It was lightweight – something that would become a Lotus hallmark – had disc brakes, magnesium ‘wobbly web’ wheels and a novel sequential-style gearbox.
Photo by: LAT Photographic / Motorsport ImagesĬhapman always wanted to push the boundaries so it’s perhaps no surprise that his first F1 car wasn’t conservative. It was replaced by the 109, but Team Lotus was already on the financial slippery slope that led to its closure at the end of the season.Ĭliff Allison in the Lotus-Climax 12 at the 1958 French GP The 107C, now with Mugen-Honda V10 power, started the 1994 campaign, after all the gizmos had been banned. The car was developed into 107B spec for 1993 and ran active suspension, with Herbert scoring the lion’s share of the points alongside new team-mate Alex Zanardi.īudget restrictions meant Lotus was never likely to challenge the era’s big hitters Williams, McLaren, Benetton and Ferrari, but had topped the midfield in 1992 and was sixth overall, behind Ligier, the following year. Reliability was a problem, but the 107 was good enough to take Lotus to fifth in the constructors’ championship, its best result since 1988. Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert used the customer Ford HB V8-engined 107 and were often threats for points – when they were only awarded to the top six. With the 102, Lotus had slumped to 13th fastest in 1991, but it leapt to sixth the following year. Lotus, under different management, was in its declining years in the early 1990s, but Chris Murphy’s 107 was a neat, attractive and competitive car that was a points scorer across two seasons and lifted Lotus back into the top six of the world championship.
Photo by: Ercole Colombo / Motorsport Images Mika Hakkinen in the Lotus-Ford 107 at the 1992 Australian GP Note: Wins are world championship grand prix wins, non-championship successes are not included. We have ignored the times when the Lotus name has been brought back, first by the Malaysian-backed team that later became Caterham and then the Enstone-based ‘Lotus’ between its different Renault eras, so this is strictly 1958-94. To produce this list we considered a number of factors, including the level of success each car scored, how important and innovative they were, and how iconic they are. It also scored seven constructors’ and six drivers’ crowns, and in the 1970s briefly overtook Ferrari as the most successful F1 manufacturer in terms of victories. The 79 world championship F1 wins scored by the firm founded by Colin Chapman puts Lotus fifth in the table, behind Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Williams, and one spot ahead of Red Bull.
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