Freddie St. George
On 4 January John's funeral at Arundel Cathedral, West Sussex, took place and was attended by hundreds of people. We were there with a handful of Jobbers to pay our respects to a kind and caring man who, in addition to enjoying great success in formula 1 of old, designing the Mini Cooper also became a great friend and supporter of the Italian Job. In 1990 we wrote to 'the great man' and told him what we were planning to do. Timing proved to be the key for it was then that the 1990 limited edition Coopers were being released. We met with John at Ferring and explained our ideas in full. Instantly he told us that it was a wonderful idea and that YES he would love top be involved in any way he possibly could. Since that day we have carried his name atop our letterheads as Patron.
We will be meeting with Michael Cooper to discuss ways in which we can continue the link and association with the Cooper name. John Cooper's patronage of the Italian Job may have seemed to be merely an expression of support, but in reality, his support was far reaching and tremendously helpful, especially in the beginning. With him on our side we were able to attack some of the 'big boys' and gain support from various quarters. Rover - at the time - seemed much more inclined to jump on the Italian Job bandwagon knowing that John Cooper was fully behind it. That's just one example but there are countless others. In all weather there was one thing we could always rely on in the early days of the Job when we finished in Brighton. That was John Cooper, yellow Italian Job baseball cap on head and chequered flag in hand, ready and smiling to welcome home 'his' Italian Job Minis from the continent with a deft wave of his flag. The stories and anecdotes he would recall would amuse and excite us and his affection for the Jobbers was clear to see. The foundations of the Italian Job were laid with the great help of John Cooper standing with us. Our thanks and appreciation to him are limitless.
