A closer look at the Lotus Type 15, 16 and 17 ...

By the end of the 1950s, Lotus was a racing car manufacturer of note and a regular entrant in Formula 1. Today we have taken a closer at the Lotus racing cars that closed out the decade.
By numerical order, the earliest was the 1958 Type 15 sports car of which an early early example has been featured today. Capable of handling engines of up to 2.5 litres, it allowed Lotus drivers to compete for outright wins. The chassis in the spotlight today is an ex-works car and was raced in period by Cliff Allison and Graham Hill.
That same year, Lotus also produced a new single seater racer capable of running in Formula 1. This new Type 16 was the first Lotus single seater that could handle the full 2.5-litre Coventry Climax engine but ultimately proved very fragile. Featured is a great example, which has had a colourful past but nevertheless has survived in remarkable original condition. It is also believed that chassis 362-2 was the first Lotus Formula 1 car driven by Jim Clark.
The last of today's trio is the Lotus Type 17. Effectively a replacement for the legendary Eleven, it was lower, smaller and lighter than any Lotus that came before. However, the original front suspension design was flawed and by the time the issues were fixed, it was superseded by more modern machinery. Among the examples featured is chassis 655, which was driven by its brave owner during a blizzard at the recent Goodwood Members' Meeting.

Enjoy the links:

[url="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/6854/Lotus-17-Climax.html"]1959 Lotus 17 Climax - Images, Specifications and Information[/url]

[url="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/chassis/3378/Lotus-16-Climax-362-2.html"]1958 Lotus 16 Climax - Chassis 362-2 - Ultimatecarpage.com[/url]

[url="https://www.ultimatecarpage.com/chassis/3370/Lotus-15-Climax-603.html"]1958 Lotus 15 Climax - Chassis 603 - Ultimatecarpage.com[/url]