THE COOPER CUP

The Cooper Cup was conceived and created by members of Rennlist to recognize my mishaps, perseverance, bad luck, and willingness to share these mishaps with the list, over a 6 month period during which our newly purchased '84 944 received a major overhaul. The legend continues to grow.

The saga began in February of 1998, my wife asked if I would be interested in buying an '84 944. I knew little of the model other than liking its looks. So, with eyes wide shut we bought this car for $3000 knowing there were several areas that needed work. The big fix item was to cure a very hard shift into second gear. The first maintenance day was scheduled and I rounded up a used transaxle. The swap went smoothly until the spare transaxle was installed and found to be stuck in 3rd gear. This should have been an omen of things to come. Since we now had to wait for a transaxle to be rebuilt I was convinced by listmembers that I should get a look at the clutch. After stripped bolts, cracked knuckles, DPO finds, wrong machine shop choices, etc.. the clutch job was completed. We got the transaxle back, put it in, and started the car. After a couple of minutes of perfect idle, huge clouds of white smoke began to pour from the exhaust. A leak in the brake master cylinder was allowing fluid past the front seal and into the vacuum system, the end result, cylinder 1 being cracked from top to bottom !!

Over the next 4 months, working in a gravel driveway and going to the hospital every 2-3 weeks for a few days with an intestinal tract disorder, and with the help of fellow rennlisters, I was able to rebuild the engine and get the car back on the road. Scott Harrison conceived the award and John Anderson created the actual trophy. We toyed with the idea of sending the Cup around to deserving listmembers, but my continued bad luck whenever I work on the 944 has created a strangle hold on the Cup.

Jim Cooper / Der Cupmeister

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