Why unloved Lotus 76 may be Colin Chapman's most significant car
A wide variety of Lotus cars are often proffered as the ultimate F1 game-changer – but was the Lotus 76 an unusual candidate which trumps them all?
Submit your questions to our next Royal Automobile Club Talk Show guest, legendary Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey
Adrian Newey will join Motor Sport at Royal Automobile Club in April for a Talk Show, and we need your questions for the renowned Formula 1 designer and current Red Bull F1 chief technical officer.
Over a period of nearly four decades working in motor sport, Newey has won 10 Formula 1 constructors’ championships and helped a number of drivers win titles.
His career began with March in the IMSA championship while Newey also designed an Indianapolis 500 and title-winning machine – the March 85C – in the 1980s. His F1 career began on the Leyton House-liveried March 881.
Then Williams came calling and, with Patrick Head, Newey helped Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve win drivers’ championships.
From the Archive: How to build a Racing Car Designer
Mika Häkkinen also benefited from his expertise at McLaren and then, when Red Bull entered the scene, Newey helped build a team that would go on to win F1 championships.
Newey also worked as a consultant on Sir Ben Ainslie’s America’s Cup sailing team – of which former McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh is CEO – and is working on Aston Martin’s latest crop of supercars.
His 2017 autobiography, ‘How to Build a Car’, was widely acclaimed, with our review stating: “The dark arts of downforce, efficiency and grip are seldom explained this effectively… the next Formula 1 designer to write about their craft has a pretty high benchmark to hit.” It also won the Royal Automobile Club’s 2018 Motoring Book of the Year Award.
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A wide variety of Lotus cars are often proffered as the ultimate F1 game-changer – but was the Lotus 76 an unusual candidate which trumps them all?
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