1975 Lotus Type 72 chassis number 9 (of 10)

72/9 is just as Ronnie got out of it, complete with his seat, belts, steering wheel, pedals and, unusually for a DFV powered car, his engine too.

• The Lotus 72 is the greatest ever F1 car having competed for six years and winning three World Championships
• 3-litre, V8 Ford-Cosworth DFV
• Horsepower: 475bhp
• Weight: 581kg
• Top speed: 175mph
• The famous wedge shape was realized by moving the radiators to the cockpit sides
• The wedge optimized air flow to the large rear wing
• Every effort was made to minimize unsprung mass, hence the inboard front brake discs
• Instead of springs the Type 72 suspension featured compound torsion bars providing rising rate
• ‘Black & Gold’ was a coat of many colours. Pinstriping began as actual gold leaf until it changed in 1974 to yellow. Number roundels, mirrors and wheels were gold paint, before the mirrors and wheels went black and the roundels went yellow.
• By 1973 the dominance of Emerson and Ronnie was such that the publicity bods took to printing the win decals before the races, so that ACBC could slap them on to car and driver as they arrived in the winner’s circle.
• As tobacco sponsorship became an issue, ACBC had the Lotus nose badges removed and replaced by JPS nose badges and insisted that the cars were referred to as ‘John Player Specials’, not as a Lotus.
• John Player Special was initiated by John Player & Sons as a completely new brand to be promoted worldwide by its sponsorship of Team Lotus. (The first stab at the livery was the gold & black version of the type 56B at the 1971 Italian GP.)
• The emergency cut-out system featured a Citroen 2CV bonnet release mechanism
• Over six seasons the type 72 appeared in seven different sponsor liveries; Gold Leaf, JPS, Rob Walker Racing, Lucky Strike, Embassy (blue), Gunston and ….. Villiger (yellow). (Very obscure, that last one.)
• The first time Colin Chapman threw his black hat was when, as reigning World Champion, Emerson Fittipaldi won the inaugural Brazilian Grand Prix to send the hundreds of thousands of Brazilian fans wild with delight
• Emerson and Colin enjoyed a special, happy relationship, especially when the champagne flowed as it did here at Brands Hatch for pole position
• Everyone was ecstatic when Ronnie Peterson scored his first Grand Prix win in France 1973. Colin Chapman has slapped the win sticker on Ronnie’s back as the champagne pops
• In 2020 the eight surviving Lotus 72s gathered together for the first time ever, at Hethel, together with Emerson Fittipaldi