1979 - Lotus 81

Make: Lotus Model: 81 Year: 1979 Location: Type: Single Seater Chassis : EL 81/2 Competition Ready: Yes FIA HTP: Yes Exterior Color: ESSEX Livery Price: P.O.A.

Key Features

Iconic Lotus F1 car Driven by 2 World Champions Fully race-ready with good spares Winner of the 2019 British GP F1 Support Race Highly eligible for the 2020 Monaco Historic Grand Prix

Description

The Lotus 81 was built and revealed to the public in 1979 when it was hung from the ceiling in the Paradis night club in Paris. It first raced in 1980 and was the fourth generation Lotus ground effect F1 car, it had sliding skirts and was seen as an improvement on its’ predecessor the Lotus 80. The main team sponsor at the time was an American petrol company – Essex Petroleum and the were prepared in their distinctive red, blue and chrome livery for the start of the season.

4 Lotus 81 were built (of which 2 now reside in USA). Chassis 2 first raced at the Argentinian GP in January 1980 with Mario driving but retired before the end of the race.

The car attended every race in 1980 (at some races it was the T car) and was raced 6 times by , 3 times by and once by . Its’ best result was 4th in the USA East GP driven by de Angelis.

In 1981 the livery changed back to the familiar Black and Gold of John Player Special (JPS) and Nigel Mansell drove the car for the first 4 races before it was replaced by the new Lotus 87.

The car was raced in the European Masters series by Dr Alexander Lienau for several years and was bought by its current owner in late 2015. It was returned to the original Essex livery in time for the 2016 Goodwood Members Meeting where it took part in the F1 Ground Effect demonstration before leaving for the USA Masters series including the Austin and Mexican F1 GP support races.

It has been raced regularly in the Masters European F1 series in 2017 and 2018 and also competed in the Monaco Historique GP in 2018.

Lotus 81/2 is sold in 100% race-ready condition and comes with a current FIA HTP. Its DFV engine has only done 311 miles (3 hours) after its rebuild by Geoff Richardson. Crack testing was just completed and valid for 2 more years. The fuel cell is valid to 2023. Maintenance has always been done without any expense spared by Classic (CTL).

There are 3 sets of wheels in total and a full range of gear ratios. The car is currently in its 1980 ESSEX livery with fresh

RMD bv - Zilverstraat 14-16 - 2900 Schoten - Belgium +32 (0) 475 422790 - [email protected] - https://www.rmd.be 1979 - Lotus 81

paint. (If desired by its next owner, 81/2 could also compete in its 1981 JPS livery.)

This is a rare opportunity to acquire an iconic LOTUS ground effect F1 car which is a welcome and front running car in the Masters Historic F1 Championship as well as a competitive entry for the Monaco 2020 Historic Grand Prix !

History

(Courtesy of Oldracingcars.com) The racing history of Lotus 81/2 is shown below including any races in non-Formula 1 events. This contains all significant races at which this car appeared.

Race Car Driver Result Argentinian Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti Retired Buenos Aires - 13 Jan 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti Retired Interlagos - 27 Jan 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti 12 - 1 Mar 1980 V8 Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti Retired (accident) West V8 Long Beach - 30 Mar 1980 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti 7 Monte Carlo - 18 May 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti Retired Jarama - 1 Jun 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV (Spare - not used in practice) Paul Ricard - 29 Jun 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis Retired - 13 Jul 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV (Spare - not used in practice) Hockenheim - 10 Aug 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis (Only used in practice) Österreichring - 17 Aug 1980 V8 Austrian Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti (Only used in practice) Österreichring - 17 Aug 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell (Only used in practice) - 31 Aug 1980 V8 Dutch Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Mario Andretti (Only used in practice) Zandvoort - 31 Aug 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell Did not qualify Imola - 14 Sep 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis 10 Montréal - 28 Sep 1980 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis 4 Watkins Glen - 5 Oct 1980 V8 South African Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell 10 Kyalami - 7 Feb 1981 V8 United States Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell Retired (accident) West V8

RMD bv - Zilverstraat 14-16 - 2900 Schoten - Belgium +32 (0) 475 422790 - [email protected] - https://www.rmd.be 1979 - Lotus 81

Long Beach - 15 Mar 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell 11 Rio de Janeiro - 29 Mar 1981 V8 Argentinian Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell Retired Buenos Aires - 12 Apr 1981 V8 Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis (Only used in practice) Zolder - 17 May 1981 V8 Monaco Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV (Spare - not used in practice) Monte Carlo - 31 May 1981 V8 Spanish Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis (Only used in practice) Jarama - 21 Jun 1981 V8 French Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Elio de Angelis (Only used in practice) Dijon-Prenois - 5 Jul 1981 V8 French Grand Prix Lotus 81 [2] - Cosworth DFV Nigel Mansell (Only used in practice) Dijon-Prenois - 5 Jul 1981 V8

Pictures (For size reasons, we have limited the PDF-file to 10 pictures)

RMD bv - Zilverstraat 14-16 - 2900 Schoten - Belgium +32 (0) 475 422790 - [email protected] - https://www.rmd.be 1979 - Lotus 81

RMD bv - Zilverstraat 14-16 - 2900 Schoten - Belgium +32 (0) 475 422790 - [email protected] - https://www.rmd.be

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