1972 Lotus 72

The Silverstone circuit first opened for racing in 1948, and the Coys International Historic Meeting there in July 1998 commemorated 50 years of racing with, amongst other things, a display of 50 cars, each one representing one of those years.

This is the car that represented 1973, the Lotus 72 that competed in Grand Prix races for six seasons, from 1970 to 1975, winning the World Constructors' Championship three times, in 1970, 1972 and 1973. Lotus Team drivers Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Ronnie Peterson won 20 Grand Prix races between them in that time, Jochen Rindt winning the 1970 World Drivers' Championship in 1970 despite losing his life in an accident during practice for the Italian Grand Prix late in the season. Emerson Fittipaldi won the 1972 World Drivers' Championship in the car, but it became increasingly less competitive over the next three seasons and was replaced in 1976 by the Lotus 77.