Lotus 69 (Formula 2 1971) car-by-car histories
Gerry Birrell in the JJ Stanton Lotus 69 at Mallory Park in March 1971. Copyright Ian Blackwell 2018. Used with permission.
The 1971 Lotus 69 involved relatively few changes from 1970, but those changes took the car in the wrong direction. Lotus Racing was closed down during the year, and Lotus withdrew from the customer racing car market.
Lotus listed a relatively small number of improvements to specification over the 1970 car, including revised geometry, modified body styling, improved wing and wheel design, an FIA regulated rollhoop, and an option for Koni dampers. This included raised front pickup points and bowed wishbones, which unfortunately flexed, stronger rear uprights, bigger outboard brake discs, and a new exhaust which went down and under to avoid the new rear wing. The revised design was the responsibility of Chief Development Engineer Dave Baldwin and Chief Designer Martin Waide. The car had a wheelbase of 92½ inches, front track of 56" and rear track of 58". As a rolling chassis with Hewland FT200 gearbox but without engine, it weighed 840 lbs and was available to order at a cost of £2,950.
Following Jochen Rindt's death, Lotus selected a new team, London International Racing Association (LIRA) to take over from Jochen Rindt Racing as Lotus's official works-supported F2 team for 1971. Led by two young journalists, Justin Haler and Chris Witty, LIRA would a new 1971 Lotus 69 for Richard Scott, with financial backing from John Kendall, who had supported him through F3, and an updated 1970 car for Reine Wisell, Lotus's No 2 F1 driver. Other orders for 1971 Lotus 69s were placed by Tetsu Ikuzawa, who had driven a 1970 Lotus 69 the previous year; Mick Mooney's Irish Racing Cars for Alan Rollinson to drive; J&J Stanton for Gerry Birrell to drive; and Team Bardahl for Emerson Fittipaldi. Support from all these cars would come from Lotus Racing, the new name for Lotus Components. A new Lotus 73 was rumoured to be coming later in 1971, but it never materialised.
The season started on the wrong foot for Lotus customers when Group Lotus announced in late March that Colin Chapman had been very pleased to accept the resignation of Mike Warner, the boss of Lotus Racing. Early testing indicated the handling of the 1971 Lotus 69 had serious handling problems, switching unpredictably from understeer to oversteer, but these problems were disguised by the driving talent of Lotus's regular GP drivers, Reine Wisell taking a fine win at Pau in his 1970 Lotus 69 and Emerson Fittipaldi following that with a second place and two wins in the next three races in his 1971 version. It was a very different picture for customers, as Lotus Racing announced a withdrawal from support in late May, adding that no new customer orders would be taken. Wilson Fittipaldi briskly acquired a March 712M to replace his 1970 Lotus 69 and LIRA's Witty was forced to deny that his team had ordered Brabham BT36s. Dave Baldwin left Lotus Racing in June to join Gordon Huckle's new Group Racing Services, based in Griston, Norfolk, set up to service Lotus owners and which would soon spawn a related company, Group Racing Developments (GRD) to design and build a new series of cars. Designer Jo Marquart joined GRD from Huron in June and Warner was also rumoured to be getting involved.
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Mike Pendlebury's Lotus 69 at Silverstone in September 1986. Copyright Keith Lewcock 2010. Used with permission.
New for Tetsu Ikuzawa in F2 in 1971, and prepared by his mechanic Yoshiatsu Itoh. Hired from Ikuzawa by Ronni Rossi for the Torneio Brasiliero at the end of the year. Sold via MRE to Johnny Blades in 1972, although Blades did not race it, then sold to Walter Kinnear (Gilford, County Down, Northern Ireland) for Irish libre racing in 1973, when it was fitted with a Cosworth FVC engine. Then fitted with a Cosworth BDA for Kinnear to drive in Irish Formula Atlantic in 1974, 1975 and 1976. It then went to Barclay Bingham for Irish hillclimbs, and then to Robin Dunbar, who did not use it. It was then sold to Bill Patterson (Belfast) in 1984 and restored for historic racing with the HSCC. Raced by Mike Pendlebury (Higham, Suffolk) in HSCC events from 1986 onwards. It later went to Freddy Kumschick (Schötz, Switzerland) who raced it in European Historic Formula 2 in 1992, 2000 and 2001, and then via Hall & Fowler to Irvine Laidlaw by 2003. Laidlaw sold it to Mark Davenport some time after 2006, and he raced it in the HSCC Derek Bell Trophy at Croft in 2011. It was next seen when acquired from Hall & Hall by French historic driver Jean-Marc Bussolini and entered in Historic F2 in 2013. Bussolini drove the car at Spa and Paul Ricard in 2017, and at Imola, Spa and Paul Ricard in 2018.
Driven by: Tetsu Ikuzawa, Ronni Rossi, François Migault and Walter Kinnear. First race: Mallory Park, 14 Mar 1971. Total of 45 recorded races.
New to Mick Mooney's Irish Racing Cars for Alan Rollinson to race in F2 in 1971, but only appeared once, at Hockenheim. By June, the car was being driven by John Pollock (Carrickfergus, County Antrim, Northern Ireland) for Gerry Kinnane's Team Ireland in Irish libre racing. Some confusion was then caused when Motoring News reported that Emerson Fittipaldi's car at the Brazilian F2 Torneo was chassis "69/2". It was clear from the reports in both Autosport and Motoring News that Fittipaldi was driving his usual car, not Rollinson's car, so this "69/2" must have been a transcription error. Pollock continued to use chassis 69/71.2.F2 with great success in Formula Ireland and in libre at Ingliston during 1972. It was then sold to Paddy Farrelly (Lucan, Dublin) for Irish libre in 1973. The car was next seen when advertised as "chassis no 7169/2F2" in Northern Ireland in 1977 having been 'virtually unused last 4 years'. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Alan Rollinson, John Pollock and Paddy Farrelly. First race: Hockenheim (R1), 4 Apr 1971. Total of 40 recorded races.
Kenny Fildes in his Formula Atlantic Lotus 69 at Mondello Park in 1974. Copyright Jude Neylon 2020. Used with permission.
Richard Spellberg's freshly-restored Lotus 69 testing at Snetterton in 1995. Copyright Richard Hinton 2018. Used with permission.
New to J&J Stanton for Gerry Birrell to race in F2 in 1971. Hired to José Ferreira for the Torneio Brasiliero at the end of the year. To Brian Small in 1972, and fitted with a Cosworth BDA for Formula Atlantic races late 1972, and a handful of appearances in 1973. To Roy Baker (Ferndown, Dorset) July 1973, but again only seen in a handful of races. This is likely to be the "F2 chassis" with Hart BDA advertised by MRE (Bourne End, Buckinghamshire) in November 1973. To Ken Fildes (Clonskeagh, Dublin) for the new Irish Formula Atlantic series 1974 and 1975. Entered by Fildes for a young local lad Eddie Jordan in 1976. To Mark Birrell (Liverpool) in 1977. Acquired from Nick Overall by Richard Hinton (Albury, Hertfordshire) in early 1978, who started the restoration. Sold in 1985 via Chuck McCarty to Richard Spelberg (Dusseldorf, Germany) and retained in his collection until his death in the late 1990s. Subsequent history unclear, but this car was owned by Hermann Unold by 2005, when he raced it in HSCC DBT events. It was bought from him by Eric Peterson (Germany) in 2014, and advertised by him in April 2018. Bought in 2018 by Paul Matty and owned by him until 2021, when it was sold to Malcolm Thorne (Stanford Bridge, Worcestershire).
Driven by: Gerry Birrell, José Ferreira, François Migault, Bryan Small, Roy Baker, Ken Fildes and Eddie Jordan. First race: Mallory Park, 14 Mar 1971. Total of 55 recorded races.
Steve Bradley in his Ashtune Race Hire Lotus 69 in 1975. Copyright Steve Bradley 2022. Used with permission.
Terry Scannell's Lotus 69 as driven by Craig Dennis in Monoposto in 1981. Copyright Terry Scannell 2018. Used with permission.
New to LIRA, a new team set up by Justin Haler and Chris Witty, with support from the Lotus factory and financial backing from John Kendall. This new car was raced by Richard Scott in F2 in 1971 alongside teammate Reine Wisell in a 1970 Lotus 69. When LIRA collapsed, Scott ran the car privately later in the season. Sold to Patsy McGarrity (Belfast, Northern Ireland) for Irish libre in 1972, then to Dermot O'Leary (Clonee, County Meath, Ireland) for races at Mondello Park in 1973. O'Leary replaced the Cosworth FVA with a BDA for Irish Formula Atlantic in 1974, again just racing at Mondello Park. The car was bought from an advert in Autosport by David Fletcher (Ashdon, Essex) and Steve Bradley (Cambridge) of Ashtune Race Hire and raced by Bradley in Formule libre and Formula Atlantic in 1975, mainly at Silverstone. It then went to Terry Scannell and Colin Thorpe, and was run by Thorpe for Craig Dennis (Rainham, Essex) to drive in Monoposto from 1977/78 to 1981, when the car was crashed at Snetterton in 1981 and was not repaired. The remains were acquired from Thorpe about 1993 by Peter Denty (Thetford, Norfolk), who restored it for German customer Eberhard Metke. It was sold in 2000, but the next owner is not yet known. Subsequent history unknown.
Driven by: Richard Scott, François Migault, Patsy McGarrity, Harold McGarrity, Dermot O'Leary, Steve Bradley and Craig Dennis. First race: Thruxton (R2), 12 Apr 1971. Total of 36 recorded races.
Emerson Fittipaldi in the Bahdahl Lotus 69 at Vallelunga in October 1971. Copyright Ted Walker 2010. Used with permission.
New to Team Bardahl for Emerson Fittipaldi to race in F2 in 1971, first appearing at Pau in late April. This car was sometimes reported as "69-F2-71-14", or some such variation, but this appears to have been its frame number, not its chassis number. Emerson won at Jarama, Crystal Palace and Albi that season, and also won two races in the Torneio Brasiliero at the end of the year. This car was rebuilt at the factory and fielded as a works entry for Emerson in 1972, supported by Colin Chapman's Moonraker Power Yachts venture, and with fitted with a Cosworth BDF. Fittipaldi won at Hockenheim, Rouen and Österreichring in 1972, and also won one race at Interlagos in October. Sold to Johnny Blades (Whitley Bay, Northumberland) for 1973, still in its 'Moonraker specification' with Cosworth BDF, and very successful in libre racing. Then to Andy Barton (Newcastle upon Tyne) late 1973, and raced in libre for the next two seasons, latterly with a 1600cc BDA. Then to David Muter (Sedghill) for three more seasons of libre racing. Later via Vincent Hayden (Salisbury) mid-1980s for historic racing, Jim Bennett (Denver, CO) late 1980s, Mike Taradash (Palos Verdes, CA) early 1990s, John Delane (Redondo Beach, CA) and Frank Sytner (Monaco) 2007. Sold by Sytner to Roger Bevan (High Wycombe) late 2008, and restored to exact Bardahl livery. Raced by Bevan in Historic F2 from 2009 to 2019. Sold by Bevan to Zak Brown in 2025.
Driven by: Emerson Fittipaldi, Johnny Blades, Andy Barton and Dave Muter. First race: Pau, 25 Apr 1971. Total of 102 recorded races.
Ian Giles in his Lotus 69 in 1987. Copyright Ted Walker 2020. Used with permission.
Ian Giles (Didcot, Oxfordshire) raced a red-and-white Lotus 69 in the HSCC Pre '71 Single Seater Championship in 1987. The car was registered with the HSCC as chassis "69-71-2" and described as the former Alan Rollinson car. Raced again by Giles in HSCC events in 1988, and according to David McKinney, he also had the car in 1989 and 1990. It was sold in 1993 to Stephan Jocher (Benediktbeuern, Bavaria, Germany) and registered by him in March 1994. According to its ONS HVIF issued the following year, it had been the Rollinson car, and subsequent owners were given as "1974 Graham Wasner" and "1985 Richard Hayder" before being acquired by Giles in 1986. According to David McKinney's records, it was still with Jocher in 1995.
Marc Sydow's Formula 2 Lotus 69 in May 2023. Copyright John Hopwood 2023. Used with permission.
At the HSCC F2 race at Thruxton in May 2023, Marc Sydow (Germany) raced a car described as being the "ex-Allan Rollinson/Emerson Fittipaldi Lotus Racing Limited 69F2". It is reported that the car's previous owner was Kai Nieklauson, of ChromeCars (Laasdorf, Thuringia, Germany).
If you can add to our understanding of these cars, or have photographs that we can use, please email Allen at allen@oldracingcars.com.
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