Due to the fact that the modern day Lotus F1 team launched their car for the 2013 season yesterday I wanted to show what i thought is a remarkable ancestor of today’s car…
Is this maybe the most beautiful Formula 1 car ever built?
It certainly is one of the most successful. And it is the last Lotus without aerodynamic helpers. And in the hands of Jim Clark it was probably unbeatable.
How did I come across this beauty? well. I was actually driving it many a race and won several Grand Prix’ in it… In the PC game of the same name. Grand Prix Legends was a game that apparently still is up to date when it comes to realism of the driving physics of the cars. I loved that game and still would spend hours on it if only time would allow me to do so…
I used to have a larger scale model of the Lotus when I was a boy and already back then I was intrigued by its style. It was not just a race car. It was a statement and very clear in its design. You have the driver sitting in a chassis with the engine in his back just bolted straight to the chassis. The truly virtuous exhaust system was a piece of art by itself.
These cars were dangerous and the 1967 F1 season probably the most dangerous of them all. The cars had more power than in the seasons before but were still lacking the aerodynamic downforce. In those years only real men would drive such a machine putting their lives at risk… This was racing…
I loved this car and also it was the Lotus 79, driven by Mario Andretti, which first got me to the brand, it is the Lotus 49 which for me embodies the philosophy the most…
Would I be given the chance to ever drive one you probably won’t see me ever again getting out of it…
amotoradayforayear 