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Lotus 63 Donington
Lotus 63
Race Car
Category Formula One
Constructor Team Lotus
Designer Colin Chapman (Technical Director)
Maurice Philippe (Chief Designer)
Predecessor 49
Successor 72
Chassis Aluminium monocoque
Suspension (front) {{{Front Suspension}}}
Suspension (rear) {{{Rear Suspension}}}
Engine 3.0 litre (2995 cc / 183 cu in) Ford Cosworth DFV naturally aspirated mid-mounted V8
Electric_motor {{{Electric motor}}}
Battery {{{Battery}}}
Power {{{Power}}}
Transmission Hewland-Lotus 5-speed Manual, 4WD
Weight 600 kg (1,323 lb)
Fuel Shell
Brakes {{{Brakes}}}
Tyres Firestone
Notable entrants Gold Leaf Team Lotus
Ecurie Bonnier
Notable drivers 25px UK John Miles
25px USA Mario Andretti
Jo Bonnier
Debut 1969 French Grand Prix
Races competed 7
Race victories 0
Podiums 0
Constructors' Championships 0
Drivers' Championships 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0


The Lotus 63 was an experimental Formula One car, designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1969 season. Chapman's reasoning behind the car was that the 3 litre engines introduced in 1966 would be better served by building a car that could take full advantage of its power while retaining the Lotus 49's simplicity.

Development[]

Like the Lotus 56 for the Indy 500 (and later F1), the 63 chassis was designed around a four wheel drive system. This was not totally revolutionary at the time, as four wheel drive had been used on the Ferguson P99 F1 car that won at Oulton Park as early as 1961, but with little development thereafter.

However, it was not a successful design. In fact, the Matra MS84 was the only 4WD F1 which scored points (driven by Johnny Servoz-Gavin, at the 1969 Canadian Grand Prix) something neither Lotus nor McLaren managed, while Cosworth did not even race their 4WD design.[1] The 63 was an evolution of the 49, but featured wedge shaped rear bodywork and integrated wings, which would be used to great effect in the Lotus 72.

Racing history[]

G

Graham Hill practising the 63 at the 1969 Dutch Grand Prix.

AndrettiMario19690801Lotus63-Allrad-3

Mario Andretti racing the 63 at the 1969 German Grand Prix.

John Miles, Lotus' third driver, was entrusted with the task of developing the car, while Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt used the 49 in the early races of 1969. The 63 proved difficult to drive and set up, and the four wheel drive system was especially problematic.[2] After a single test run, Hill flatly refused to drive the car again stating it was a 'deathtrap,' as did Rindt, who agreed with Hill after taking the car to its best result, 2nd in the non-championship Oulton Park Gold Cup. This infuriated Chapman as he saw the 63 as another quantum leap ahead of its rivals, just as its predecessors had been.[3]

The car was entered at the 1969 British Grand Prix as a test run. Whilst Rindt finished fourth in the older 49 behind Jackie Stewart after running short of fuel whilst leading, Miles could only bring the 63 home in 10th place, confirming the car's uncompetitiveness. After several other fruitless outings, the 63 was abandoned.

Aftermath[]

Parts of the chassis design were worked into the Lotus 72, which debuted in 1970, and four wheel drive technology returned into F1 with the Lotus 56B in 1971.

Like the Lotus 88, the 4WD cars proved to be huge white elephants for Lotus, but it paved the way for better models to follow.[4]


Complete Formula One World Championship results[]

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Points WCC
1969 Gold Leaf Team Lotus Ford Cosworth DFV F RSA ESP MON NED FRA GBR GER ITA CAN USA MEX 42 3rd1
Graham Hill PO PO
John Miles Ret 10 Ret Ret Ret
Mario Andretti Ret Ret
Jochen Rindt PO
Ecurie Bonnier Jo Bonnier Ret

^1  All Points Scored by the Lotus 49

Non-Championship Formula One results[]

(key)

Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4
1969 Gold Leaf Team Lotus Ford Cosworth DFV F ROC INT MAD OUL
Jochen Rindt 2

References[]



Lotus 25 Jim Clark Donington
Team Lotus

Founder

Colin Chapman

Notable personnel

Frank Dernie · Gérard Ducarouge · Maurice Philippe · Peter Warr · Peter Wright · Len Terry

Notable drivers

25px USA Mario Andretti · 25px Italy Elio de Angelis · 25px Great Britain Jim Clark · 25px Great Britain Martin Donnelly · 25px Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi · 25px Finland Mika Häkkinen · 25px Great Britain Johnny Herbert · 25px Great Britain Graham Hill · 25px Belgium Jacky Ickx · 25px Great Britain Nigel Mansell · 25px Japan Satoru Nakajima · 25px Sweden Gunnar Nilsson · 25px Sweden Ronnie Peterson · 25px Brazil Nelson Piquet · 25px Argentina Carlos Reutemann · 25px Austria Jochen Rindt · 25px Brazil Ayrton Senna · 25px Great Britain John Surtees · 25px Great Britain Derek Warwick · 25px Italy Alex Zanardi

World Champions

* 25px USA Mario Andretti · 25px Great Britain Jim Clark · 25px Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi · 25px Great Britain Graham Hill · 25px Austria Jochen Rindt

Formula One cars

12 · 16 · 18 · 21 · 24 · 25 · 33 · 43 · 49 · 56B · 63 · 72 · 76 · 77 · 78 · 79 · 80 · 81 · 86 · 87 · 88 · 91 · 92 · 93T · 94T · 95T · 97T · 98T · 99T · 100T · 101 · 102 · 107 · 109 · 112

Formula Two cars

12 · 16 · 18 · 32 · 35 · 41 · 44 · 48 · 59 · 69

Formula Three cars

22 · 31 · 35 · 41 · 55 · 59 · 69

Formula Junior cars

18 · 20 · 22 · 27

Formula Ford cars

51 · 59 · 61 · 69

Formula 5000 cars

68 · 70

Tasman Series cars

32 · 39 · 67

Indianapolis 500 cars

29 · 34 · 38 · 42 · 56 · 64 · 96T

Sports car racing cars

15 · 17 · 19 · 23 · 30 · 40 · 47 · 53

Drivers' titles

1963 · 1965 · 1968 · 1970 · 1972 · 1978

Constructors' titles

1963 · 1965 · 1968 · 1970 · 1972 · 1973 · 1978

{{{Notables}}}


{{{Founder/s}}} {{{Corporate website}}} {{{Parent}}}


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Smallwikipedialogo.png This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Lotus 63. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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