Lotus 20/22

[cosworth151]

I know, the Lotus 20/22 were Formula Junior cars. I'll explain why one of these was a very famous F1 car in a bit.

Yesterday, I attended the 33rd annual Columbus (Ohio) British Car Day. We had authentic British rain, so the car count was down. We did have 2 1964 vintage Lotus 20/22 Formula Junior cars shown below. Both of these have 1100 cc Ford Cosworth 4 cylinder engines with twin side draft Webber carbs. Note the high tech shifter linkage. The Smiths gauges will look familiar to anybody who has worked with British cars of the era.

Now for the F1 connection. The green #45 car is chassis #20 J 962. It was one of the cars that were rebodied as F1 cars for the great racing film Grand Prix. This  one became the "Yamura" (that looked suspiciously like a Honda) that was driven by James Garner. After the filming, it was shipped back to the States to go on a publicity tour. It was then sold off and later damaged. It sat in storage in Florida for a few decades. It was then sold & restored to it's original configuration using an original Lotus body found in Texas.

BTW, the red car beside them is a Lotus Cortina.

[Andy B]

A few memories there!
MK1 Lotus Cortina, they did a MKII then a Twin Cam Escort all went well, Ford ran a "Works MKII" which they raced and rallied.
The Smiths clocks picture has the Cheshunt Hertfordshire badge, I worked in Cheshunt not far from where the old Lotus works were and lived in Hertfordshire for over thirty years.
Its good to have the old memory jogged now and again!

[Scott]

Nice day, great history lesson and fantastic pictures....had to throw that Cossy pic in at the end too, eh?