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?
As Rob mentions when introducing the podcast Mike Earle has spent five decades in the sport. I knew we were covering a lot of ground during the recording so when the audio file landed this morning, courtesy of Alan Hyde, I decided to write down the names that are brought up during the 90 minutes.
Here they are, in order: David Purley, Derek Bell, Peter Gethin, John Watson, Roger Clark, Chris Craft, Jean-Luc Salomon, Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, Gerhard Berger, Carlos Pace, Bernie Ecclestone, Tom Pryce, Adrian Newey, Jean-Pierre van Rossem, Stefan Johansson, Pierre van Vliet, Alan Jenkins, The Earl of March, Jean-Marie Balestre, Herbie Blash, Niki Lauda, Greg Fielding, Charlie Purley, Joyce Purley, James Hunt, Stefano Modena, Ayrton Senna, Mika Häkkinen , Allan McNish, Emanuele Pirro, Yannick Dalmas, Beppe Gabbiani, Thierry Tassin, Dave Scott, Alain Prost, Tom Onslow-Cole, Alan Gow, David Mountain, Eddie Jordan, Keith Wiggins, Marcello Lotti, The Sultan of Brunei, Enzo Ferrari, John Barnard and Maggie Thatcher (obviously).
Oh, and there’s also mention of Black Sabbath. Quite a list then. Mike’s stories – especially about the money man behind Onyx, Jean-Pierre van Rossem – are second to none. Sit back and enjoy.
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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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