1962 Lotus 25

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

It's a 1962 Lotus 25 with a 1,496cc V8 Coventry Climax FWMV engine. The Lotus 25 was raced by Jim Clark in the 1962 season but its initial unreliability leading to retirement in four of the races meant that he could only finish in second place to Graham Hill's BRM in that season's World Drivers' Championship. He won the Championship the following year though and finished in third place in 1964 driving the Lotus 25 in the early part of the season before switching to the Lotus 33 for the second half of the season.

1962 Lotus 25

This car competed in the HGPCA Pre '65 Grand Prix Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1962 Lotus 25 of Cedric Selzer with a 1,496cc V8 Coventry Climax FWMV engine that was driven in the race by Chris Alford. The Lotus 25 was raced by Jim Clark in the 1962 season but its initial unreliability leading to retirement in four of the races meant that he could only finish in second place to Graham Hill's BRM in that season's World Drivers' Championship. He won the Championship the following year though and finished in third place in 1964 driving the Lotus 25 in the early part of the season before switching to the Lotus 33 for the second half of the season. Cedric Selzer's car was rebuilt from the remains of Lotus 25 chassis R4 that was destroyed in a crash during practice for the 1963 Belgian Grand Prix when being driven by Trevor Taylor.

Lotus 25

The paddock at Aintree was in the middle of the circuit and to get to the pits the cars had to be driven, or pushed, along a duckboard track across the Grand National horse racing course. The car in this photograph has just been driven by a mechanic from the pits to the paddock after a practice session for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.

It's the Lotus 25 of Jim Clark in which he qualified in pole position on the grid, and won the race the following day with John Surtees' Lola in second place and Bruce McLaren's Cooper third. The Lotus 25 had a 1,498cc Coventry Climax V8 engine and was the only Lotus 25 in the race, his teammate Trevor Taylor driving a Lotus 24.

On 6 July 2016 I showed a photograph of Trevor Taylor driving a Lotus 25 at Silverstone in 1993, and on 13 August 2016 a photograph of Jim Clark at the 1962 British Grand Prix.

Jim Clark

Here's a photograph I took in the paddock on practice day for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

It's the late Jim Clark who qualified his Lotus 25 in pole position for the race, in which he finished in first place and also set the fastest lap. Jim Clark won three of the nine World Championship races that season, but retired in four of the other races due to the fragility of the Lotus 25, finishing second in the World Championship to Graham Hill. The Lotus was sorted by the following year though, Jim Clark winning seven of the ten races and the World Championship by a large margin from Graham Hill.

Lotus 25

The theme for the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1993 was 'British Racing Green' with a display of British cars, some of which participated in demonstration runs on the track. Here's one of the cars that took part in the demonstration runs.

It's a 1962 Lotus 25, and is here being taken out for one of the demonstration runs by Trevor Taylor who partnered Jim Clark in the Lotus team in the 1962 and 1963 seasons. Jim Clark finished second in the Drivers' World Championship in 1962 and won it the following year.