Lotus 47

[rbs]

Can any one help complete the history of Lotus 47 No2.

It was originally a works Lotus team car driven by Jackie Oliver and John Miles. It was then sold to John Calvert who won several races at Croft with it.

Do you have any records of the races , lap times etc that he competed in. JC crashed the car at Silverstone and it was rebodied as Lotus 47 GT 78.

JC sold the car to another North Eastern Racer. It was then
owned by John Neale and now owned by Pat Thomas.

Any details would be welcome.

[Andrew Kitson]

Was that one of the Gold Leaf cars from '68?
I think it was white when John Calvert had it. I remember it had air scoops on the roof ( a bit like De Udy T70 style). Not much help I'm afraid.

[Anuauto]

Was that the first one to be raced? (Boxing Day Brands 1967?) Plain white. Driver John Miles?

[Jeremy Jackson]

I saw Calvert race it a couple of times in 1969 at Croft. (It was indeed white, but had a turquoise/blue top half)

At the WD & HO Wills RAC Sports car champ. race on July 12/13, it wore race no. 29. 17th in heat 1 , 12th in heat 2. On aggregate, it was 15th overall

[Andrew Kitson]

Found a photo in our archive within this thread.
http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...644#post469644

[Jeremy Jackson]

The photo I have of it in 1969 is without the scoops; so I presume that's post-rebuild.

My RAC championship records for Calvert have a a gap between the Touristt Trophy in June 1968, until the Martini Silverstone in May 1969 (where he had a light 'off' at Woodcote)

[RTH]

Not I think the same car - this one was road legal and road tested by triple C in 1967.

This was me Brands GP circuit March 1982 I made the air intakes on a spare engine cover - it made no difference to the performance !

[simon drabble]

why are there no 47's racing today? Would they be competitive to Chevron B8's?

[rbs]

Pat Thomas will be out next year

[275 GTB-4]

Originally posted by simon drabble
why are there no 47's racing today? Would they be competitive to Chevron B8's?

I think not, the B8 is a serious piece of kit, whilst the 47 seems limited by its rear suspension

[klaus]

I think, nearly half of the early 47 had problems with fire. So some were destroyed by that.
I remember the 47s at the Nürburgring, mainly the chris Barber team car, and at the 500kn race in sept. 67 the two 47s of Taylor and Hine were amongst the Alpine A 210 at the top of the grid. in the beginning of the race , they were very fast and batteling with the leading Alpine, unfortunately retiring later on.
at the 1000km race three month before, there was a 47 with Climax engine. it was dark blue with a white stripe. does anybody know something about this strange engined 47?

I think, mostly they had lotus twin cam engines, but i also saw a picture of a rather rotten car , which had a cosworth FVA under the bonnet.

[tony griffiths]

John Calvert sold his car to someone in Sunderland -- I think ! Who also had a road going 47 ..... X-Flow engine with Renault gearbox.
I brought the car over here but has since been sold back to the UK -- chassis nuumber 55 I think which was supposedly one of the last built.

Biggest problem was the lack of brakes !

[RAP]

Calvert was at Crystal Palace 14th Sept 68 with a 47 - entered by Sunderland Racing Developments but in the programme colour is given as RED . - 8th in practcice but did not start. Would this be the No2 car or another?
RAP

[Johannes Ditz]

Calvert bought the ex team car, which was chassisnumber 4, from the works in 1968. He had this accident at Silverstone. He hit another 47. The car was then rebuilt with a replacement chassis, #78. They soon found out that the car had lost its pace somehow. Maybe the opposition was better then, maybe the second chassis was too heavy, the body being taken from the S1A production line.
Now why are the 47s not being raced today. There is only one ore two cars race ready, #64 and #74. both in the US. Ed Mettelman reports that he is in the 26R range, but the Cevrons are faster. #68 from England and #27 from Australia will be running soon. These care have bigger (contemporary) engines, just as the Chevrons have. We will see what happens. It must be mentioned, that it is much easier to restore and maintain Chevrons. If you have a dammage on the later car, you just screw your chassis plate on a new bunch of tubes. The chassis of a 47 has to be replaced and the frame number goes with it. There is only a handfull of cars remaining with original chassis in place

JD
47GT-71

[RAP]

Johannes
You you saying that Calvert's car was Chassis 4, not 2 as per the original post by rbs? When was the Silverstone accident please?

[Johannes Ditz]

The ex team car sold to J. Calvert was definitely #4. He purchased the car between the years 67/68.
The accident came on one of these Britisch print media trophy events that no foreigner can keep apart. I have been shown a picture, with the hedlamp surroundig hovering 4 jards in the air with the cars colliding underneath. Pat Thomas knows more about it.
I was thrilled to learn that J.Calvert had another car for private use. I reckoned that it must have been another replacement. Maybe it did end as such. The chassis number was 59F. Does anybody know more?
You will understand that I am above all interested in the history of the differnet chassis. It would be nice to trace them back.

JD

[cavvy]

Originally posted by Johannes Ditz
Now why are the 47s not being raced today. There is only one ore two cars race ready, #64 and #74. both in the US. Ed Mettelman reports that he is in the 26R range, but the Cevrons are faster.
JD
47GT-71

Can you please explain the reference to 26R ?

[tony griffiths]

the car that I bought -- supposedly ex Calvert road car was chassis number 55f ... from memory !

[Fogelhund]

The reference to the Lotus 26R is made to compare their speeds. There are a couple of other 47's in North America, though I'm not sure if they get campaigned much.

[Johannes Ditz]

That´s right, there are other 47s in America, but I am not sure if any other car except A.Bollinger´s #64 and E.Mettelman´s # #74 has been raced in the last couple of years. Does anybody know where B.Colom´s #83 is now?
The statement about the cometitiveness of his car was made by owner/driver E. M. after his first outing at Lime Rock last year. Pictures under N. Chapman Racing on the web.
That is not a genuine 47, by the way, look where the driver sits!

JD

[Johannes Ditz]

Tony,

congratulations, you bought a genuine 47, according to the production list. But I have another 47 road car to offer: Chassisnumber 54F

JD

[RAP]

Johannes
Do you know the chassis number of the car raced in the UK in 1968 by jazz muscician Chris Barber, usually driven by John Hine?
Thanks

[tony griffiths]

Johannes,

Think the last 5 or so 47's where road cars ... I sold the car here in California and has since been sold back to the UK !

All I have left is the original steering wheel.

Tony

[john ruston]

We have been trying to find a decent 47 for past two months without success to replace our 2 litre GTA .With papers.A B8 seems to be the car for tour espania and we need something different

[Johannes Ditz]

Sorry, I have no clue what number Barber´s car had. It is very hard to get information about these very early cars. Nobody except one has publicly claimed the ownership of any car of the first 25 since the 47 homepage existed. Do they fear the sharp eye of the tax board?

Concerning the 47Fs, it is obvious that none of the last 15 cars were such cars, for the FIA had accepted the 47 as Group 4 car and there was no need for more supplementory vehicles. (What leads to the question of what a decent 47 is).
A perfect car for such a road event like Tour Auto or Tour Espana would be a 47F, from theory. It is a highly unservicable car though. If you hit something, it is all over. Better go for a nice (German engineering) Porsche Abarth Carrera or a 904 GTS.