1981 Lotus 88B

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in 2000 celebrated 50 years of Formula 1 racing and this is one of the array of cars on display in the paddock covering those 50 years.

It's the controversial 1981 Lotus 88B that never actually started a Grand Prix race. It was created by Colin Chapman and his design team of Tony Rudd, Peter Wright and Martin Ogilvie and effectively had two chassis to take advantage of the downforce produced by ground effects cars, and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine. The other F1 teams queried the legality of this twin chassis layout and for the first three Grands Prix of the 1981 season the original Lotus 88 passed scrutineering but was then not allowed to take part in the races. Minor changes were made to the car before the British Grand Prix to create the Lotus 88B, but the car was not even allowed to be presented for scrutineering.

Friday's Ferrari

The Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 2000 celebrated 50 years of the Formula 1 World Championship, which started with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1950. There was a display of a representative selection of Formula 1 cars from those 50 years and here's one which saw action in 1979.

It's the Ferrari 312 T4 with which Jody Scheckter won the World Championship in 1979. Scheckter won three races, the Grands Prix of Belgium, Monaco and Italy, and his team mate Gilles Villeneuve won the South African, United States and United States West races, finishing in second place in the Drivers' Championship. Ferrari, naturally, won the Constructors' Championship. Next to the Ferrari is a 1980 Alfa Romeo 179 and next to that a 1981 Lotus 88B.

Lotus 88B

I photographed this car at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1998.

It's the controversial 1981 Lotus 88B that never actually started a Grand Prix race. It was created by Colin Chapman and his design team of Tony Rudd, Peter Wright and Martin Ogilvie and effectively had two chassis to take advantage of the downforce produced by ground effects cars, and was powered by the 2,993cc V8 Cosworth DFV engine. The other F1 teams queried the legality of this twin chassis layout and for the first three Grands Prix of the 1981 season the original Lotus 88 passed scrutineering but was then not allowed to take part in the races. Minor changes were made to the car before the British Grand Prix to create the Lotus 88B, but the car was not even allowed to be presented for scrutineering. You can read the full story of the car in this auto123.com article.

On 18 January 2017 I showed a photograph of this car at the 1995 Coys meeting at Silverstone.