Tag Archives: 30

Goodwood Revival 2012 – #6 Lotus

Today’s post features some of the Lotus cars that were on track at Goodwood Revival last week.

The looks and early form of the Lotus 30 flattered to deceive even with Jim Clark at the wheel, this one driven by Paul Wright features the cool exhausts coming out of the top and is one of the few whose lines have not been spoiled with a rear spoiler.

Dan Gurney played an instrumental part in taking Lotus to Indy in 1963, this is the Lotus Ford 29 chassis #29/2 Dan used in practice for the 1963 Indy 500 until he put in the wall during morning practice on Pole Day. Dan qualified the spare chassis #29/1 running the #93 12th and finished the race in 7th place after a late pit stop dropped him from 3rd.

Lotus designed the space frame Lotus 24 for it’s customers in 1962, while keeping back the new monocoque Lotus 25 for the works team. The Climax powered #23 driven by Michel Wanty above is chassis #942 which was one of two supplied to the British Racing Partnership Team racing under the UDT Lystall banner for Innes Ireland and Marsten Gregory to drive. Gregory drove the car once to a 7th place finish in the ’62 British Grand Prix while Ireland retired the car in five from seven races started before finishing 5th in the South African Grand Prix.

British Racing Partnerships also used a BRM powered Lotus 24 in 1962 with which Gregory managed a best 6th place in the ’62 US Grand Prix, the following season BRP fielded two BRM powered Lotus 24 for Ireland and Jim Hall, Jim finished 6th in the British and 5th in the German Grand Prix. The Lotus BRM 24 driven above by Nigel Williams is chassis #P1 which was supplied to the Reg Parnell Racing team for 1963. Marsten Gregory, Roger Ward, Hap Sharp and Chris Amon all had a go in it with Sharp scoring a best 7th place in the 1963 Mexican Grand Prix. The following season Peter Revson drove the car now fitted with bodywork from a 1963 Lola Mk4A, as seen above, for Parnell on two occasions in Belgium and Britain without any worthwhile results.

Dan Collins was out in the Classic Team Lotus entered Lotus Climax 21 #933 which I looked at in December.

Rob Walkers famous Lotus Climax 18 chassis #912 used by Stirling Moss to win the 1960 and 1961 Monaco Grand Prix was being driven by Stephen Bond.

Entered by Real Auto Club Catalunya was the Lotus 16 driven by Joachim Foch-Rusinol seen here blasting past the 1959 Tec Mec Maserati 250F at St Mary’s corner. The 1959 Lotus 16 was Colin Chapman’s second seat design after the 1956 Lotus 12.

Finally the 1955 Lotus Bristol X driven by Malcolm Paul and Rick Bourne, who is seen at the wheel here, charges into the evening during the Freddie March Memorial Trophy race to a 6th place finish.

My thanks to Wouter Melisson from The Nostalgia Forum and http://www.ultimatecarpage.com for his help identifying Michel Wanty’s Lola Mk4A bodied Lotus 24.

Thanks for joining me on this “#6 Lotus Edition” of “Gettin a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me tomorrow for a look at what happens when a dictatorship put’s all the necessary resources into the hands of a couple of racing teams. Don’t forget to come back now !

On Prince’s And Pharoh’s – NSU Prinz 30

“Tender At Heart” – Ford V8 30 Saloon

Pushing The Backbone – Lotus 30

1 Reply

Allegedly Colin Chapman was a little upset about losing the contract to develop the Ford GT40 to Lola and set out to build a sports racing car in 1964 that would show Ford that they had made the wrong choice.

Colin’s idea was to use a back bone chassis similar to the one used in his successful Lotus Elan but stronger to accommodate a 4.7 litre / 286 cui Ford Fairlane motor in the rear. It is said that Colin stubbornly over ruled his designer Len Terry when the latter advised against such an idea and went ahead and built the car with a sleek curvacious body measuring just 26.5″ high.

Photo Courtesy of Tim Murray above, shows Andrew Bradshaw’s Lotus 30 at Dyrham Park.

The original Lotus 30 clothed in a fibre glass body that made regular maintenance exceedingly difficult weighed less than 700 kgs / 1600 lbs and had 350 hp which was transmitted to the ground by 13″ wheels and was stopped by solid disc brakes all round. Unfortunately while the car won a few races, notably in the hands of Jim Clark the chassis, as predicted by Len Terry proved insufficiently strong which resulted in the backbone flexing, and on at least one occasion a chassis is recorded as having snapped in half. It is thought 18 Lotus 30’s were built with an additional 2 replacement chassis being supplied for damaged cars.

Matthew Watts example seen here at last years Goodwood Revival has been fitted with an interpretation of the period body modifications developed by JCB research to over come overheating problems caused by the spare wheel, required by the Group 7 rules, being placed behind the radiator in the nose.

For 1965 the model was updated; with a stronger chassis backbone, spoilers, larger wheels and ventilated disc brakes, was built, though not solving all of the problems 9 examples of the S2 were built and sold. Towards the end of 1965 Colin Chapman uprated this chassis again calling the new model the Lotus 40, dubbed by Richie Ginther as ‘like the Lotus 30 but with ten extra problems’ but the three Lotus 40 chassis were no match for the Group 7 cars produced by either Lola or McLaren.

Despite the lack of success against the Lola’s and McLarens the Lotus 30 was still being raced in British club events until the early 1970’s by John Markey.

My thanks to Lotus30.com for the chassis information Woulter Melisson at Ultimatecarpage.com and Martin Krejci at racingsportscars.com for additional information and results. Thanks also to Graham Gauld, pete53, Roger Lund, Tony Gallagher and Ted Walker at The Nostalgia Forum for additional information regarding today’s featured vehicle.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Pushing The Backbone’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

PS I hope you will join me in wishing best wishes to GALPOT Concours d’Elegance Correspondent and Birthday Boy Geoffrey Horton ! 🙂

E-Type – Vauxhall 30-98 Velox Tourer

1 Reply

In 1913 Vauxhall announced their replacement for the Vauxhall D-Type known officially as the 30-98 or E-Type. 13 chassis were built before the Great War of 1914 – 1918, during which period Vauxhall fulfilled orders from the War Department to build the older D-type models for the use of nobility and Generals alike.

Between the cessation of hostilities and 1922 it is thought around 270 further 30-98 E-types were built with 90 hp 4,525 cc / 276 cui four cylinder side valve engines which gave the car when striped down a 100 mph capability. Above Mark Butterworth negotiates the Pardon Hainpin at Prescott in his 1921 model. Unlike the equally fast contemporary Bentleys, Vauxhall 30-98 models only acquired front brakes during the production span of the model.

The 30-98 E type was fitted with an improved 115 hp overhead valve engine in 1922, known as the OE to distinguish it from its older side valve engined siblings. Above Phil Dobbin can be seen lining up his 1924 30-98 OE for the start of a run up the hill at Loton Park.

1924 was the most successful year for the 30/98 E-type when 111 examples were built. Nicola Quartermaine’s 30-98 seen above negotiating the Triangle at Loton Park above comprises an older 1921 pre OE chassis and a 1924 4224 cc / 258 cui OE motor.

Around 60% of all 30-98 E-types, like the 1924 chassis OE 102 driven by Roger Thorpe at Prescott above were exported to Australia, some have since made their way back to the mother land.

Vauxhall 30-98 E-types were available with either 4 seater tourer or 2 seater ‘Wesum’ boat tail body work with a ‘dicky’ (fold out) seat in the boat tail from the factory, alternatively a chassis could be ordered and sent to a coachworks for a bespoke body. Grosvenor Carriage Company for example, part of the Vauxhall dealer Shaw & Kilburn empire, built bodies for Vauxhalls exclusively during the production life of the 30-98. Above Adam Jones drives a 1925 4 seater with a tourer body, similar to all the vehicle bodies featured in today’s post. Note the absence of a drivers door on all of the vehicles featured in today’s post !

The class leading speed and later 4 wheel braking of the 30-98 was not enough to deliver consistent earnings for Vauxhall and in 1925 the company was sold for US$ 2.5 million to General Motors who set about challenging Ford at a lower end of the UK market than Vauxhall had hitherto catered for. Above Dr Nick Bell above drives a 1927 30-98 OE tourer, chassis OE 304, one of the last of the in total 312 OE’s built since 1922.

Thanks for joining me on this E-Type edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

Gettin' A Li'l Psycho On Tyres

Art Tidesco blogs on all things motoring