Swift Cooper is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 race car constructor. The company was formed in 1986, when Frank Bradley bought the rights to the Swift name from Swift Engineering

Swift Engineering

Swift Engineering is an American engineering firm, most notable for producing racing cars for a variety of open-wheel racing series, including Champ Car World Series, Formula Atlantic, and Formula Nippon.-History:...

, and set up the company at Snetterton

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Norfolk, England. Owned by MotorSport Vision, it is situated on the A11 road some 20 km north-east of the town of Thetford and 30 km south-west of the city of Norwich...

 race course in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. Swift Cooper builds cars for Formula Ford

Formula Ford

Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....

 regulations.

Swift cars won in the British Formula Ford Championship

British Formula Ford Championship

The Formula Ford Championship single seater category is a motor sport category which gives many racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting...

 from 1993 to 1995 and the Benelux Formula Ford Championship from 1996 to 1998.

In late 1995, the company was purchased from Brian Holmes by ex-Formula 3 racer Gavin Wills and ex-Reynard Motorsport

Reynard Motorsport

Reynard Motorsport was at one time the world's largest racing car manufacturer. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and Indy...

 Sales Manager, James Linton, who had originally met fourteen years earlier as teenagers when racing karts. The two moved the manufacturing operation and the race team from its Chesterfield

Chesterfield

Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...

, Yorkshire, base to Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

, Devon and employed a team of 21 people to design, manufacture and service the Formula Ford

Formula Ford

Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world. It is an entry-level series to motor racing....

 single-seater race cars they produced. Over a period of three years (1996, 1997 & 1998) the company manufactured 75 cars for race teams around the world and won 27 championships worldwide. Clients included Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 Champions Jody Scheckter

Jody Scheckter

Jody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...

 and Alan Jones who purchased cars for their sons Tomas Scheckter

Tomas Scheckter

Tomas Scheckter is a South African racing driver, born in Monte Carlo. He is the son of 1979 Formula One World Champion Jody Scheckter.-Early years:...

, Toby Scheckter

Toby Scheckter

Toby Scheckter is a South African racing driver. He is the son of the 1979 Formula One World Drivers Champion Jody Scheckter, and the brother of IndyCar Series driver Tomas Scheckter. He won the Skusa SUPERNATS kart finals in Las Vegas in 2004...

 and Christian Jones

Christian Jones

Christian Jones is an Australian racing driver; he is the adopted son of 1980 Formula One World Champion Alan Jones. Winning several Karting championships in his early teens, Christian moved to Australian Formula Ford in 1996-1998, with his best season finish of 2nd in 1998...

 to compete in South African and Australian Formula Ford Championships respectively. A Swift car won the Finnish Championship in 1999.

In 1998 the company moved to its new and present home at the Castle Combe Circuit

Castle Combe Circuit

Castle Combe Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Wiltshire, England, approximately from Bristol. The circuit used to be the perimeter track of a World War II airfield, and opened to racing in 1950.- History :...

 in Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

and was sold to Alan Cooper to become Swift Cooper. The first car under the new company name, the SC2000Z, was driven by Ollie Kaurala in the 2000 Championship.