1961 Lotus 18

This was one of the competitors in the HGPCA Pre '66 Grand Prix Cars race at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2003.

It's the 1961 1475cc Lotus 18 of Mark Griffiths. The mid-engined Lotus 18 was a replacement for the front-engined Lotus 16 and the first such car to be built by Lotus, and was used in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula Junior racing. Mark Griffith's car is chassis 914 and was built as a Formula 1 car with a 1475cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. It was shown in the programme of the event as a Lotus 18/21, but I understand that the 18/21 was a Lotus 18 that had been rebodied with the streamlined body of a Lotus 21.

1960 Lotus 18

This was one of the competitors in the Maserati UK Race for Pre-1966 &Tasman Cars at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1999.

It's the 1960 Lotus 18 of Alan Baillie in the light green UDT Laystall racing colours. The Lotus 18 was designed by Colin Chapman for Formula Junior, Formula Two and Formula One racing and gave Lotus its first World Championship Grand Prix win with victory by Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's car at Monaco in 1960. Alan Baillie's car has the 4-cylinder inline 2,497cc engine that powered the Formula One cars in 1960.

1960 Lotus 18

I took this photograph at the Donington Park Museum in May 1989.

It's a 1960 Lotus 18 that Stirling Moss, driving for Rob Walker's team, campaigned in 1960 the last year of the 2½ litre Formula, and in 1961 the first year of the 1½ litre Formula. In 1960 the car had a 2,497cc 4-cylinder inline Coventry Climax FPF engine and Stirling Moss won the Monaco Grand Prix, and also the last Grand Prix of the season in the USA. In 1961 the 1,500cc version of the FPF engine was used, and this is what the 'Great Racing Cars of the Donington Collection' book says about that season:

'Ferrari were well-prepared for the start of the new Formula with their F2-based V6 engines and true to form they dominated the 1961 season and won the Constructors’ Championship. Only one man and one car surpassed the Ferraris during the year, and that was the incomparable Stirling Moss doing his best at the wheel of Walker’s underpowered and now obsolete Lotus 18. He scored classic victories  in the Monaco and German GPs on the two most testing circuits in the series. Of Monaco he wrote:

“I said to myself: Well I may only have 80 per cent of the Ferrari’s power behind me, but let’s make them go; make them go the whole race…. When I had finished I could not recall any point in 90 or so of the 100 laps where I had taken a corner at less than my limit or had braked earlier for it than I could….”.

At the Nürburgring he gambled on using Dunlop D12 wet-weather tyres on a partially damp track, and the gamble paid off. By this time the Walker 18 had been modified with more streamlined ‘type 21’ bodywork and revised rear suspension, and at the close of the season Walker had Moss driving another 18/21 fitted with the new Coventry-Climax V8 engine.'

Historic Lotus Cars

I took this photograph at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000.

It's a line-up of historic Lotus cars, but I don't seem to have kept a record of exactly what cars they are. The first car looks like an early Lotus Seven and the second a Lotus 18. The third car is the Lotus Mk III from 1951 which was built to compete in 750 Motor Club racing and therefore had to be based on the Austin 7, using that car's 747cc straight-4 engine. This was the first car to be named a 'Lotus'. The next car is a Lotus Type 14, more commonly known as a Lotus Elite, a car that was produced from 1957 to 1963 and had the 1,216cc Coventry Climax FWE straight-4 engine. At the end of the row is what look like a Lotus Seven Series 3 which was produced from 1968 to 1970. The car in the background is a 1958 Lotus Seven, one of five cars produced that were effectively Le Mans Lotus Elevens with Lotus Seven bodies. This particular car, chassis #421 and registration VGJ4, was at one time owned by Betty Haig who won the National Ladies Hillclimb Championship in 1960 and 1961 with the car which had a 1,460cc Coventry Climax FWB straight-4 engine.

1961 Lotus 18

This was one of the competitors in the Aintree 200 race at the Liverpool circuit in April 1961.

It's the 1961 Lotus 18, one of three cars entered in the race by Team Lotus, and was driven by Trevor Taylor. The Lotus 18 was originally built in 1960 to compete in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula Junior races and was campaigned by the Lotus team in the 1960 Grand Prix season with a 2,467cc (later 2,497cc) Coventry Climax FPF 4-cylinder inline engine. In 1961 the regulations were changed limiting engine capacity to 1½ litres, and while Team Lotus mostly used the Lotus 21 for World Championship races the Lotus 18 was still put to use in some non-Championship races. The engine used in 1961 was the 1,500cc version of the Coventry Climax FPF engine. Trevor Taylor qualified in 14th position on the grid for the Aintree 200 race, but retired after 41 laps of the 50 lap race. The other two Team Lotus cars finished in 9th and 10th places respectively in the hands of Jim Clark and Innes Ireland.

1960 Lotus 18

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's Michael Schryver's 1960 Lotus 18 with a 4-cylinder 2,495cc Coventry Climax FPF engine. At Monaco in the last season of the 2½ litre Formula in 1960 Stirling Moss in the Rob Walker Racing Team's Lotus 18 gave Lotus their first Grand Prix victory, and also won the United States Grand Prix later that year. In 1961, the first year of the 1½ litre Formula, Stirling Moss repeated his win at Monaco in the Rob Walker car and also won the German Grand Prix.

Lotus 18

These cars are approaching the Old Hairpin in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

Leading is Michael Schryver in his 1960 Lotus 18 with a 2,495cc Coventry Climax engine. The Lotus 18 was designed to be used in Formula Junior, Formula Two and Formula One events, 1960 being the last year of Formula One's 2½ litre limit that started in 1954. The following car is Frank Sytner's 1963 Brabham BT4, chassis IC-2-62, a car that was built for the Australian and New Zealand season of Formula Libre races where it was powered by the 2,751cc Coventry Climax FPF engine that was developed for Jack Brabham's attempt to win the 1961 Indianapolis 500 race in a Cooper T54. The Donington Park programme says that Frank Sytner's car had a 2,500cc engine.

On 18 August 2016 I showed a photograph of Michael Schryver's car in the pit lane at this meeting, and on 27 December 2016 a photograph of Frank Sytner's car in the paddock.

Brabham BT4

Here are three cars approaching McLean's Corner in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars at the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association's International Historic Grand Prix Meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

Leading is Frank Sytner in his 2½ litre 1963 Brabham BT4, chassis #IC-2-62, a car that was derived from the BT3 F1 car and intended for Tasman Formula Racing. The following car is the 2½ litre 1960 Lotus 18 of Michael Schryver and the third car, as far as I can make out, is the 1½ litre 1961 LDS Mk2 of Julian Wakeley.

On 27 December 2016 I showed a photograph of the Brabham BT4 in the paddock at Donington Park in May 2001.

ATS 100

This car competed in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars at the HGPCA's International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's the 1962 ATS 100 GP, entered for the race by Bruce Shipman and driven by Jason Wright. Designed by former Ferrari chief engineer Carlo Chiti, it was the only F1 car produced by ATS. Phil Hill and Giancarlo Baghetti were the drivers, and the cars only started in five Grand Prix races (all in 1963), both cars retiring in the Belgian, Netherlands, USA and Mexican races, and finishing in eleventh and fifteenth places respectively in the Italian Grand Prix.

Here's Jason Wright at the Old Hairpin, leading the 1961 1½ litre Lotus 18 of Mark Griffiths.

On 16 January 2016 I showed a photograph of an ATS 100 at Donington Park in 2005.

Lotus 18

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre-66 Grand Prix Cars race at the VSCC's SeeRed meeting at Donington Park in September 2005.

It's the 1961 1475cc Lotus 18 of Mark Griffiths. The mid-engined Lotus 18 was a replacement for the front-engined Lotus 16 and the first such car to be built by Lotus, and was used in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula Junior racing. It was succeeded by the Lotus 21 in Formula 1 and the Lotus 20 as a Formula Junior car. On 18 August 2016 I showed a photograph of a Lotus 18 that I had taken at Donington Park in 2004.

Lotus 18

This is a photograph I took in the pit lane at the HGPCA's Donington International Historic Grand Prix meeting at Donington Park in May 2004.

It's Michael Schryver's 1960 Lotus 18 that competed in the HGPCA Race for Pre-1966 Grand Prix Cars. The Lotus 18 was Colin Chapman's first rear-engined car, introduced in 1960 in the last year of 2½ litre Formula One racing as a replacement for the front-engined Lotus 16 which was being outclassed by the rear-engined Cooper. Stirling Moss in Rob Walker's privately owned Lotus 18 gave Lotus its first World Championship victory at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix.