Porsche-Cooper Streamliner “Pooper”

In 1955 Pete Lovely acquired a streamlined Cooper body and chassis. Into this was wedged a 1500cc Porsche Super motor, making it the well-known “Pooper.” The car had a stock VW transmission and weighted in at 920 pounds. The engine placement and cowling gave it a natural roll bar behind Pete and the other small-framed team Empire drivers who raced the car. The car could go from 0-60 in seven seconds and had a top speed of 125 mph. Pete began racing the Pooper in 1955 and had immediate success, winning the semi-feature at Seafair that year. Perhaps his most famous outing with it came in 1956 at Pebble Beach, the year he won the national Class F modified championship. The throttle cable snapped early during the race at he calmly reached behind him and operated the butterflies by hand, letting go of the steering wheel when he shifted, finally coming in fourth overall. George Keck won the 1957 Evergreen Trophy Race while borrowing the car from Pete. It was sold in 1958 to Tom Meehan who had worked on the car since its inception. Tom continued to race the car with basically the original engine through 1959 with still more success. The car has had just two owners since and is now in the hands of Denny Akers of Seattle, who until recently raced the car in vintage events.