Classic Team Lotus holds a unique place in the world of historic motor racing. Established in 1992, it overlapped the active years of the original Team Lotus and, with Clive Chapman – son of marque founders Colin and Hazel – at the helm, it provides a direct link between today and the glory days of the Hethel squad.
The spirit of the ‘garagista’ still pervades CTL, with 22 team and privately owned cars (11 of which were to be raced) in its care at the Goodwood Revival earlier this year. Normally, the operation would run six to 10 cars at this kind of event, but 2023 is a special year.
The Revival was celebrating 75 years of Lotus with a parade of examples representing the company’s ‘Colin and Hazel’ era, from the recently completed replica of their first trials car up to 1983’s Type 92 – and being driven by some famous faces including Johnny Herbert and Karun Chandhok. This made it the ideal occasion for seeing what it takes to run a major historic racing team at a high-profile event, so Autosport travelled to Sussex for a very hot, and occasionally wet, weekend in September to join them.
Running any historic car tends to bring a particular set of problems with it. Demonstrating or competing in an old racing car even more so, not least because they may have unique features or have been designed to requirements that do not promote longevity.
An increasingly busy season, the creeping extension of which has eroded the opportunities for off-season maintenance, has forced a rolling programme of preparation for major events. Consequently, a flexibility to demands on Classic Team Lotus’s time has to be maintained if challenging schedules are to be met. One illustration of this is that Clive Chapman was only informed early this year that Lotus would be the featured marque at Goodwood.
Amid this tight timeframe, CTL’s achievement in fulfilling the obligations for the event is all the more remarkable when you consider that the Mk1 replica was only started in February, the Mk3 and Type 27 had to be recommissioned, the new-build Colotti gearbox on the iconic Rob Walker/Stirling Moss Type 18 arrived just in time to be fitted, the Type 16 (an ex-Graham Hill car) had a major gearbox rebuild, and Andrew Beaumont’s Type 22 was still in need of a ratio change when it arrived at the circuit.
Yet all of the cars were in the paddock on the Wednesday, Thursday was given over to preparation, and on Friday the public came through the gates. Among the more unusual cars they were able to see was the 56B turbine machine from 1971.
Source: Autosport