The car in which Ayrton Senna scored his first Grand Prix victory was one of four Lotuses on display at Autosport International. Senna won the 1985 Portuguese Grand Prix in the Renault turbo-powered 97T.
One of the revolutionary 49s was also on display. This car introduced the Cosworth DFV power plant and the concept of using the engine as a stressed member within the chassis. Graham Hill won the 1968 world championship in a Lotus 49.
A Lotus 25, with which Jim Clark dominated the 1962 season, was also on display. And the Lotus 72, which spanned six seasons from 1970 to 1975, bringing world titles for Jochen Rindt in 1970 (posthumously) and Emerson Fittipaldi in 1972. Pictures below.
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Chaz
9th January 2009, 22:54
Loud and proud cigarette advertising… lol those were the days. Great pictures of beautiful car designs, but gosh how things have changed. Whatever happened to Lotus. They did have a fairly good run of it…
Wesley
10th January 2009, 0:14
I love the Lotus cars.
Cigarettes may be bad for you but,they sure gave alot to the racing community,I bet F1 wishes they could use that money now….in this poor economy.
Daniel
10th January 2009, 2:29
I’ve never thought about it before… Senna won all his 41 race wins driving for the greatest (current and past) english teams…
Great pictures, it’s a shame that Lotus and Brabham, teams with such heritage, ended their days in a sad way… The only thing I like in the cutting-costs measures is that it can rescue Williams!
Adrian
10th January 2009, 8:36
Lotus John Player Special….still one of the best liveries ever!
D Winn
10th January 2009, 13:41
There is something in the cockpit view of the Lotus 25, that should be resurrected; to keep the drivers awake and introduce a few errors !
‘Spot the ball’
Jeff
14th January 2009, 13:10
Agreed D Winn. It’s simple yet sharp and very classy looking.