1969 Lotus-Coswoth 63 4WD F1

Lotus-Cosworth 63, RetroMobile 2017

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Lotus, Hethel, England.  Lotus was one of four manufacturers who along with Mclaren, Tyrrell and Cosworth built four wheel drive cars for the 1969 Formula One season.  They were trying to solve the problem of how to get 400 to 450bhp of power onto the road.  A 4WD BRM had had a little success in hillclimbing in the mid-sixties and the 4WD Ferguson F1 had won at the wet Oulton Park in 1961.  The Lotus 63 was perhaps the most serious effort of the others in 1969, being designed by the team who had success with the Lotus 49.  However, the Lotus 63 saw little success and was hated by the drivers just like the other 4WD cars.  The problem of the power transfer had in effect been largely solved by the new wing aerodynamics and better wider tyres.  In addition the 4WD cars suffered from being over-weight and with poor balance of that weight and were also fairly unreliable.  Thus although at times driven by great drivers such as Mario Andretti, Jochen Rindt and Graham Hill as well as John Miles and Jo Bonnier, no World Championship points were scored by the 63.  The best result was a distant second place in the non-championship Oulton Park Gold Cup ahead of some F5000 cars. After 1969 the two cars built were not raced again in contemporary F1.  An interesting experiment that added variety to the field and perhaps the best looking on the 4WD cars in its Gold Leaf livery..  

1963 Wainer Formula Junior

Richard Smeeton in the Wainer during the Formula Junior race at the 2016 Dijon Motors Cup meeting.

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Wainer, Milan, Italy.  Wainer is the Italian racing car manufacturer founded by Gionfranco Mantovani.   Their first cars were produced for Formula Junior in 1958.  There were a number of rear engined designs they produced for Formula Junior from then until 1963.   Drivers included Corrado Manfredini, Colin Davis and Ernesto Brambilla. The cars scored some wins as they tended to be relatively up to date designs and have the better Cosworth tuned 1,100cc Ford engines. The cars all had space frame chassis.  The body and nose of the 1963 car look very 1961 F1 Ferrari 156 inspired.   The gearbox was from a Fiat 600.  After the Formula Junior era, Wainer went on to produce F3 cars.