Ben Tilly's pit crew pushing his 1960, Lotus 18 373, across the International Paddock, for the qualifying session of the Gallet Trophy For Pre '66 Grand prix Cars (HGPCA) at the 2019 Silverstone Classic
The Lotus 18 was a race car designed by Colin Chapman for use by Lotus in Formula Junior, Formula Two, and Formula One. The car was a classic Chapman design, being extremely light and simple; the body was made up of lightweight panels bolted to heavily-triangulated tube frame (almost spaceframe) chassis. Thus the car was rigid, strong and light, maintaining the 16's forward weight distribution despite the engine moving behind the driver. It was powered initially by a 2,467 cc Coventry Climax FPF (" x ") four cylinder DOHC engine inherited from the Grand Prix version of Lotus 16.[2] In 1960, the FPF was enlarged slightly to 2497 cc (" x 90 mm), which produced 239 hp (178 kW) at 6,750 rpm from a weight of only 290 lbs (132 kg) and had a wide torque range. The litre engine was replaced by a Litre (82 mm x 71 mm) Climax FPF with new Formula One engine rules in 1961. The Formula Junior variant used a 998 cc Cosworth or a Downton BMC "A" Series with 948cc displacement. The Formula Junior version also used smaller gauge chassis tubing and Alfin drum brakes on all four corners. Further contributing to the weight advantage was the adoption of lightweight sequential manual transmission originally developed for Lotus 12 by Richard Ansdale and Harry Mundy incorporating the unique sequential-shifting gearbox and a ZF limited slip differential in a common Magnesium alloy housing to form a transaxle, which also provided the mounting points for inboard rear brakes. This gearbox had been improved in its reliability for Lotus 15 and 16 in 1957-58 by Keith Duckworth, who had just joined Lotus as a gearbox engineer. Although Porsche in Austria pioneered the sequentially shifting gearbox for racing cars in Model 360 Cisitalia, the idea was relatively new and the original transaxle in Lotus 12, which was essentially an enlarged motorcycle gearbox combined with ZF limited slip differential, had gained the nickname 'Queer Box', or "Gearbox-full
Size: 5040px × 3400px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 18, 66, 373, 1960, 2019, 2467, 2495cc, ben, british, car, cars, cc, chapman, clark, classic, climax, colin, coventry, crew, cylinder, dohc, driver, engine, fpf, gallet, grand, green, international, jim, john, lotus, paddock, pit, pre, prix, qualifying, racing, session, silverstone, surtees, team, tilly, trophy
