Lotus 12

[macca]

Originally Posted by Andrew Kitson

Some rare Loti:
Lotus 12.

That's not a Lotus 12, I think - some sort of FJ like an Elva or Gemini?

Paul M

[Andrew Kitson]

It is a 12 Paul, being driven by Cliff Allison at the Team Lotus 50th celebrations at Hethel in July 2004. No other cars apart from Lotus types were demonstrated.

[macca]

Mmmmm............unusual tail for a 12.

johnh875, this is the Lola T610 I was thinking of, at Le Mans 1982:

http://www.racingsportscars.com/phot...-06-20-016.jpg

No front wing and a very small rear one for the Mulsanne obviously - but similar colours.

Paul M

[John Turner]

Andrew, I have to agree with macca that that tail is not the one I would associate with the Lotus 12, which normally had a lower one more at the same level as the engine cover. The tail in the photo is more like a cross between the later 16 tail and a Vanwall type. A development 12 then, perhaps, testing the aerodynamics for the 16?

[macca]

A Lotus 12 at Brands in 1988.

Paul M

[John Turner]

Yes, that's how I remember them, but in a curious symmetry, there were 12 built and I think it highly likely that one or two would have been used to test ideas for the 16, hence the picture provided by Andrew. If this is a car retained by Team Lotus, it could well be one of, if not the, last 12 built and the most likely candidate for development work, including body mods. However, this is all conjecture; does anyone actually know for sure?

[David McKinney]

One or two of the later 12s were indeed built with higher tails

[rbs]

This could be the Moorland FJ car.

[John Turner]

rbs, please see Andrew's post (#2) above, but I agree that there is a remarkable similarity. I just happen to have a pic of William Grimshaw's 1959 Moorland Mk1 that I took in the Brands paddock at the Superprix, last year!




The most obvious difference is that the Lotus has a crossflow head with the exhaust emerging on the opposite side.

[macca]

The REAL experts on Lotus have pointed out to me that on page 18 of 'Theme Lotus' by Doug Nye there is a photo of Dennis Taylor in chassis no. 355, which appears to be identical to the one Cliff Allison drove at Hethel..............so my apologies for ever doubting you, Andrew.

Paul M

[John Turner]

The truth will out in the end, Paul, but it's good fun getting there, especially when a new thread has resulted from the challenge! Now, does anyone want to start a new thread about the Moorland which I know absolutely nothing about?

[Marcus Mussa]

I spoke to the owner of the Lotus 12 pictured at Hethel. It is one of two cars with a high tail; this is indeed the ex-Dennis Taylor car, chassis 355 – the other being the Ivor Bueb car. Taylor was very tall (6’6”) and presumably the high tail was built with his height in mind. He was an off-licence proprietor near Bromley and was close to Lola, so his Lotus was built with Lola wishbones and uprights, which it still has to this day. It was not driven at Hethel by Cliff Allison (he drove the same owner’s Lotus 18 – which he had driven in period). The car was found in the USA and is now in the UK (and up for sale …).

[rbs]

Back to the Moorland. IIRC the car was designed by Len Terry prior to the Terriers.Graham Warner of The Chequered Flag Garage took over the running of the car and changer the name to Gemini.