1959 F1 Lotus Type 16

Constructed by Team Lotus as a Works car for Graham Hill and Innes Ireland to compete for the 1959 World Championship

• Steel spaceframe chassis, aluminium bodywork
• 2.5-litre, 4-cylinder Coventry Climax FPF
• Horsepower: 220bhp
• Weight: 475kg
• Top speed: 156mph
• The second and last front engined Lotus F1 car design
• Colin Chapman favoured the traditional high polar moment of inertia of the front engine layout which he considered to realise advantageous handling
• Front engine/rear wheel drive required the driveshaft to be routed through the cockpit; in this case between the driver’s legs…..
• Beautiful teardrop shape for low drag; not so elegant beneath the surface….
• The Type 16 was complicated and unreliable and Team Lotus struggled with it
• At the same time as the Cooper racing team – of Mini Cooper fame - led the way towards the advantages of rear engine F1 designs
• In period the 16 became obsolete but for current day historic racing the 16 has been developed into a competitive car for front-engined historic F1 racing and has become highly desirable