1962 Lotus 24

This is a photograph that I took at Aintree on practice day for the British Grand Prix in July 1962. It was actually a colour slide that had deteriorated, but I’ve managed to restore it to a recognisable picture.

It's the UDT Laystall Racing Team's 1962 Lotus 24 which was driven in the race by Innes Ireland. The Lotus 24 was a spaceframe car offered to customers instead of the monocoque Lotus 25 used by the Lotus works team, and was powered by the Coventry Climax FWMV 1,496cc V8 engine. Innes Ireland qualified the car in third position on the grid, but because of some wear in the gearbox it was rebuilt overnight by the mechanics. During the warming-up lap before the race one of the selector forks in the gearbox broke and the mechanics quickly removed the top to remove the broken parts before the start leaving Innes Ireland with no second or third gear. When the flag fell he couldn't find any gear and sat on the grid as all the other cars dodged round him and went on their way. The car was then wheeled to the pits and the mechanics spent several laps getting the gearbox to work, Innes Ireland starting the race on lap 10 with only 1st, 4th and 5th gears but he soldiered round to finish in 16th and last place 14 laps behind the winner, Jim Clark.

1962 Lotus 24

This is a photograph that I took at Waterway corner during practice for the British Grand Prix at Aintree in July 1962.

It’s Masten Gregory in a Lotus 24 Climax, entered by the UDT Laystall Racing Team. He qualified in fourteenth place on the grid and ended the race in seventh position, one lap behind the winner. The Lotus 24 was powered by the same 1,496cc Coventry Climax FWMV engine as the Lotus 25, but had a conventional spaceframe chassis instead of the Lotus 25's monocoque chassis.

1962 Lotus 24

I took this photograph on the approach to Waterway corner at Aintree during the Friday practice session for the British Grand Prix in July 1962.

It's Innes Ireland in the UDT Laystall Racing Team's 1962 Lotus 24. The Lotus 24 was a spaceframe car offered to customers instead of the monocoque Lotus 25 used by the Lotus works team, and was powered by the Coventry Climax FWMV 1,496cc V8 engine. Innes Ireland qualified the car in third position on the grid, but because of some wear in the gearbox it was rebuilt overnight by the mechanics. During the warming-up lap before the race one of the selector forks in the gearbox broke and the mechanics quickly removed the top to remove the broken parts before the start leaving Innes Ireland with no second or third gear. When the flag fell he couldn't find any gear and sat on the grid as all the other cars dodged round him and went on their way. The car was then wheeled to the pits and the mechanics spent several laps getting the gearbox to work, Innes Ireland starting the race on lap 10 with only 1st, 4th and 5th gears but he soldiered round to finish in 16th and last place 14 laps behind the winner, Jim Clark.

1962 Lotus 24

I took this photograph on the start/finish straight at Aintree during practice for the 1962 British Grand Prix.

It's the UDT Laystall Racing Team's 1962 Lotus 24 driven by Masten Gregory and for this race it had the 4-cylinder inline 1,500cc Coventry Climax FPF engine, although for most of the races that year he drove it with a 1,498cc V8 BRM P56 engine. He qualified in fourteenth place on the grid and ended the race in seventh position, one lap behind the winner, Jim Clark in a Lotus 25. Masten Gregory didn't have a very successful season with the car, scoring a single point in the World Drivers' Championship with a sixth place in the USA Grand Prix.