Australian Gold Star 1959
Len Lukey secured the 1959 title after a season-long battle with Alec Mildren, both driving examples of the 1958 Cooper Mk III 'T45'. Just as quick was Stan Jones but his Maserati 250F retired too often and the Maybach was no longer quick enough. Bill Patterson won two races in his new 1959 Cooper MkIV 'T51' and Bib Stillwell was highly competitive in two late-season outings in a similar car.
Once the Internationals were over and the the local drivers were able to take delivery of their new Coopers, a Cooper-Climax FPF won every remaining race of the season. Cooper's dominance of the Gold Star would last all the way to 1963 and the Climax FPF engine would maintain its grip right through to 1967.
The races
26 Jan 1959 > South Pacific Championship at Orange
22 Feb 1959 > Victorian Trophy at Fishermen's Bend
02 Mar 1959 > Australian Grand Prix at Longford
28 Mar 1959 > South Australia Trophy at Port Wakefield
30 Mar 1959 > Bathurst 100
14 Jun 1959 > Lowood Trophy
30 Aug 1959 > Queensland Road Race Championship at Lowood
04 Oct 1959 > NSW Road Race Championship at Bathurst
11 Oct 1959 > Victorian Road Race Championship at Fishermen's Bend
12 Oct 1959 > Advertiser Trophy at Port Wakefield
24 Oct 1959 > Caversham Gold Star
22 Nov 1959 > Western Port Cup at Phillip Island
13 Dec 1959 > Phillip Island Gold Star
Australian Gold Star events shown in bold
1959 Australian Gold Star table
| 1 | Len Lukey | 2.2 Lukey-Bristol (Cooper 'T23') 2.0 Cooper Mk III 'T45'-Climax | 68 pts | 2 wins |
| 2 | Alec Mildren | 1.7/2.0 Cooper Mk II 'T43'-Climax 2.0 Cooper Mk III 'T45'-Climax | 66 pts | 2 wins |
| 3 | Stan Jones | 2.5 Maserati 250F 4.6 Maybach 3-Chevrolet Corvette 2.2 Cooper Mk IV 'T51'-Climax 1.5 Sabakat-Climax | 44 pts | 2 wins |
| 4 | Bill Patterson | 2.4 Cooper Mk IV 'T51'-Climax | 36 pts | 2 wins |
| 5 | Arnold Glass | 3.4 Ferrari 555 2.5 Maserati 250F | 23 pts |
The other three races were won by Jack Brabham (Cooper T45 at the South Pacific Championship on 26 Jan 1959), Ross Jensen (Maserati 250F at the Bathurst 100 on 30 Mar 1959) and Bib Stillwell (Cooper T51 at the NSW Road Race Championship on 4 Oct 1959). Lukey also won the Victorian Road Race Championship at Fishermen's Bend on 11 Oct 1959 which did not count towards the Gold Star.
The points table here is from Jim Shepherd's "A History of Australian Motor Sport" and broadly matches the table calculated by David Shaw. The points system used was 12-7-5-3-2-1 with only Australian Licence holders being eligible for points. Jack Brabham, although Australian, did not have an Australian licence so second-placed Doug Whiteford took maximum Gold Star points at the South Pacific Championship and Len Lukey took the 12 points at the bathurst 100 despite finishing second to New Zealander Ross Jensen.