Charlie Cooper: Living with the legacy of the famous Cooper name

His famous surname is instantly recognisable, and has proudly adorned the backs of cars since 1961 when his grandfather – John Cooper – struck a deal with the British Motor Corporation to turn Alex Issigonis’s Mini into something of a performance car. The resultant Mini Cooper and subsequently more powerful Mini Cooper S have become icons in the Pantheon of automotive greatness, arguably the proto-hot hatches that inspired future generations of hot hatches.