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  Lotus 16 Climax      

  Article Image gallery (66) Chassis (2) 362-2 Specifications  
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Country of origin:Great Britain
Produced from:1958 - 1960
Numbers built:8
Designed by:Colin Chapman
Predecessor:Lotus 12 Climax
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:Before December 1st, 2004
Download: All images
Chassis: 362-2
Chassis 362 was the first Lotus 16 built and served as a Team Lotus works car until Cliff Allison crashed it at Oporto in 1958. The damaged chassis was set aside but the 362 identity was used again for the frame that had originally been earmarked for number 364. Now commonly referred to as chassis 362-2, this Lotus 16 was rebuilt to an interim 1958/59 specification. This included an engine angled 17 degrees to the left to allow the propellor shaft to run alongside the driver. Completed late in 1958, the car was shown at the Earls Court Motor Show and offered for sale for £2,600. On the second day of the show, it was acquired for Bruce Halford to race by John Fisher. Before the show, it was also made available to prospective owners for testing. Among the drivers was a young Jim Clark, making this the first ever Lotus single seater driven by the future World Champion.

Prior to being delivered to Fisher, it was raced by Graham Hill in the Boxing Day race at Brands Hatch. Hill qualified on pole and took what would be both his and Lotus' first ever single seater victory. Halford first raced the car during the 1959 Easter Meeting at Goodwood. He finished 9th overall before suffering several retirements at Oulton Park, Aintree and Syracuse. Fisher then entered the car for the Monaco Grand Prix where Formula 2 cars were allowed to be raced alongside the fully fledged Grand Prix machinery. Of the nine F2 cars entered, Halford's Lotus 16 was one of only three that made the grid. In a disastrous accident all three F2 cars, including the Halford Type 16, were eliminated. The damaged Lotus was not repaired before the end of the season, so it was not raced again by Halford.

For the 1960 season, it was sold to South African racer Tony Kotze. Like Halford, he regularly suffered from the same reliability issues as Halford in the two seasons he campaigned the car. In a desperate attempt to improve the reliability, Kotze even fitted the car with an Alfa Romeo engine. From mid 1961, Kotze focused on designing and building his own Assegai and sold the Lotus to Cecil Hooper. The car was fielded by Hooper's Ecurie Aguila team, which also included one Gordon Murray, who raced his Lotus 7 clone. The reliability issues continued and the car was sold again without an engine. During the late 1960s, it was repatriated to England by either Jacky Epstein or Paul Hawkins and joined the Nigel Moores collection. Following Moores death in 1977, it was acquired by John Harper and then passed to noted Lotus collector Hugh Edgley.

The car was stored in a garage and remained hidden away until it was finally discovered by Robin Lodge. He bought the car and returned it to Bruce Halford, who was now involved in historic racing with another Type 16. Restorer Ken Nicholls was tasked by Lodge and Halford to restore the car with an eye on keeping it as original as possible. The work ground to a halt in 1988, when it was discovered the car had been stolen at some point after Moores death. The matter was finally settled in 2014 when a new owner acquired 362-2 from Lodge through John Harper. Retaining many of the car's original components, the car's restoration work was finally completed by Peter Denty over four years.

Not raced since the early 1960s, the ex-Jim Clark and Bruce Halford Lotus 16 finally returned to the public eye on the 2018 Retromobile stand of British dealer William I'Anson.


Chassis details
Manufactured in 1958
First owner John Fisher
Last known location British Private Collection
Appearances

2018 Monaco Historic Grand Prix 2018 Monaco Historic Grand Prix 2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile
2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile
2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile 2018 Retromobile

  Article Image gallery (66) Chassis (2) 362-2 Specifications