Volume 5 issue 1

KIT LOTUS
Volume 5 Issue 1 February 2012
Modelers 1:20 Lotus 101 superbly
built by Simon Parsons - more inside
In this issue of Kit Lotus
·
Editorial
·
Modelers 1:20 Lotus 101
·
Marsden on Models
·
Book review
·
Lotus Indy & F1 2012
·
MFH Updates
It is a golden anniversary this year , fifty years since the
Lotus Elan , designed by Ron Hickman and released as the
Lotus type 26 was born. The year couldn’t pass without
building a model of the roadster version and so a 1:24 Gunze
example has been moved onto the Kit Lotus priority build list.
The Elan has been well covered in previous issues but this
significant year has to be celebrated. Also having a significant
birthday is the ground effect Lotus 78, 35 years old in 2012.
Like the Elan, the 78 has been well covered but expect a couple to come up the list and find themselves on display at the
next Club Lotus Show.
Sports Car International magazine listed the Elan as the sixth
best sports car of the sixties. I would wager the five cars
above it, including the E Type, The Shelby AC Cobra, The
Corvette Stingray, the Porsche 911 and the Lamborghini
Muira have not had as many models replicating them than
the Lotus Elan. Unsurprisingly, the lists of best sports cars
was determined by the opinion of magazine editors so I guess
my opinion of the number of Elan models over the other
models warrants the same gravitas.
Editorial
Volume five already! Who would have thought it? Four
years and still going strong and with lots still to write about .
Whilst subscription interest in Kit Lotus remains fairly static,
the involvement by those who share the same hobby
continues to grow.
Contributions for the magazine are international and this has
been one of the highlights of the whole venture. Sharing a
hobby with people on different Continents has been a
revelation. In fact I go so far as to say that the biggest Lotus
model car collections in the world reside away from these
shores, proving time after time how popular the Lotus story is.
Kicking off this Issue 1 of Volume 5 is the usual mix of builds,
diecasts, kits and news but now in 12 pages. New for next
time will be spotlights on some of you, the Lotus model
collector so don’t be surprised if you get a request from me to
answer a few inane questions about your hobby, how it all
began and where is it heading. Hopefully you will allow me to
share your thoughts with Kit Lotus followers.
As theories go, this one is quite benign, but hands up
everyone who knows what time is displayed on a watch or
clock when it is featured in an advert? The answer is ten
minutes to two o’clock. Next time you see a Tag Heuer or a
Breitling in a magazine, check the time. My point is that certain
things seem to be portrayed the same way in every advertising
campaign despite the maker. Take a look at the cover and
notice that the 101 is positioned and photographed north east
to south west. Now take a look at the Minichamps newsletter
On a brighter note , correspondence from Club Lotus
announced that there would be no Lotus Show this year. However, it
will back in its usual April slot at Donington Park in 2013 which
means, the preparation starts now. I think it is a wise move by the
Club Lotus Team to defer until next year, they can’t get Donington
for this year and overwhelming feedback from the 2011 event was
that whilst August was OK, the original April date is the preference
of those who support the event. It may be cooler so more reason
not to be placed near the door next time!! We had a little difficulty
keeping the display in one piece each time the roller door was
raised. Either way, fourteen months to get more models built is just
a bonus.
Formula One kicks off again in March with the Australian Grand
Prix, sadly for UK fans, if you don’t subscribe to a Sky Sports
channel, you won’t see a live race until April when the circus arrives
in China. The first and second races, Australia and Malaysia will be
part of the ten races the BBC will only be broadcasting as highlights.
Only 10 live races are on the BBC calendar. If like me you have
cable TV, it will cost an extra £14.50 per month. I don’t think so,
I’ve never been a Bernie fan and I’m not about to contribute any
more of my hard earned cash to his mega million bank balance. I
recently read his biography and my impression darkened even
further, the whole concept of the business behind Formula One is
best dealt with by shutting your ears and just getting with being a
fan of the teams, the drivers and the cars.
Indy Car has 25th March as its start date for the 2012 calendar
with the first race at St Petersburg Florida, a road race, it will see
the debut of cars powered by Chevrolet, Honda and four teams
powered by Lotus , more inside.
MEA have a new Lotus Elan, the Whitmore racing version (see
photo) with the 1963 Goodwood version depicted. I think if I were
MEA, I would have chosen a better PR shot than this which features
some crude painting around the windscreen depicting a two inch
(scale) sealing rubber. Neither does the vac form windscreen
appear to be a good fit. Chances are the kit is as good as any MEA
model and will reproduce a fine example with the correct finishing.
This month sees the return of Race Retro, the International
MEA 1963 Whitmore Elan
or the Spark press pictures. They always appear the same way.
Is it a conscious choice , a standard marketing method or
just coincidence.
Following on from our theme about some of Pete Lovely’s
cars, Jim Marsden shares some of his ‘Lovely’ collection along
with a resume of recent acquisitions in his latest ‘Marsden on
Models’.
The Goodwood Festival of Speed this year has Lotus as
it’s signature marque. Remember the magnificent E Type
sculpture in front of the Hall? Can’t wait to see which Lotus
takes it place! I’ve already asked Goodwood about bringing Kit
Lotus to the masses by allowing us to exhibit. Guess what, they
think we are a trader and want us to pay £2000!!!!!!! , maybe
we won’t be in attendance.
Historic Motorsport Show, to Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.
Within easy reach of the M6.M69,A46 the show charges a £20
admission plus £2 booking fee on line and takes place Friday 24th,
Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th February. Not renowned for its
Lotus coverage, there is usually something to find at the large
indoor Autojumble. Kits, diecasts and books are plentiful and there
is normally one vendor who specialises in upgrade parts.
There is usually some Lotus exhibits and I will be keen to seek them
out but this year the headline marque is Porsche. Full report next
time.
Mike Serrurier is still beavering away down there in South Africa
perfecting his 1:18 Lotus 1, hopefully by the time you read this
Mike will have torn himself away from the hot Durban sunshine to
let me know the progress. It had slowed due to Mike needing
surgery on one of his hands. Reports are that the surgery went well
and on behalf of Kit Lotus Mike, we wish you a speedy return to full
fitness and we all look forward to reviewing the final product.
Modeler’s Lotus 101 in 1:20 scale
Built by Simon Parsons
Back in 1991, I traded with Modeler’s in Japan through a third
party, exchanging my Mitsubishi diecast models for an equivalent
value of Modeler’s produce. This included excellent 1:24 scale
plastic kits of sports and GT subjects and a particularly nice Tyrrell.
I also imported their accessories and resin kits. Then as now,
Japanese specialist models and accessories were expensive and
the kits never sold particularly well, probably due to the subjects
being aimed at the Japanese domestic market rather than having
an international appeal.
My legacy from that early trade is a stock of wire, cord, pipes etc
all in 1:20 or 1:24 scale sitting in my tool box. On the kit side, I
have a very nice resin Lancia Delta Integrale (1:24) sitting in the
non Lotus section of my cabinet.
Any subject from Modeler’s guaranteed a quality very similar to
what we expect from Studio 27 or MFH although most models
were curbsiders without much engine detail. Now rare, if a
Modeler’s Lotus appears on the internet, my advice is to buy it if
you can.
This model of the Lotus 101 came to light at the Club Lotus show
last August. Steve Griffith, who you may know through Anglo
American Autocare in Newport, brought his real version of the Judd
powered 101 to the Donington Park show and came to visit the Kit
Lotus display. He asked if we could build his Modeler’s version
which he had owned for some time but without the confidence to
assemble it. Unlike his obvious confidence in running, racing and
maintaining the real thing!
The model didn't come with any instruments or seat belts, so
Virage do a nice, useful sheet of clocks and dials and the Willans
seat harness was care of Tamiya. Apart from having to use quite a
lot of filler on the front and rear wings, where the end plates join
on, the model went together like a dream and if any one can get
hold of this model in the future, I would strongly recommend it.”
As you see from the photographs, Simon is equally talented when
it comes to 1:20 as he is with 1:43 and the word is an expansion
of his collection into this larger scale is on the cards with a Studio
27 Lotus 91 already being prepped . I think I will gather up all of
my 1:20s and throw them in the bin!!
He had come to the right place and the end result was Simon
Parsons, renowned for his skill and talent building 1:43, taking up
the challenge to go to 1:20 and build the model for Steve.
Simon takes up the story………………
“This is a resin model by the now defunct Japanese company
'Modeller's.' I don't seem to be able to find any information about
the kit, so if any readers know anything about it, I would be very
interested in hearing from you. The only info I have is that the
model is very rare, so I was keen not to mess it up. I spoke to the
owner of both the model and the actual car at Donington, for the
Lotus show and a nicer guy you would be hard pressed to meet,
but even so, Steve Griffiths would not be a happy fellow if I ruined
it!!
The model arrived by post in September and I had already said to
Steve that I didn't think the kit would be finished until next summer as I have no indoor painting facilities. Then October arrived
and we had one of the hottest fortnights on record. The kit was a
basic curbside model , with a one piece resin body and white
metal wishbones and suspension, front and rear wings, including
endplates ( which makes for a heavy model) and white metal
wheels with rubber tyres . To conclude ,a rudimentary gearbox
made of resin supports the rear suspension.
The usual painting and polishing was undertaken using Tamiya
Camel yellow, which I think is a very good match for the real car. I
bought a sheet of carbon fibre decals for the interior of the car, all
the bits that aren't yellow are carbon fibre, and got to work with
gallons of decal softener.
Owner Steve has already received and admired pictures of the
model but a post Christmas shipping is probably a good move.
About the car itself, Lotus Chief designer, Gerard Ducarouge had
departed in 1988 and his place was filled by the ex Williams
aerodynamicist, Frank Dernie, who became the new Technical
Director at Lotus.
As well as replacing senior members of the Team, other changes
were afoot. With the departure of M. Ducarouge, went the 1.5 litre
turbo era, which was replaced by all new 3.5 litre normally aspirated engines. As with the change from 1.5 litre to 3 litre engines
back in the 1960s, Grand Prix racing was caught on the hop and
Lotus had a matter of weeks to build a new car which incorporated
the new size
……………………...continued
Modeler’s Lotus 101
Continued…………………..
of engine, Judd came to the rescue, but Lotus was only a
"customer", Judd's main contract was with the March Team
and the engine in it's current form was under powered, so
engine designer, Tickford built a new 5 valve per cylinder
head. The compactness of the engine allowed Frank Dernie
and Chief Designer Mike Coughlin to design a very small ,
narrow and light racing car, indeed such was the narrowness
of the cockpit, that a special steering wheel had to be
designed to allow room for the driver to squeeze in.
Even with all this lightness, the car's power couldn't live with
the all conquering Honda V10 of McLaren and the best results
that Lotus could manage in 1989 for their two drivers, Nelson
Piquet and Satoru.
Four Lotus 101s were built for the 1989 Formula One season
with Nelson Piquet expressing his delight with the car when
Snetterton 2010, heading to the assembly area for
that famous grid photograph
Steve’s car is chassis 3 , the car Nakajima drove. The last Team
Lotus driver to drive the car in a test session was Johnny Herbert in
January 1990.
The real thing, Judd power plant of Steve’s car
driving it for the first time. However, the season was six races
old before Piquet put his first points on the board with a
fourth place in Canada then a similar score in the British
Grand Prix. From then on, things got steadily worse with the
odd fifth and sixth place, only a fourth for Nakajima in Japan
and for Piquet in Adelaide kept TL in a lowly sixth championship place.
Marsden on Models - Recent Acquisitions and Other ‘Lovely’ Lotus Cars
Some of the following replicas have gone scarce from dealers
since my last installment, but are definitely noteworthy for the
record. Diecasm.com contributed all of the Spark Models, and
has new variations all the time for the discriminating collector.
Spark Lotus Type 56-P&W Turbine/ Indy Tests
1968
1968 was a tumultuous and momentous year in many ways
(see Tom Brokaw's "1968" if you weren't there), and I have
many memories, too. Among them include finally graduating
from college, rewarding myself with a three-year mortgage to
buy a new Lotus Europa (460587) after securing a good job in
my discipline, and following the career of Jimmy Clark.
I had been a Lotus buff for a long time, generated early by my
dad's automotive interests, including weekends at Lowry Air
Force Base in Denver where he worked daily and General Curtis LeMay's abiding interests in racing obtained, giving local
fans a chance to see Fifties Floggers flail about "Lowry No. 2,"
which was east of the main runways, but had its own hangars,
strips and taxiways which were made available for the likes of
Cad-Allards, Healey-Silverstones, C-Type Jaguars, MG-Cs, Arnolt
-Bristols, Oscas, Maseratis, Ferraris, et al, and the occasional
Lotus VI, Seven, Mks. VIII, IX, X and Eleven. There was serious
destruction of temporary hay bales goin' on by those weekend
warriors
Later, Continental Divide Raceways, south of Denver near
Castle Rock, was developed into a purpose-built facility having
a road-racing layout (2.7 miles) incorporating an oval (halfmile) and (4,200 feet) dragstrip where I attended lots of SCCA,
USRRC, and USAC events (and flagged a few, later). The
competition was intense, and my interest in sportscars grew to
the point where I pretty much figured I'd be having one
someday. Came 1964, and I got a used '58 Healey 100-6
(BN6) in Colorado Red (of course), driving it to New York City
twice and back, once. In 1965, I sold it to a nice lady in East
Hadley MA who would only drive it on weekends, and used the
money for a summer sojourn to Paris, returning destitute via
Greyhound to a starving-student existence, but still
maintaining a fervor for another cool continental.
During my senior year, I sketched too many drawings of Jag
XK-Es and Lotus Elans in my class notebooks, but survived
somehow. Jim Clark was winning in everything, including the
new Lotus 49, which was uncatchable when reliable for him
and Graham Hill. At that point, F1 drivers were also
assumed to drive F2 cars for their teams, as well as up-andcoming hotshoes prepping for the big show. It was fairly
traumatic for most racing enthusiasts when Clark mysteriously
crashed and died at Hockenheim in his Type 48-Cosworth F2
that spring. At the time, my interest in fixed-head Jaguars had
veered (no more ragtops, thanks) to Elans (cheaper, also), but
encountered two S1A Europas owned by a couple
preppie-playboy grad students, and promptly decided that the
less-than-comely look of the car was overcome by the location
of its motor and hard top (and lower price), and my own
commitment to the 1965 Indy win by the Clark-induced
"Rear-Engine Revolution" began--my kind of revolt in '68.
In 1966/67, Andy Granatelli, used his STP ("Stop That Ping,"
according to my dad, another Curtis) discretionary funds to
sponsor Team Lotus in the USAC series, including uprated Types
38 and 42F-Fords in "Rocket Red," but the latter was too slow
and wins eluded Clark and Al Unser in the Types 38. At the same
time, the wily impresario had developed an amazing concept for
Indy: A side-mounted turbine-powered "whooshmobile" which
was
entered as an Hal Wallis-designed, Parnelli Jones driven,
"STP Paxton Turbocar" which led the race, only to break down 3
laps from the finish. In his book, Andrew Ferguson must have a
good story on its secret mission, but it really caught the Indy
"railbirds" by surprise. It took USAC 2 years to figure out how to
ban it (what are organizers going to do when the racers are electric? Try the old playing-cards-in-the-spokes trick?
Anyhow, for 1968, Lotus commissioned Maurice Philippe to
design a radical "wedge-shaped" (no radiators needed), 4-wheel
driven car with inline turbine. Eventually, there were to be seven
drivers for the race, including Clark, who actually tested it at the
track, Graham Hill, Mike Spence, who died after a crash testing
one, causing Parnelli Jones to back out of his drive; Jackie
Stewart was injured at the time, and veterans Joe Leonard and
Art Pollard were tapped for drives. Colin Chapman abandoned the
effort in grief for his two lost drivers, and Granatelli got two cars
on the front row (Leonard and Hill) and Pollard in the sixth. Hill
crashed out when a wheel came off, and both Pollard and Leonard had identical "eight-dollar" fuel pump shafts shear on acceleration after a yellow-flag slowdown. Leonard was leading at the
time with nine laps to go, and Granatelli's bad luck continued.
Watch this space for a feature on the 1969 Indy STP Lotus Type
64-Ford for Andy's mixed results.
For years, there were all sorts of models for the T56 qualifiers,
but one had to "scratch" anything resembling Clark's car, except
for one builder who used the 1:43rd SMTS (UK) white-metal kit
for a limited edition (Ghost Models) at a very dear number for
each. Spark's example is fairly devoid of the usual Indy/NASCAR
sponsor labels, except for prominent "STP" and occasional
"American Oil" ovals. For the race, the T56s became state-of-theart virtual billboards, including an ACBC Lotus roundel about a
foot and a half in diameter, much larger than the self-same
enameled nose badge. Other noteworthy details of the Spark
(S1760) is the addition of a driver (as Clark in GLTL coveralls with
billed helmet), an absence of rear-view mirrors ("don't need no
steenkin'...for tests"), and curious Halibrand silver mags, which
were replaced by black "Lotus" 4-spoke alloys by race time.
Another suggested variation for the lads and lassies at Spark
would be the Joe Leonard
finisher (#20) as driven at Goodwood, 2011 by Parnelli Jones (as lettered in script at the cockpit)
who never actually drove the car intended for him.
Clark had won the first GP in 1968 (South Africa) and his last
race. The 1967 Team Lotus car had been repainted in the red,
white, and gold of Gold Leaf cigarettes for that venue, and not
much else. For the year ahead, Graham Hill, five other drivers,
and the ill-fated Type 63-Ford 4WD car, loosely based on the T56
-Turbine, tried to fill the large gaps in the team. The cars grew
wings, high and low, front and rear, in an attempt to gain more
ground force and to stay ahead of the competition, since they
now had the formerly exclusive use by Lotus of the Cosworth
DFV, which had won its first try out in the Dutch GP the year
before in Clark's hands. The ersatz team was successful as
"Manufacturers" winning that category, and Graham Hill won the
"Driver's" title. The Type 49 was to be among the most
successful cars in history, with wins in four seasons, and the DFV
was the best. One of them had a second life in the hands of the
late Pete Lovely, a Lotus enthusiast par excellence.
In this case, he took a fairly economical Chinese diecast by a
Spanish producer, "RBA" (nobody knows what that means),
which began as the high-winged 49B GLTL car for Graham Hill in
his 1968 win in Monaco, stripped the paint, reworked the rear
wing and collaborated with a pal in France, Roger Dutemple, who
produces many models, kits, and, in this case, decals for Pete's
car. As "Axel'R," Roger created a sheet for it and 2 other Types
49, including replacement cast resin wings, as well. Not to relax
at that point, Martin also "chopped" another Chinese diecast,
"Cararama" by Hongwell, added braced "shelves" for the extra
length of the T49, and transformed a Volkswagen Bulli pick-up
into the "Pete Lovely Volkswagen" [team] Samba T1 transporter,
including wooden tracks.
Clarko Models Type 49B-Ford "Pete Lovely"
Gerard Carlton "Pete" Lovely was one of those guys who seemed
to be able to pick a winning car the season before it was really
fast, from reviewing the stable that he amassed in his career.
The main subject here is, of course, the Type 49B which he
finally squeezed out of Chapman for the 1969, thinking that he'd
gotten a "new" chassis (R11) intended for Mario Andretti, but
which, as current legend has it, was actually the 1967 winner at
its inauguration at Zandvoort (R2). It was in GLTL livery when
delivered, and raced that way as number 15, without the
cigarette patch, but was changed to US racing colors of white
with a blue stripe (salute to another great American sportsman,
Briggs Cunningham), re-numbered 25 and raced like that until
restored later as GLTL 25.
Jochen Rindt & The T45 Elan S4 Sprint by
Spark
The ironic and sad part of this T69 car was that its driver went
on to win the F1 Driver's and Constructor's Championships for
Lotus in 1970, posthumously. I saw an F5000 race at
Hockenheim during a Clark pilgrimage there, which featured
Rene Wisell in a Team Lotus T68/70 Lotus (I think), and was still
in Germany the day after Rindt died at Monza, where he was
deeply mourned. Early in the next year, I saw the GLTL Type 72C
-Fords (Fittipaldi and Wisell) at the ill-conceived "Questor Grand
Prix" at Ontario Motor Speedway which pitted F5000/A cars
against the F1 circus where the latter zoomed away from the
former, including Follmer's Lotus T70 FA, the winner of both
heats being a future F1 champion for Lotus in a Ferrari 312B,
Mario Andretti. The Fittipaldi T72 and Follmer's T70 tied for
fastest laps, however (WooHoo!).
Lovely entered very few races with the car through 1971, with
even fewer successes, but nobody would trade any of those
experiences. Such was his shoestring effort that he converted
one of his sales stock, a Volkswagen Samba T1, into a transporter for the car, him, his wife, and a mechanic, I think. They
were the only three "team" members. Was there a dog, too?
Anyhow, Martin Mayor, who is "Clarko," is a Lotus aficionado who
can actually pronounce that word correctly, being a suburban
resident of Madrid. He also is an amazing model builder,
especially in "transforming" existing built replicas into what
Europeans call "Code 3" works (non-factory production).
Jochen Rindt also figures in another twist of circumstance here,
too. He was used as the face of Lotus marketing in the 1970
launch of the new and uprated Types 36 (FHC) and 45 (DHC)
Elan S4 "Sprint" series. They were shown in the Earl's Court
Motor Show in a curious matte black over yellow scheme (see
John Bolster's book) and Rindt's car was LHD. Later, as is well
-known, the car was fitted with the "Big Valve" TC, 5-speed box,
gearing tweaks, etc., and the car was sold in a variety of colors
(Regency Red, Carnival Red, Lagoon Blue Mt., Lotus Yellow,
Pistachio Lime, Colorado Orange, other?) as solids or over Cirrus
White divided by a waist trim line and bumpers in gold similar to
GLTL livery in obvious tribute to Lotus and Rindt championships.
Spark has issued a number of Elans recently (see past
"reMarque" copies), including an RHD variation of the 1971 T45
Sprint DHC in red (ref. S1240) which has 3-eared knock-off
wheel nuts, unlike US Federal spec non-spikey ones. Their Type
36 FHC Sprint is imminent in Lagoon Blue over Cirrus (ref.
S1242). There are many other variations of Sprints by other
model manufacturers, but don't bother.
Marsden on models
Pete terrorized much of US sports-racing with his Cooper-Porsche
1500 ("Pooper") until he had drives in the Lotus Eleven in 1958,
when he shared a drive at the Sebring 12-Hours and later with
Innes Ireland in his Le Mans car during the Reims 12 hour enduro
at the French GP. Examples of two Elevens are shown similar to
each of the vintage white-metal GPM Classic 1957 LM 750cc
#55/ Stacey-Dickson (ref. 15), and a resin-bodied car, without
headrest, as raced at Le Mans in 1956/ Chapman &
Mackay-Frazer (Provence Moulage, ref. K403). This latter car is
similar to Pete's more recent S2 vintage racer. He also shared a
similar Mk 15 with the late Jay Chamberlain at his own Le Mans
try in 1958, simply adorned with thin white and blue stripes. This
Provence Moulage model is actually shown in its "before"
condition: Chamberlain crashed and was injured in the race (ref.
K404). Lotus fans will always be indebted to Jay for his unlimited
contributions to our passion, too.
In 1959, Pete shared a drive with Colin Chapman in the #45 Mk
A Scaled Retrospective of Pete Lovely
Racing
During cursory browsing of the internet, I discovered various
notes about some of the racecars owned, raced and/or
repaired-restored by Pete Lovely, in addition to the Types 49B F1
and 69 F1/2 mentioned above. The following models described
and pictured are only similar to his actual collection over the
decades, and it will be years more (if ever) that keen builders like
Martin Mayor might take an interest in producing
correctly-detailed replicas. In any event, the ones listed here are
for general interest, as well, and not intended to be an exact or
complete chronology; corrections and additions are welcome and
encouraged.
After an open house some time ago by the Evergreen Lotus Car
Club to his shops in Puyallup, WA, a report was filed by "Kiyoshi"
who listed a number of Pete's cars, past and present, and others
were mentioned in various books, race records, and internet
sites. Apparently, the first Lotus raced by Lovely appears to have
been a Mark "8/9" which makes some sense in Lotus development, but not to me. I have some fairly common Mks IX, but only
one Mk VIII, as scratch-built for me by Mike Serrurier of South
Africa, whose work is also seen in The Lotus Book Collectables by
William Taylor, editor of "reMarque." Mike's replicas generally
start with a resin casting from his own master, and adding bits
and paint afterwards.
14-Elite FWE L4 1216 at the Sebring 12-Hours, and probably
other venues with it or others of the first "proper" Lotus road car.
The model example is the Exem resin-bodied Car (ref. RLM 025)
as driven by Chapman and John Whitmore at Le Mans in 1959.
The cars both secured 2nd in class finishes behind Ferrari
Thunderboomies.
The sharp elbows probably came out in 1962 when the smart 1991 Historic RAC rally (MotorPro/Corgi D708). Apparently, Pete
money obtained Marks 19 roadsters for USRRC competition from drove one for Alan Mann racing at the Mid-Ohio USRRC-GT in
Nassau to Riverside. Lovely secured a ride with John Mecom's 1964, so it might have been in red & gold.
"Rosebud Racing" for Laguna Seca, pushed around the twisty
circuit with a 2500cc Climax like the Starter Models example of
Innes Ireland's similar mount. I believe that team originally had
Ferrari V12 power; others used Maserati, Ford, and probably
tightly-wound Kelvinators, too. According to Doug Nye in The
Story of Lotus, 1961-1971..., Pete also drove a new Mk 22
Formula Junior that year for Mecom, as well, for which I have a
another scratch-built in resin by Mike Serrurier in "presentation"
BRG, and not so attractive as the blue metallic of the Texan.
Mike's model is also closer to 1:38, has no front or rear
"Chapman Struts," and the front "wobbley-web" wheels have six
"spokes" for the eagle-eyed.
Pete Lovely Shops
"Kiyoshi," in his visit, also noticed a number of projects
underway, including Ferrari motors, and some Lotuses which
may not have been owned by Pete, but worth noting for the
scope of his work. Mentioned were Marks 18, 26R, 35, the
T49B restored to GLTL livery, and a Type 77F1. Doug Nye briefly
mentioned in his book that Pete actually raced in "an older Mk
18" in the US in 1961, and it seems appropriate to show a shot
of the first Lotus to win an F1 race: Stirling Moss' Rob Walker
Team Mk 18-Climax at Monaco in 1960 by SMTS in white-metal
(ref. RL27B), which had its side body panels removed for
driver-cooling during the race.
Also pictured are other 1:43rd examples of an ancient "JPS II"
white-metal model of Mario Andretti's winner at the Japanese GP
of 1976 by FDS Automobili (ref. 53) on the Samba (barely), an
older diecast of a generic Mk 26R hardtop by Kyosho of Japan
(ref. 03043G), and shown against "Pete's Paddock" of many of
his the racers mentioned above. Lovely. Spark has issued the
JPS II and many Marks 26R in the past year, but collector history
may be important here for a few readers.
In 1995, Pete won his class race at Laguna Seca in a Type 23CLotus TC, but I'm not sure whether it was the same one that he
drove in European Championship events or in the 1962 LA Times'
Continental events in California alongside Jim Clark. Whether he
competed otherwise head-to-head with Clark during those years is
not clear to me, as isn't their competition in the Mark 28
Cortina-Fords. In any event, I've pictured two models from the
same era, including a Mk 23B-BMW in yellow as raced in local
vintage races (RMVR, etc.) by a late LOCO member, Ernie Weil,
and as built by another RMVR racer (Rob Brown/ Alfa GTA) from a
British white-metal kit (SMTS/'Voiturette' ref. V.1). Ironically,
Lovely's car was in BRG, as was Ernie's before he
comprehensively erased every landscape detail, chased a few spectators, and rolled the car into a ball at the end of the back
straight of the defunct vintage layout among the condos and
shops at the foot of Mt. Werner in Steamboat Springs. Pictured
as a tow car is a 'Code 3' Mk 28 as driven by Roger Clark in a
Marsden on models
The Tasmanian Lotus 32B-Climax &
Team Lotus T127
These two models are world's apart in age and production, but
both were issued recently. Villa Models of Italy is a very small
operation and handbuilds its works in limited production with
cast resin bodies and zamac bases. My Mole-in-Madrid, Martin
Mayor, has been able to rescue some unusual Villas Lotus Mks
33 and this 32B 2.5L FPF for me. The car represents Jim
Clark's 1965 winner at the Levin "Gold Leaf International
Trophy" (prophetic for GLTL?) in January, where he was "triple
crown" for pole, fast lap and win
Another amazing thing has occurred, too. The overall shapes, sizes
and refinement of Formula One cars have changed gradually over
the past forty years to the point where a comparison of the 1965 Mk
32B-Climax 4 and the 2010 T127-Cosworth V8 seems almost
unreal. The two models are both to 1:43rd scale, but about 1.2
inches difference in length, which checks out pretty closely, and may
be a tad short (I actually used dimensions for a 2011 Group Lotus
R31-Renault). Incidentally, PMA Minichamps has issued a model of
Petrov's car (ref. 413 110079), and Spark's T128-Renaults/ China
2011 (refs, S3020/21 have just been issued.
Jim Marsden
12-10-11
A young friend of mine - well, I say young, he is younger than
me, just - used to work as an Engineer for John Player & Sons at
their Nottingham Horizon factory. He was there when Emerson
Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson took their 72’s for a few laps of the
car park to celebrate the 1973 Constructors Championship.
The other recent arrival is by Spark and is the 2010 "Team
Lotus Caterham" backed car as driven by Heikki Kovalainen in
the Monaco Grand Prix (ref. S3007). It represents the latest in
mass-production, but uses similar construction materials.
What's quite remarkable is how elegant the presentation of
these new Spark models are in every aspect for collectors, and
how comprehensive is their line, leading me to believe that I've
spent over forty years scrounging for the very best replicas only
to have this company and its artisans supplant nearly most with
better ones. Whereas the first were Dinky and Corgi diecasts
clearly intended for children, and the later expensive handbuilts
and kits were limited in production for collectors (viz: "They are
not toys and unsuitable for children under fourteen years."),
these new pieces are better.
Since then he has had in his possession these little gems, three
unused books of matches which were handed out like the black
stickers after every race win. These are all celebrating Ronnie’s
victories at the French, Italian and United States Grands Prix of that
year. He has very kindly donated them to my collection of Lotus
memorabilia. I think they are quite neat.
JT
Book Lotus
William Taylor is responsible for some of the most significant
books about Lotus in recent years, not least the Lotus Book.
Four Years in the making, when first published in 1998, the
Lotus Book was one of Taylor’s first titles. Much of the time
was spent locating some of the rarest Lotus cars in order that
he could photograph them for the book. By 2005, the Lotus
Book was in its 3rd series and won a prestige major award ‘
Best Corporate Branding Book of the Year’ from the
Independent Publishers Group in the USA. It was also listed as
one of the top ten automotive books published that year.
Published by the Coterie Press, William Taylor’s latest Lotus
offering is 1965: Jim Clark & Team Lotus the UK Races.
The frustration of some drivers comes across in their quest to
dislodge Clark in whatever class he was pitched into. The saloons for
example may, it could be argued, have been a Clark walkover but
the big banger US Fords couldn’t be caught. The argument that
there is no substitute for CCs may be the only valid reason why
the Ford Mustangs were vying for overall honours.
The book also captures most of the life of the Lotus 30,
Chapman’s passport to big engined sports car racing and a
lucrative deal with Ford. Sadly Ford chose Eric Broadley’s Lola
outfit and the record shows that the Lotus 30 was in the minority
with a just a handful of privateers choosing the model over the
more prolific Lola T70. However, only in the hands of Clark did
the 30 make any impression. Later in the book the Lotus 40
emerges but fails to make an impression and Clark’s frustration
shows through but is tempered by going out and terrorising the
big American bangers in the saloon car races.
The book gives a portence of what was to come in the form of
commercial sponsorship when Ford provided a pair of custom
built Thames Traders to use as transporters and workshops for
the Lotus Cortina Team which was run by Bob Dance. The Team
Lotus mechanics running the monoposto and sports car teams
were justifiably envious.
I think the book also gives an insight into the arguments of who is
the best driver ever. Whilst I firmly believe that comparisons can’t
be directly made between eras, the amount of races our heroes
were involved in has to have a bearing. With only a driver’s best
total over a limited number of races counting toward the ultimate
Formula One goal, it gave drivers the opportunity to take part in
lesser formulae and saw them racking up many more career race
wins and as such, keeping them in the spotlight almost as much
as a current Formula One driver might by taking part in 19/20
Grands Prix ensuring they became household names.
Lots of words have been published about the Lotus story, but
this book concentrates purely on the 1965 UK racing season
and covers Formula 2, 3 , Sports Cars, Saloons as well as
Formula One. It takes a long look back into some of the
halcyon days of Team Lotus often through the lens of Peter
Darley who adeptly captures , all in monochrome, the
atmosphere of the period. Many of the shots are familiar to us
but the book contains many previously unpublished pictures
of familiar subjects in relaxed mood. It shows the camaraderie
of the era and accompanies Taylor’s easy style text describing
race meetings in the UK.
As often the case in those long ago days, star drivers would
race in other formulae at the same meeting. Jim Clark was
setting the world alight with his Indy 500 win and winning six
Grands Prix on the bounce to which he was entered. The
following week he would be winning £100 in F2 race. Other
race meetings seemed to be the relaxation for top drivers
away from the World Championship but in fact was probably
much further from the truth. Clark won both the European and
British Formula Two championships on top of his Indy 500 and
F1 World Championship success. Several saloon races
succumbed to the Clark magic as well as the Levante Cup,
claimed by Clark in the much maligned Lotus 30.
Taylor faithfully describes the action from all the formulae
including the lesser F3 races, backing them up with grid
diagrams, practice times and race results.
I really enjoyed this book, it is very well laid out doing justice to
Peter Darley’s wonderful photography without which William
Taylor would have had a much more difficult job as author.
JT
This familiar figure is available from your specialist model
stockist. From E.Jan . This prolific manufacturer of detailing parts
has seen fit to add a 1:20 scale figure of Colin Chapman in equally
familiar pose. Ideal for a 1970’s diorama just the thing to pose in
front of your Lotus 72, 77, 78 or 79.
At around £23 the only thing you need to go with it is the patience
to paint great figures. That wouldn’t be me then!
Lotus Indycar and Formula One - 2012
The Lotus Formula One challenger for 2012 will be
launched on February 5th at 5.00pm on the official
Group Lotus website two days ahead of the test at
Jerez, so no pictures in this issue. What is confirmed is
the driver line up. With Bruno Senna moving to
Williams, Kimi Raikkonen will lead the line with
Romain Grosjean as his number two. Jerome
D’Ambrosio will back up the team as reserve driver
having signed for Lotus after being dropped from the
Virgin team late in the 2011 season despite finishing
ahead of his more experienced team mate.
It is sleek so it must be a Lotus—Indycar 2012 in test·
LOTUS MOTORSPORT BECOMES LOTUS RACING
· In order to reflect the broad range of Lotus’ competition activities, Lotus Racing becomes the new umbrella name for Group Lotus’
racing division. All of our official works teams will now race in the
evocative black and gold livery. These include the Lotus F1 Team,
GP2 and GP3 team Lotus GP (formerly ART) and Lotus Dragon
Racing. Partner teams, such as the Lotus-engined IndyCar teams
Lotus Herta Autosport, Lotus Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will also run
in black and gold with Lotus HVM Racing running in predominantly
green, yellow and white. Customer teams have the option of running
other classic Lotus liveries, such as Lotus Sport UK’s ‘Gold Leaf’ red,
white and gold, which was raced to victory in the British GT
Championship last year.
·
The new car is to be named after the Enstone factory
where it is made as a tribute to the staff there. The
E20 will drop all links with Renault who have no longer
any links with the team other than supplying the
engines. Enstone has been the home of Benetton then
Renault securing championships for both. Lets hope
some of that success rubs off and puts Lotus at the
front end of the grid for the first time in two decades.
The factory was initially built in the early nineties for
Reynard’s fruitless attempt on Formula One.
Like the Indycar series, the 2012 season looks like the
best chance since Senna in Detroit for Lotus to pass
the chequered flag in first place.
The E20 will be the 20th Formula One car built at the
Enstone factory
Spark
have amazed us once again with their first ever
1:18 Formula One diecast in the shape of Jim Clark’s 1963
INDIANA CLONES AND THE FAST CRUSADE
· In 2012 no less than four teams with an anticipated minimum
eights cars will be packing Lotus power in the IZOD IndyCar Series.
The company’s all-new twin-turbo V6 has its first shakedown today
at the Moroso circuit in Jupiter, Florida, with Lotus HVM driver
Simona de Silvestro working the loud pedal. The engine program,
which was announced in November 2010, has come together
quickly without teething problems, and fire-ups away from the track
have ticked all the boxes. Lotus Dragon Racing, Lotus HVM Racing,
Lotus Bryan Herta Autosport, and Lotus Dreyer & Reinbold Racing
are all confirmed as engine partners. The Autosport International
Show marks the first public appearance of this ambitious
powerplant.
· Claudio Berro, Group Lotus Director of Motorsport: “The engine
has performed extremely well so far, and we and our partners are
very pleased with the results. We had our first fire-up in a Dallara
chassis in Palma, Italy on 21-23 December, then the engine was
sent to America, and today we’re having our first on-track
shakedown, at Moroso, which is very exciting. On January 1st we
opened a Lotus facility in Indianapolis which will be our US
engineering and logistics hub, so it’s all go. We’ve still got a lot of
work to do before the start of the season, but I couldn’t be happier
with the progress we’re making.”
Italian GP winning Lotus 25 in which he clinched the
championship. Fabulous detail even down to weathering
on the wheel centres and the visible gearbox and engine
parts. Through the fine mesh and gaps of the engine cover,
wiring is visible. The brakes are plumbed in and the ends
of the exhausts are opened out. The cockpit looks ‘lived in’
and even many fasteners are visible. If anyone is going to
do justice to a diecast it is Spark and hopefully this will be
the first of many more big scale F1 cars. Although nothing
in the suspension is designed to move, it even has proper
springs on the shock absorbers.
Price tag is around £150 but I don’t expect them to stay in
stock at your favourite supplier for very long.
MFH News
With it’s infamous H16 BRM engine, the Lotus 43 was a stop
gap between Coventry Climax and Cosworth power. Used only in
the 1966 season, it was fast but unreliable and after a season
of frustration, Jim Clark nursed the car to its and the H16s only
victory at Watkins Glen to round off a miserable (by Clark’s
standards) season.
80 pages of highly detailed photographs with Gold Leaf
Team Lotus as the subject is volume 12 of Joe Honda’s
amazing grand prix photographic record. The publication
features the 49, 56b, 63 and 72. Just the job for
modelling these subjects. Published by Model Factory Hiro
Model Factory Hiro are in the spotlight again following their big
scale Lotus 77 and 79 releases they have two more 1:20 The Lotus 72E rounds off the offerings from MFH this month,
delights for us. The Lotus 72E from 1975/75 and more this prolific manufacturer continues to delight Lotus fans
spectacularly a 1:20 scale model of the Lotus 43 BRM. Very
rarely modelled especially at this stage, the 43 is one of those
models that has only one version. No
different decal or
team options due to it’s one season history with only the
works team operating the chassis. Clark’s 1966 US GP Victory
will ensure a sell out based on that nostalgia alone. MFH have
crafted a masterpiece yet again. At around £330 it will just be
on the wish list of the average modeller.
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