Lotus 51 Race Car
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Constructor: |
Lotus |
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Class |
Race Car |
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Years |
1967 to 1968 |
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Designer: |
Colin Chapman |
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Chassis: |
space-frame |
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Wheelbase: |
90 inches |
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Engine: |
Ford |
| Width: | 59 inches |
| length: | 152 inches |
| Weight: | 410 kilos |
The Lotus 51 was a Formula Ford racing car, built in 1967 by the British motorsport team Lotus .in the late 1960s.
History
The Lotus 51 1967 was a bestseller for Colin Chapman and the Lotus team. with around 200 vehicles were built and sold. The price of a vehicle was £955. A 1967 space-frame car for Formula Ford racing based on the Mk 31 the body Resin bonded colour impregnated glass fibre in three sections, comprising undertray, nose section and rear engine cover.
Perspex windscreen is fitted and the car comes complete with removable moulded glass fibre bucket seat..The brakes are mounted outboard on all wheels and the system includes an adjustable balance bar to allow variation in the front to rear braking ratio.
With Lotus modified Renault 4 speed syncromesh gearbox complete with reverse gear driving via a single plate Cortina GT diaphram clutch. suspension at the front unequal length wide based wishbones with outboard spring/damper units and adjustable anti-roll bar the rear twin radius arms, inverted wishbones and top links with outboard spring/damper units and adjustable anti-roll bar.
The 1968 version was known as the Mk 51A The car was based on the Lotus 31, a Formula 3 vehicle from Lotus. The 1600 c.c. Ford Cortina GT cross—flow unit fitted with single downdraft Weber carburettor and specially constructed four branch exhaust system.Front mounted cross-flow radiator with integral oil cooler.Main chassis tubes carry liquids from engine compartment to radiators, the oil system being fitted with the necessary regulation catch tanks.
The race car was agile and fast, had a short wheelbase and was extremely light with a curb weight of 412 kg. In 1969, the car was replaced by the Lotus 61. In 1968, the 51R a single piece was built. The car had wider side boxes and was originally intended as a concept for a successor model. The car was sold at a price of 1095 pounds to a US collector who never used the 51R in a racing competition.
