Lotus 39

The Lotus 39 was a single-seat racing car produced by Team Lotus. It was originally intended for use in Formula One, to be powered by the Coventry Climax 1.5 litre flat-16 engine. But the engine never eventuated, so the chassis was modified by Maurice Philippe to accept a 2495 cc Coventry Climax FPF engine, which produced about 230 bhp (172 kW), and was used for the 1966 Tasman Series races in Australia and New Zealand. In the hands of Jim Clark, the 39 scored 1 win, 5 second places and 1 third place and Clark finished second in the series behind Jackie Stewart.^[1]

The car was then purchased by Leo Geoghegan who raced it in Australia and New Zealand from 1966 to 1970, replacing the Climax engine with a Repco V8 in 1967.^[2] Geoghegan also used it in Repco-powered form to win the 1969 JAF Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway in Japan.^[3][4] The car was then sold to Brian Power who put a 1.5 litre Ford engine in the car. It was later rescued and restored to Climax specification by John Dawson-Damer.^[5] It will be shortly offered for sale as part of Dawson-Damer's estate sell-off of his Lotus collection.^[6]

References

Team Lotus
Founder Colin Chapman Noted personnel Frank Dernie Gérard Ducarouge Maurice Philippe Peter Warr Peter Wright Len Terry World Champions Mario Andretti Jim Clark Emerson Fittipaldi Graham Hill Jochen Rindt Other notable drivers Elio de Angelis Martin Donnelly Mika Häkkinen Johnny Herbert Jacky Ickx Nigel Mansell Satoru Nakajima Gunnar Nilsson Ronnie Peterson Nelson Piquet Carlos Reutemann Ayrton Senna John Surtees Derek Warwick Alex Zanardi Drivers' titles 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1978 Constructors' titles 1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1973 1978 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 racing cars 15 17 19 23 30 40 47 53