Lotus 49

Lotus 49
CategoryFormula One
ConstructorLotus
Designer(s)Colin Chapman
(Technical director)
Maurice Philippe
(Chief designer)
PredecessorLotus 43
SuccessorLotus 63 / Lotus 72
Technical specifications[1][2]
ChassisAluminium monocoque
Axle track1,524mm (60in) front and 1,549mm (61in) rear[3]
Wheelbase2,413 mm (95.0 in)
EngineFord Cosworth DFV, 2,998 cc (183 cu in), V8, NA, mid-mounted
TransmissionHewland-Lotus 5-speed manual gearbox
Power420-440 hp @ 9,000-10,000 rpm[4]
Weight501 kg (1,105 lb)
FuelEsso (9 GP), Shell
TyresFirestone, Dunlop
Competition history
Notable entrantsGold Leaf Team Lotus
Rob Walker Racing Team
Notable driversUnited Kingdom Jim Clark
United Kingdom Graham Hill
United States Mario Andretti
Austria Jochen Rindt
Switzerland Jo Siffert
Brazil Emerson Fittipaldi
Debut1967 Dutch Grand Prix
RacesWinsPodiumsPolesF/Laps
4212231913
Constructors' Championships2 (1968, 1970^)
Drivers' Championships2 (Graham Hill, 1968 / Jochen Rindt, 1970)

The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s. It was one of the first F1 cars to use a stressed member engine combined with a monocoque to reduce weight, with other teams adopting the concept after its success.[5] An iteration of it, the 49B, also pioneered the use of aerofoils to generate downforce.

Jim Clark won on the car's debut, in 1967, and it would also provide him with the last win of his career, in 1968. Graham Hill went on to win that year's title and the car continued winning races until 1970.

  1. ^ "STATS F1 • Lotus 49". Statsf1.com. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  2. ^ "Lotus-Ford 49". grandprixhistory.org. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  3. ^ "1967 Lotus Type 49 technical and mechanical specifications".
  4. ^ "Engine Ford Cosworth • STATS F1".
  5. ^ John Krewson (May 2013), "Fast, Present, Future: 1967 Lotus 49 vs. 2013 Corvette ZR1", Road and Track, retrieved 13 June 2013, It used its drivetrain as a stressed member, being not the first F1 car to do so but the first to apply the technique so well that everyone copied it.

Developed by StudentB