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Details
1958 LOTUS 12 F2/1 REPLICA SINGLE-SEATER RACING CAR
Chassis No. not known
Engine No. FPF 430/20/1164
Green with red seat
Engine: four cylinders in-line, twin overhead camshafts, 141bhp at 7,300rpm; Gearbox: manual five-speed sequential trans-axle unit; Suspension: front, double wishbones with coil-springs and combined hydraulic damper units; rear, Macpherson-strut coil-spring and trailing link; Brakes: hydraulic disc all round, in-board rear units. Single seater.
Toward the close of the 1956 Season a new classification for Formula 2 cars was announced, laying down an engine capacity size of 1½ litres unsupercharged. Colin Chapman's Lotus Company already had a very good sports car with their Mark Eleven, which utilized the supremely effective Coventry Climax engine in the up to 1,500cc category. It was but a simple step therefore to divert their existing technology to produce a single-seater, and with this conception was born the Lotus Twelve.
The chassis was of space-frame type, but using much aviation technology with small-section lightweight steel tubing even for the main chassis rails as well. The engines as used in the sports cars were the basis of the wartime Coventry-Climax fire-pump, superbly developed by the highly-regarded Harry Munday who had noted the potential of these sturdy reliable motors and, with his genius, had produced a most powerful lightweight unit which was adopted almost universally for 1½ litre racing classes in Britain. This was coupled to a newly designed combined gearbox and transmission unit, built by Lotus which utilized the motorcycle principle of sequential gear-change through a simple forward and reverse motion going up and down the ratios. It also featured the use of in-board brakes to the rear, a combination of which, with some gearbox teething problems added to the fact that it was directly beneath the seat position, meant that the driver was always in the 'hot seat'! This innovative design was a relatively complex engineering exercise for a small company to undertake and subsequently with the problems which were encountered, production was transferred to the German ZF company to manufacture units beyond the prototype stages. The slim cigar-shaped bodywork was created by Frank Costin, whilst another new element incorporated was the use of light-alloy one-piece cast magnesium alloy wheels with their distinctive 'wobbly-web' design. The new car was exhibited at the 1956 Earls Court Motor Show, but much of it was a mock-up and in fact the first test trials were not carried out until March the following Spring.
During 1957 production commenced on a few cars of which several were sold to privateers. The Works entered cars variously for Graham Hill, Cliff Allison and Les Leston in F2 events, but at this early stage considerable problems were experienced with both transmission and chassis designs, and during this time rapid improvements were carried out to rectify the faults until the cars proved more durable, while the field was left very much to the rival Cooper Cars, whose products were right at the forefront of the developing manufacturing business. Nevertheless by the end of 1958 things were improving for Lotus, and with the appearance of a new 2.0 litre engine from Coventry-Climax, which was capable of being bored out to 2.2 litres, the opportunity for the Formula Two cars, fitted with these power-units enabled them to run effectively in some Grand Prix events. Cooper indeed led the way in this regard and Lotus, despite some initial reluctance from Colin Chapman, was obliged to follow. It was through the technology and design development of the Lotus 12 that Team Lotus was on the way to become one of the most successful Grand Prix racing car manufacturers over the next 30 years.
It would appear from the chassis number sequence that some 11 cars were to have been built and that one of those at least was rebuilt by the works during the production run and renumbered in the first batch of Lotus 16 cars, which were the next generation of single-seaters and indeed the fore-runners of their Formula 1 and Grand Prix contenders. Of these perhaps ten cars, it is believed that seven are still extant. This car, of which the body, engine, transmission and suspension are understood to be original components, has been re-created on a new chassis and for some years was exhibited in a private museum in southern England before being purchased by Bob Sutherland for his collection in 1979. During his ownership, much money had been spent in restoration of the complex 'queer-box' transmission unit by specialists in the UK. The engine, for which the number is 1164, fits into the correct period production-run number sequence, but it is not known from which car this, nor the transmission and body was originally attributed. Nevertheless it is a faithful replication of an otherwise scarce car and should be a welcome addition in current historic racing circles.
Chassis No. not known
Engine No. FPF 430/20/1164
Green with red seat
Engine: four cylinders in-line, twin overhead camshafts, 141bhp at 7,300rpm; Gearbox: manual five-speed sequential trans-axle unit; Suspension: front, double wishbones with coil-springs and combined hydraulic damper units; rear, Macpherson-strut coil-spring and trailing link; Brakes: hydraulic disc all round, in-board rear units. Single seater.
Toward the close of the 1956 Season a new classification for Formula 2 cars was announced, laying down an engine capacity size of 1½ litres unsupercharged. Colin Chapman's Lotus Company already had a very good sports car with their Mark Eleven, which utilized the supremely effective Coventry Climax engine in the up to 1,500cc category. It was but a simple step therefore to divert their existing technology to produce a single-seater, and with this conception was born the Lotus Twelve.
The chassis was of space-frame type, but using much aviation technology with small-section lightweight steel tubing even for the main chassis rails as well. The engines as used in the sports cars were the basis of the wartime Coventry-Climax fire-pump, superbly developed by the highly-regarded Harry Munday who had noted the potential of these sturdy reliable motors and, with his genius, had produced a most powerful lightweight unit which was adopted almost universally for 1½ litre racing classes in Britain. This was coupled to a newly designed combined gearbox and transmission unit, built by Lotus which utilized the motorcycle principle of sequential gear-change through a simple forward and reverse motion going up and down the ratios. It also featured the use of in-board brakes to the rear, a combination of which, with some gearbox teething problems added to the fact that it was directly beneath the seat position, meant that the driver was always in the 'hot seat'! This innovative design was a relatively complex engineering exercise for a small company to undertake and subsequently with the problems which were encountered, production was transferred to the German ZF company to manufacture units beyond the prototype stages. The slim cigar-shaped bodywork was created by Frank Costin, whilst another new element incorporated was the use of light-alloy one-piece cast magnesium alloy wheels with their distinctive 'wobbly-web' design. The new car was exhibited at the 1956 Earls Court Motor Show, but much of it was a mock-up and in fact the first test trials were not carried out until March the following Spring.
During 1957 production commenced on a few cars of which several were sold to privateers. The Works entered cars variously for Graham Hill, Cliff Allison and Les Leston in F2 events, but at this early stage considerable problems were experienced with both transmission and chassis designs, and during this time rapid improvements were carried out to rectify the faults until the cars proved more durable, while the field was left very much to the rival Cooper Cars, whose products were right at the forefront of the developing manufacturing business. Nevertheless by the end of 1958 things were improving for Lotus, and with the appearance of a new 2.0 litre engine from Coventry-Climax, which was capable of being bored out to 2.2 litres, the opportunity for the Formula Two cars, fitted with these power-units enabled them to run effectively in some Grand Prix events. Cooper indeed led the way in this regard and Lotus, despite some initial reluctance from Colin Chapman, was obliged to follow. It was through the technology and design development of the Lotus 12 that Team Lotus was on the way to become one of the most successful Grand Prix racing car manufacturers over the next 30 years.
It would appear from the chassis number sequence that some 11 cars were to have been built and that one of those at least was rebuilt by the works during the production run and renumbered in the first batch of Lotus 16 cars, which were the next generation of single-seaters and indeed the fore-runners of their Formula 1 and Grand Prix contenders. Of these perhaps ten cars, it is believed that seven are still extant. This car, of which the body, engine, transmission and suspension are understood to be original components, has been re-created on a new chassis and for some years was exhibited in a private museum in southern England before being purchased by Bob Sutherland for his collection in 1979. During his ownership, much money had been spent in restoration of the complex 'queer-box' transmission unit by specialists in the UK. The engine, for which the number is 1164, fits into the correct period production-run number sequence, but it is not known from which car this, nor the transmission and body was originally attributed. Nevertheless it is a faithful replication of an otherwise scarce car and should be a welcome addition in current historic racing circles.