DWhitesdJr@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 10/13/99 7:45:56 PM Central Daylight Time,
> rodbean@earthlink.net writes:
>
> << I refuse to offer an opinion :-) >>
>
> And one opinion that won't be seriously questioned:
>
> The worst Lotus --
>
> The Lotus 30. So beautiful and so wicked. No brakes after 8 laps,
> unpredictable handling from a frame less stiff than a 26 street car, yet
> Chapman stuffed a cast iron Ford V-8 in it. So much power and so little
> traction that you could spin the tires in 5th gear. Aerodynamics that caused
> the front end to lift at 140 MPH yet the car was capable of 205 MPH. Nothing
> compares (unless it is a 40, which Richie Ginther once described as a 30 with
> 10 more mistakes. That quote was so good it was repeated as theirs by both
> Gurney and Foyt.) Not to mention the reliability problems.
But it was beautiful and the concept of going Can-Am racing with a dedicated
Lotus design, after the success of the "unofficial" V8-powered 19s, was
intriguing. And it was amazing to watch Jim Clark at the Times GP do so well in
one.
Makes you want to get one and "fix" it, doesn't it?
Rod
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