The Lotus 48 was a

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name re ...

racing car designed by

Colin Chapman Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman (19 May 1928 – 16 December 1982) was an English design engineer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars. In 1952 he founded the sports car company Lotus Cars. Chapman ...

and Maurice Phillippe and powered by a Cosworth FVA

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

. It won three races in the hands of Jim Clark but was generally uncompetitive against rival machinery. Ultimately, its main claim to fame (or notoriety) is as the car in which Clark was killed at

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...

on 7 April 1968.

Development

The Lotus 48 was designed to take the

Cosworth FVA Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industries ...

engine to compete under the new Formula Two regulations introduced in 1967. It had a full monocoque chassis with a tubular spaceframe for the engine, inboard coil springs operated by rocker arms at the front and reversed wishbones with twin trailing and top links at the rear. The FVA engine was mated to a ZF gearbox. Only four examples were built; although it was intended as a customer car, prospective customers flocked to buy the more successful Brabham BT23 instead.

Racing history

Graham Hill persuaded

to take the new car to the 1967 Australian Grand Prix, where it ran as high as third before succumbing to gearbox failure. Thereafter it was run by

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. Mor ...

in the 1967 Formula Two season, driven by Hill and Jim Clark, and occasionally by

Jackie Oliver Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his d ...

. Clark scored three wins, and several poles and fastest laps between him and Hill. Oliver drove the car in the

1967 German Grand Prix The 1967 German Grand Prix was a motor race for both Formula One and Formula Two cars held at the Nürburgring on 6 August 1967. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1967 World Championship of Drivers and the 1967 International Cup for Formula O ...

which was run for Formula One and Formula Two cars; he finished first of the Formula Two entries and fifth overall. Hill and Clark drove the 48 again in 1968 but Clark was killed in the Deutschland Trophäe race at

then joined Hill as full-time team member, but neither scored any wins, Oliver's best result being second at the Rhein-Pokalrennen and Hill placing fourth at the Reims Grand Prix. At the end of 1968 the cars were sold to Gerry Kinnane's Team Ireland.

drove one in the Argentine Temporada series, and then for 1969 the cars made sporadic appearances in the hands of John Watson and John Pollock, with little success.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key) No points scored by the Lotus 48 as it was run in a

Formula Two Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...

Category.

References

48 Formula Two cars Tasman Series cars {{Motorsport-stub