1958 Lotus Eleven Le Mans

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park in August 2005.

It's a 1958 Lotus Eleven Le Mans, chassis 344, which was driven in the 90 minute Gentlemen Drivers GT and Sports Endurance Race by Guy Peeters and Vincent Decoux and has a 1,498cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was primarily designed to compete in the 1,100cc class of racing, but competed with a variety of engines ranging from 750cc to 1,500cc. The Lotus Eleven Le Mans differed from the standard Lotus Eleven in that it had a wider chassis frame in order to provide Le Mans regulation-width seats, and cockpit and footwell minimum dimensions, but the overall width of the bodywork was no different to the standard car.

1950s Sports Car Racing

This is a photograph I took at Luffield corner during the Classic Car Sports Car Race at the Coys International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1994.

Robin Lodge is leading in his 1957 Maserati 250S followed by the 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 of Simon Draper. The red car on the outside is Tony Merrick in Richard Utley's 1957 Lotus Eleven Le Mans. Behind the Aston Martin is Chris Drake's 1958 Lister Chevrolet in front of what looks like another Lotus Eleven.

1956 Lotus Eleven Le Mans

This car competed in the Historic Car Championship Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1993.

It's the 1956 Lotus Eleven Le Mans of Andrew Wilkinson, which the programme of the event says has a 1,500cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was a completely new car, unlike the previous production Lotuses, the Mk VIII, Mk IX and Mk X which were all based on the Lotus Mk VI. The Eleven had a steel tubular space-frame with stressed aluminium panels, and the aerodynamic body was designed by Frank Costin and was hinged at both ends to give complete access to the engine and other mechanical parts. The car was mainly designed to run in the 1,100cc class of racing, but other engines of up to 2½ litres were also used. The Lotus Eleven Le Mans differed from the standard Lotus Eleven in that it had a wider chassis frame in order to provide Le Mans regulation-width seats, and cockpit and footwell minimum dimensions, but the overall width of the bodywork was no different to the standard car.

1959 Cooper T51 & 1958 Lotus Eleven Le Mans

I took this photograph in the paddock at the Silverstone Historic Festival meeting in August 2001.

On the left is the 1959 Cooper T51 of David Cooke that he drove in the John Cooper Trophy Race for Pre 1966 Grand Prix and Tasman Cars. The T51 was a development of the Cooper T43 and and T45 cars for the 1959 F1 season and was usually powered by a 2½ litre Coventry Climax engine, though the programme of this events says that David Cooke's car had a 1,998cc engine. On the right is David Cooke's 1958 Lotus Eleven Le Mans with a 1,498cc engine. The Lotus Eleven was primarily designed to compete in the 1,100cc class of racing, but competed with a variety of engines ranging from 750cc to 1,500cc. The Lotus Eleven Le Mans differed from the standard Lotus Eleven in that it had a wider chassis frame in order to provide Le Mans regulation-width seats, and cockpit and footwell minimum dimensions, but the overall width of the bodywork was no different to the standard car.

1957 Lotus Eleven Le Mans

This was one of the competitors in the Classic Car Invitation Race at the Aston Martin Owners Club's Autumn Historic Car Races meeting at Oulton Park in September 1992.

It's the 1957 Lotus Eleven Le Mans of Richard Utley and has a 4-cylinder inline Coventry Climax engine. The Lotus Eleven was primarily designed to compete in the 1,100cc class of racing, but competed with a variety of engines ranging from 750cc to 1,500cc. The Lotus Eleven Le Mans differed from the standard Lotus Eleven in that it had a wider chassis frame in order to provide Le Mans regulation-width seats, and cockpit and footwell minimum dimensions, but the overall width of the bodywork was no different to the standard car.

1957 Lotus Eleven Le Mans Series 2

This car competed in the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association Sports Car Race at the Christie's International Historic Festival meeting at Silverstone in July 1992.

It's the 1957 Lotus Eleven Le Mans Series 2 of Malcolm Ricketts and has a 4-cylinder inline 1,460cc Coventry Climax FWB engine. The name of Cliff Allison is displayed on the side of this car, and Cliff Allison drove a Lotus Eleven at Le Mans in 1956 and 1957 - one like the above in 1956, but the 1957 car had a headrest. Colin Chapman would race the Lotus with three different engine sizes at Le Mans to contest the 750cc, 1,100cc or 1,500cc classes.

Lotus Eleven Le Mans

This car competed in the Ten Lap Invitation Scratch Race for 1950's Sports/Racing Cars at the VSCC's meeting at Oulton Park in August 1996.

The programme of the event simply says that it's Gregor Fisken's 1956 1,098cc Lotus, but it is in fact the Lotus Eleven Le Mans, chassis no. 211 that was driven by Cliff Allison and Keith Hall in the 1956 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The car retired from that race after 10 hours when Cliff Allison was driving down the Mulsanne Straight - the fastest part of the circuit - and hit a German Shepherd dog that ran onto the track. Three works Lotus Elevens were entered in that race, two with the 1,098cc engine and one of 1,459cc. As well as the Allison/Hall car, the 1,459cc car driven by Colin Chapman and Herbert MacKay-Fraser retired, but the other 1,098cc car driven by Reg Bicknell and Peter Jopp finished in 7th place overall, winning the 1.1 litre class. The Lotus Eleven Le Mans differed from the standard Lotus Eleven in that it had a wider chassis frame in order to provide Le Mans regulation-width seats, and cockpit and footwell minimum dimensions, but the overall width of the bodywork was no different to the standard car.