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?
In celebration of the upcoming Motor Sport Hall of Fame, we look back on the careers of our founding members and inductees.
Taken from the October 1953 issue of Motor Sport
Reprinted from La Domenica del Corriere
It is 1930: a red car is travelling at high speed along the Emilia and Veneto roads towards Brescia; it is getting dark but it doesn’t slow down. At the wheel is Achille Varzi, one of the greatest aces of all time; and the steady roar of his engine seems to sing a song of victory for only a few miles separate him from the finishing line of the fourth Mille Miglia. In those days the race always finished at night, and the last battle was fought on the roads of Veneto and Lombardy with headlights on.
Varzi switched on his lights as he descended to flat country towards Peschiera. By this time the young champion had fought off all competitors after a gruelling race, even though they included such names as Campari, Caracciola, Arcangeli, Ghersi, etc. Only one man remained to be disposed of: Tazio Nuvolari. Varzi had managed to throw him off at Perugia and, as Nuvolari’s car was exactly the same as his own, he had nothing to fear as regards engine power.
Click here to read the rest of this feature on the Hall of Fame website
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