Elfin MR9 history
John Bowe raced Garrie Coopers Elfin MR9 at the Sandown Park Gold Star race in February 1981. Copyright oldracephotos.com/Neil Hammond 2012. Used with permission.
Garrie Cooper designed the F5000 Elfin MR9 for the 1980 season. It was an orthodox ground-effect car for the period, but without the benefit of wind-tunnel testing, it proved ineffective.
Formula 5000 was almost dead by 1980, its only life support system being CAMS continuing prevarication over the inevitable move to Formula Pacific. Elfin designer Garrie Cooper had bern thinking about a ground-effect F5000 Elfin since 1978, when the Lotus 79s were dominating F1, but the project was delayed by his accident and then by CAMS' decision to ban skirts. The new Elfin MR9 was finally ready in time for the Australian Grand Prix at Calder in November 1980, where F1 cars had been invited to race against the F5000s and F1 star Didier Pironi had been lined up to drive the new Elfin. When he realised it was untested, he turned down the drive and Peter Middleton's Elfin MR8 was prepared for him instead. After development problems, Cooper was unable to set a practice time and started from the back of the grid. He got the new car to the finish, but ten laps behind.
The Elfin MR9 was raced by John Bowe and by Cooper in the Australian Gold Star in 1981 and 1982, but never demonstrated any superiority over Formula 5000 cars from the mid-1970s. As Cooper would admit, he had underestimated the downforce that would be generated, and the car experienced problems with its chassis and suspension. In April 1982, Garrie Cooper was preparing the MR9 at his workshop for one more race when he was taken ill, and died the following day after an operation on his heart. He was only 46.
If you can add to our understanding of this car, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
New for the Australian Grand Prix in November 1980, where Didier Pironi was due to drive it for Ansett Team Elfin, but withdrew as the car was untested. Raced by Garrie Cooper at the GP. Taken to the opening Australian Gold Star race in February 1981 for Cooper to drive, but taken over by John Bowe for the race after Cooper was "spooked" by its behavior. Then raced by Cooper in a non-championship race at Adelaide in May. After the Gold Star series moved to Formula Pacific rules, Cooper raced the MR9 in the ARCO Graphite F5000 series in the 1981/82 season. After Cooper's death in April 1982, the car was not raced again. It was retained by Lorraine Cooper and displayed for some time in the National Motor Museum at Birdwood South Australia. In 2003, it was sold to a private collector in Sydney, NSW, and it was next seen on display for the opening of the Elfin Heritage Centre in Moorabbin, Melbourne in August 2007. Since then, it has not been seen in public but is believed to remain in the same collection.
Driven by: Garrie Cooper and John Bowe. First race: Calder (AGS R8), 16 Nov 1980. Total of 7 recorded races.
Acknowledgements
Much of the original knowledge of these cars' movements came from 'Australia's Elfin Sports And Racing Cars' by John Blanden and Barry Catford (Turton and Armstrong, 1997). My thanks to Brian Lear for bringing the ownership up to date in 2025. Brian Lear and his colleagues Ian Hobbs and Barry Catford do a fabulous job at the Elfin Register preserving the history of these cars.
If you can add to our understanding of this car, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
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