Lotus 12

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use British English Template:Racing car The Lotus 12 was a British racing car used in Formula Two and Formula One. It debuted at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix and was Colin Chapman's first single-seat racer.

Design

Colin Chapman's first foray into single-seater racing, the 12 appeared in 1958. It featured a number of important innovations Chapman would use on later models. To better use the power of the Coventry Climax engine, it was designed, as usual, for low weight and low drag, relying on a space frame. It placed the driver as low as possible, reducing the height of transmission tunnel by way of a "conceptually brilliant"[1] five-speed sequential-shift transaxle located in the back. This transaxle was designed by Richard Ansdale and Harry Mundy. The gearbox had a (long-undiagnosed) oil starvation problem, thus earned the nickname "Queerbox" for its unreliability.

Although the first two examples of Lotus 12 had De Dion rear suspension, it also introduced a new suspension configuration with what came to be called "Chapman struts" in the rear, essentially a MacPherson strut with a fixed length halfshaft with universal joints on the ends utilised as a suspension arm.[2]

Script error: No such module "Listen". Lotus 12 was the first Lotus to be fitted with the iconic wobbly-web wheels.[3] Reflecting Chapman's emphasis on engineering for lightness, these were cast in magnesium alloy, a kind of crimped cylinder, resulting in minimum material and maximum strength, without the weaknesses induced by slots in conventional designs.[1]

Despite its engineering advances, the 12 was not a success in F1. In F2, the car won the class in the mixed F1/F2 1958 BRDC International Trophy, driven by Cliff Allison, but in spite of a small number of podiums, was usually drowned in a sea of Coopers.

Gallery

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Teams Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points WCC
Template:Ifnumber Team Lotus Climax Straight-4 D ARG MON NED 500 BEL FRA GBR GER POR ITA MOR 3 6th
Cliff Allison 6 6 4 Ret 10 7 10
Graham Hill Ret Ret Ret
Ecurie Demi Litre D Ivor Bueb 11*
Template:Ifnumber Dennis Taylor Climax Straight-4 D MON 500 NED FRA GBR GER POR ITA USA 5 4th1
Dennis Taylor DNQ

<templatestyles src="Citation/styles.css"/>^1 All points scored using the Lotus 16. * F2 driver

Notes

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  1. ↑ a b Setright, p. 1225
  2. ↑ Setright, pp. 1225–6
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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Sources

  • Setright, L. J. K. Lotus: The golden mean, in Northey, Tom (ed.) World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 11, pp. 1221–34.

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