Lotus 63
The Lotus 63 was a four-wheel drive Formula 1 racing car , built and used in 1969 by the British Formula 1 team Lotus .
construction
When designing the complex Lotus 63, Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe drew on their experience in building the Lotus 56 , which was used in the Indianapolis 500 in 1968 . The vehicle had four-wheel drive and the engine, a DFV-V8 from Cosworth , was “upside down” in the chassis. The clutch was behind the driver's seat and the gearbox on the left.
Four-wheel drive wasn't new to Formula 1; as early as 1961, the Ferguson P99 won a race at Oulton Park that was not part of the world championship . In the late 1960s, some teams experimented with this type of drive again. The Cosworth 4WD designed by Robin Herd was the most striking design, but the car was never used in racing.
The chassis of the Lotus 63 is a monocoque with auxiliary tubular frames at the front and rear, to which the wheel suspensions ( double wishbones ) and the differentials are attached. In the monocoque there are rubber fuel tanks to the left and right (to the side of the driver), another is installed between the engine and the rear axle. The water cooler is located in the front of the car, the oil cooler alternately behind the engine or behind the driver's head.
Between the Ford eight-cylinder V-engine and the driver's seat, the clutch, transmission and (left) the central differential are arranged, from where the power is transmitted to the front and rear differentials via rigid shafts.
Races
The two regular drivers of 1969, Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt , rejected the new car and drove the previous model, the Lotus 49 , for the entire season . After the first test drives, Hill called the 63 a "death trap". The car was difficult to drive and difficult to set up due to the complex drive. The best result was achieved by a regular driver, Jochen Rindt. Before the 1969 Oulton Park Gold Cup Race , which was not part of the F1 World Championship, Rindt was persuaded by Chapman to drive the 63 in one race. Rindt finished second, but complained that the car was extremely dangerous.
So it was left to the third driver in the team, the Briton John Miles , and Mario Andretti, who was obliged for some races, to drive the 63rd in the world championship. Miles finished 10th at the British Grand Prix , the best place of 63 in a World Championship run.
At the end of the season, Lotus gave up the idea of four-wheel drive and concentrated on building a new model. However, many chassis parts of the unsuccessful 63 served as the basis for the brilliant Lotus 72 .
Race results
| driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | Points | rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 Formula 1 season |
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0 | - |
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John Miles
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DNF | 10 | DNF | DNF | DNF | ||||||||
|
Mario Andretti
|
DNF | DNF |
| Legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
|
| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
literature
- David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .
