With formidable performance expected, the car was fitted with the largest disc brakes available. The later was designed specifically for use on ovals. Both a conventional and an off-set version of the suspension was developed. As on the F1 car, the chassis consisted of two sheet aluminium pontoons that were connected by various steel cross-members and double as the bottom of the body.Īlso carried over from the Type 25 was the suspension with wishbones and rockers at the front and wishbones, top links and trailing arms at the rear. This was done to meet the minimum wheelbase requirement and to accommodate for the new engine, which was over twice as large as the diminutive Coventry-Climax V8 used in the Type 25. In Ford, where an all-aluminium V8 was under development they found a formidable partner.ĭubbed the Type 29, Lotus' first Indy racer was effectively an enlarged version of the successful F1 car. He had raced a mid-engined car in the 1962 Indy 500 and believed that a lighter, more efficient machine would be able to break the Roadsters' stronghold. One of the driving forces behind this ambitious project was American Dan Gurney, who convinced Chapman that a mid-engined Lotus would be more than a match for the rather more archaic and much larger Indy 'Roadsters'. ![]() In fact, it was so strong that it allowed Lotus' Colin Chapman to quickly develop a machine for the lucrative Indy 500. ![]() Its key strength (literally) was the revolutionary monocoque chassis, which was both lighter and more rigid than the conventional tubular spaceframe chassis. With the ground-breaking Type 25 introduced at the 1962 Dutch Grand Prix, Lotus had become one of Formula 1's top runners.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |