The Cooper T81 had proved rather successful when it first appeared in 1966 but by mid-1967 it had slipped behind the newer cars of the leading teams. The new T86 car was built for Cooper's lead driver Jochen Rindt to use, starting with the British Grand Prix, a narrower, lower and lighter car fabricated from Elektron alloys with a bump around the gear lever to give the driver more space while changing gear, a feature that became a common sight on single-seater cars well into the 1970s. The new chassis was some 112 lb lighter than the T81, but was still overweight due to its Maserati V12, an engine whose first incarnation had raced in Formula One in 2.5-litre form some ten years earlier. It was found that the car had a tendency to get light at the front at high speeds, but ahead of the Italian Grand Prix this was fixed by the mounting of a small spoiler on the nose, another innovative feature. Jacky Ickx drove the car at Watkins Glen, and former Grand Prix winner Ludovico Scarfiotti gave the car its last outing for the works team in the first race of 1968.