in hillclimbs and sprints from 1955 to 1960. Sir Edwards sold the car to Alistair McClelland, a garage owner who club raced and sprinted the car for a couple of seasons until he sold it in 1963 to former RAC/MSA CEO John Quenby, then still only 21. Quenby raced the car for a year and a half and then sold it to a unknown stockbroker from Dulwich when Quenby went to Australia to work for a while. The car then went to a succession of owners, some of which raced CB/7/52 in VSCC Historic races until it was bought again by John Quenby in 1997 who started a complete restoration of the car including its 2-litre 6 cylinder Bristol Type 100B engine. This took several years and – when completed - Quenby sold his favourit Cooper T20 Sports Car in 2006 to its current owner, a well known Dutch collector and historic racer who has campaigned CB/7/52 successfully on the historic racing scene including multiple appearances at the Goodwood Revival.
The car – still with its 1953 Road Registration NXH586 – is sold in race-ready condition, comes with an extensive history file and a 2016 FIA HTP (valid until 2026). As one of only nine Cooper Sports cars built and the only one with a gorgeous “DB3S-like” body, CB/7/52 is a welcome and competitive entry in all the prestigious 50ies sports car races such as Woodcote Trophy, Goodwood Revival, etc.. while it is also eligible for the Mille Miglia !  Ownership History
52: John D Barber, Billingsgate, London, UKCooper-Bristol T20 Mk1Formula 2 single-seater specrebodied as Golding-Cooper sports car with “Disco Volante” style body by Golding-Lucas Barwell Engineeringleft-hand driveroad plate GB: NXH 58653: MacKenzie-Lowe, UK54: Cooper Car Company, Surbiton, Surrey, UKrebodied with “DB3S” style body by Robert Peel Coachworksfor trade and resale onlynot raced by factory55: Sir J Clive Leighton Edwards Bt, Bicester, Northamptonshire, UKpurchased less enginehill climbed and sprinted 1955 to 196060: Alistair MacLellan, Foster St, Bedford, UKgarage owner63: John R Quenby, Bedford, UKpurchased when only 21 years oldraced64: Stockbroker, Dulwich66: Bill Wilks, UKVSCC historic racer67: John Bateson & Tony Stathamtraders70: Frank Rout97: John R Quenby, Bedford, UKRAC/MSA Chief Executive (1990-2001)second term of ownershipfull restoration01/03/06: current ownerraced for the last 10+ years on the historic racing scene
Race History
John D Barber - T20 Formula 2 - Bristol 2000cc 6C
02/08/52: International Trophy, Boreham #12 J.Barber Rtd 15 laps
23/08/52: National Trophy, Turnberry - F1/Libre #41 J.Barber Rtd 6 laps
23/08/52: National Trophy, Turnberry - F2 #41 J.Barber 2nd 15 laps
27/09/52: Madgwick Cup, Goodwood #23 J.Barber 8th 7 laps
11/10/52: International Trophy, Charterhall #34 J.Barber Rtd accident
Golding - Cooper “Disco Volante”
30/05/53: Snetterton, National - 2.0 Handicap #40 J.Barber 4th 5 laps
18/06/53: British Empire Trophy, Isle of Man #31 J.Barber Rtd 1 lap
11/07/53: Snetterton, National - Libre - J.Barber Rtd -
11/07/53: Snetterton, National - 2.5 Sports - J.Barber 3rd 5 laps
18/07/53: RAC International, Silverstone #24 J.Barber DNS did not start
Sir Clive Edwards Bt - Cooper-Bristol Mk1 Sport
00/00/55: Prescott, National Hillclimb #23 C.Edwards - -
00/00/55: Prescott, National Hillclimb #50 C.Edwards - -
00/05/55: Prescott, National Hillclimb #26 C.Edwards - -
19/06/55: Shelsley Walsh, National Hillclimb #72 C.Edwards 2nd in class 48.99s
25/08/56: Shelsley Walsh, National Hillclimb #75 C.Edwards - -
01/09/56: Brighton Speed Trials, National Sprint #49 C.Edwards - -
05/05/57: Prescott, National Open Hillclimb #40 C.Edwards - 49.48s
07/06/58: Shelsley Walsh, National Hillclimb #57 C.Edwards - 49.42s
14/09/58: Prescott, Bugatti OC Hillclimb #21 C.Edwards - -
John Quenby - Cooper-Bristol Mk1 Sport
00/00/63: Mallory Park, England #23 J.Quenby - raced
00/00/63: Silverstone, England #38 J.Quenby 1st -
25/08/63: Snetterton, Club Trophy #165 J.Quenby - reserve