The T60 was designed as Cooper's response to the new 1.5-litre formula that came into effect in 1961. Its chassis consisted of a steel tubular frame clothed in aluminium bodywork, with double wishbones and coil springs at both front and rear. The engine was mated to Cooper's own six-speed gearbox.
Early test sessions were troubled. The car suffered persistent problems with engine response and gearbox damage, which delayed confidence in the design. These issues were largely resolved before the competitive season began. Despite its mixed reputation in retrospect — sometimes described as an underachieving car — the T60's actual race results told a more measured story, with consistent points finishes across the season and a constructors' top-three placing.
The T60 made its debut at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort with Bruce McLaren driving. The New Zealander qualified fifth and set the fastest lap of the race before gearbox problems forced his retirement. The car's potential was already apparent.
The breakthrough came at Monaco. McLaren qualified third, led the opening six laps, and was overtaken by Graham Hill's BRM. However, Hill's engine failed eight laps from the finish, and McLaren inherited the lead to take the victory. It was the only World Championship Grand Prix the T60 would win, but Monaco remained one of the most prestigious events on the calendar.
From the Belgian Grand Prix onward, Cooper ran two T60s for McLaren and South African Tony Maggs. The Belgian race ended in a double retirement, but better results followed. Maggs finished second at the French Grand Prix while McLaren came fourth. McLaren added a third place at the British Grand Prix, fifth in Germany, two further third places at the Italian and United States Grands Prix, and closed the season with second in South Africa. Maggs scored his only other points finishes with sixth at the British Grand Prix and third in South Africa.
McLaren also won the non-championship Reims Grand Prix in 1962, adding another victory to the T60's record outside the World Championship.
McLaren ended 1962 third in the Drivers' Championship, and Cooper finished third in the Constructors' standings.
The T60 was retired from works duty after the South African Grand Prix, replaced by the Cooper T66 for the 1963 season. Sold to privateer teams, the car continued to appear in Formula One for several more years. Jo Bonnier raced a T60 for Rob Walker in the first four World Championship rounds of 1963, taking fifth place at the Belgian Grand Prix as his best result. Scuderia Centro Sud ran a T60 for Mário de Araújo Cabral at the 1963 German and Italian Grands Prix, with limited success.
The car's last Championship appearances came in 1964 and 1965. At the 1964 Italian Grand Prix, Swiss privateer Jean-Claude Rudaz qualified a T60 but could not start after an engine failure on race morning. In 1965, Bob Gerard Racing entered the car for John Rhodes at the British Grand Prix; he retired with ignition failure on lap 38.
The Cooper T60 represents the final period in which Cooper could genuinely compete at the front of Formula One. Although the team's dominance from the late 1950s had faded by 1962, the T60 delivered a Monaco victory and consistent scoring that reflected the marque's continued technical seriousness. McLaren's 1962 campaign in the car was one of the last occasions a Cooper driver genuinely challenged for a World Championship, and the car stands as a transitional piece between Cooper's golden era and its gradual decline through the mid-1960s.