THE first ever Lotus F1 race car driven by Graham Hill has gone up for sale with an incredible £311,000 price tag.
The iconic vehicle accompanied the double world champion during his debut in the revered Monte Carlo race.
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The F1 Lotus Race Car – a legend in Formula 1 history – will be on sale at The Bonhams Cars Monaco Sale on May 10.
It is expected to go under the hammer for an impressive £311,000 – a steal for such a motorsport icon.
Lotus has hit the track of Formula 1 for the first time in this very vehicle in 1958.
Since then, The British marque has secured the title seven times with the brand’s stars such as Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti in the cockpit.
Throughout its time, Lotus won 74 Formula 1 Grand Prix, with notable drivers including Ayrton Senna, Stirling Moss, and Ronnie Peterson securing more triumphs.
Five-times Monaco GP winner and double World Champion Driver, Hill, steered the wheel of this vehicle in Silverstone’s 1958 BRDS International Trophy Race and his team Lotus’s Formula 1 debut.
Lotus type 12 design was created in late 1956 by the brand founder, Colin Chapman.
It was the first Lotus single-seater he had driven since the 1954–1956 ultra-lightweight, finely streamlined sports racing cars that had made his marquee prestigious.
When he set his sights on Formula 1, Chapman enlarged the car’s original engine from 1500 to 1960cc to fit the standards.
The small engine performed admirably on winding roads, placing Hill seventh in Lotus’ debut.
Off the track, the Lotus-Climax Type 12 chassis “353” is the centre of an unforgettable tale, known as the “Figgy Pudding Grand Prix.”
Motor Spor’ magazine’s renowned racing journalist Denis Jenkinson became desperate to test a single-seater racing car on a regular British public road.
Christmas Day 1957 saw the fulfilment of Jenks’s dream when he was lent a Lotus Cars ‘353’ by Colin Chapman.
Jenks drove the car around the deserted roads of Hampshire until the drive shaft broke near Basingstoke, where he coasted up a private driveway to get the car out of sight, interrupting an astonished family’s Christmas lunch.
After being purchased by British private entrant John Fisher, Lotus “353” was raced in 1959 by Maria Theresa de Filippis – the first female Formula 1 competitor.
It was later bought by a succession of Australian owners, remaining in the down under in a remarkably original condition.
Chassis “353” was finally brought back to its operational order by the current vendor – who has written an aptly titled book about the car.
In the book – Lotus 12 Chassis No.353: The History – Clive Chapman, head of Class Team Lotus, said: “I wish that every Team Lotus racing car could have such a wonderful record of its life.”
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