Lotus 72

For me it's the Lotus 72 - an emotional choice as much as a design one. It came out in 1970 when I was 11 and getting interested in motorsport,…

The Type 76 occupies little more than a footnote in the Lotus story. Quietly forgotten by the team back in 1974, it’s overlooked in the history books today. It is…

Although I had no more than a small role as the team’s press officer during the black-and-gold glory days of the Lotus 72, I had a ringside seat at someof…

It’s one of motor racing’s most familiar photographic clichés: black livery with gold flourishes, distinctive dark helmet with elegant red swirls, driver’s head cocked to one side as he coaxes…

"The Lotus 72 was such an important car for me –definitely the best car of my career. I have driven it recently at the Goodwood events and it still feels…

Chassis 72/5 Fittipaldi’s old faithful Emerson Fittipaldi crashed what would turn out to be his ‘old faithful’ on his first appearance in the car, in Friday practice at Monza 1970…

Sponsored content  At some point during the 1972 British Grand Prix weekend, the Team Lotus mechanics modified the oil cooler at the rear of Emerson Fittipaldi’s Type 72. It can’t…

From the outset Colin Chapman had no option but to be obsessive about the weight of his cars. He had no access to the exotic twincam engines used by such…

Half a century after his untimely death at the Italian Grand Prix meant he became Formula 1’s only posthumous world champion, Jochen Rindt’s influence smoulders still in a certain quarter…

Given the extent of its innovation, the Lotus 72 should have had a bigger advantage in 1970. Although Jochen Rindt won four races in a row, it was only dominant…

Once a retired racing driver has decided to hang up his helmet, he has to find a way of dealing with the rest of his life. For most, it very…

“The era of radical innovations has passed. From now on we will proceed by detail improvements.” That was Colin Chapman’s view of Formula 1 at the end of 1973. Blimey.…

The Hamilton phenomenon has rewritten the Formula 1 record books. But Lewis’s meteoric progress doesn’t diminish the achievements, 37 years ago, of a Brazilian tyro called Emerson Fittipaldi. Emerson was…

"Mad Ronald," Mike Hailwood used to call him. Twenty and 30 years ago, Grand Prix racing may have been infinitely more perilous than now, but it lacked the hard edge…

Replacing the innovative and iconic Lotus 72 was never going to be easy --- even though it was in its fifth season. Andrew Frankel drives the car that tried Bad…

There are numerous cars greater than the sum of all their parts. There are few, though, infinitely greater. And this is one of them. From its Unipart-sourced pressure cap to…

On 19 April, 1970, a pair of Lotus 72s made their F1 debuts in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. Striking and purposeful in the distinctive red, white and gold…