Technology in race cars (40): Lotus 79 - Skirt chaser with a pull for victory

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Technology in race cars (40): Lotus 79 - Skirt chaser with a pull for victory

Created on December 15, 2023

Text:

Gerhard Schütz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

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Archiv: Gerhard Schütz

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Archiv Gerhard Schütz

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Bonhams

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Ford

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Lotus Ford-Cosworth Type 79 'John Player Special' (1978) - offered as Lot 019 at the Bonhams Abu Dhabi auction on November 25, 2023

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Lotus Ford-Cosworth Type 79 'John Player Special' (1978) - offered as Lot 019 at the Bonhams Abu Dhabi auction on November 25, 2023

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Lotus 79 (1978) - at the historic support race for the GP USA in Austin (TX) 2012

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Andretti in the Lotus 79 at the Spanish GP (1978)

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Lotus 79 - beautifully successful, successfully beautiful

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Lotus 79, the first ground effect world champion in 1978. The secret of success was the wing profiles close to the ground in the skirt-sealed side boxes

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Right side box (seen from the chassis side)

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Right lower side panel Left the radiator inlet, center the radiator outlet upwards, right the venturi outlet

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March (1970) - Lateral wings 1970 at March. More flow calming than downforce

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BRM project (1969) - Side wing stubs, radiator lying next to the engine, here with Naca intake

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Lotus 79 (1978) - 1:4 wind tunnel model. Detail front suspension

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Lotus 78 (1977) - Mario Andretti finished the 1977 season in 3rd place with this car

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Lotus 77 (1976) - Lotus made its first attempts at skirts on the Lotus 77

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Lotus 79 (1978) - The masterpiece in X-ray. Version with raised exhaust

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Lotus 79 (1978) - rear with raised exhaust

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Lotus 79 (1978) - rear end in the first version. Exhaust manifold still on the side

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Lotus 79: Left the competition out in the cold

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Lotus 79 (1978) - High-tech from Chapman's neo-Gothic Ketteringham Hall Castle

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Lotus 79 (1978) - My castle is my office

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Lotus 78 (1977) - Clearly visible here is the so-called Mosquito radiator inlet, also used on the Type 79 (modeled on an aircraft type). The side tank restricts the scope for air flow

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Lotus 79: The narrow chassis with the water cooler. A water pipe still runs outside here. The fuel tank is located behind the driver, who has moved forward

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Chassis right. Exhaust manifold: First version, lateral, in the exhaust duct

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Filigree body. Collision protection for the driver was not yet a major issue...

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Jacked-up chassis from the front

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Jacked-up chassis from above

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Lotus 79 (1978) - The oil tank between the engine and gearbox contributes to the extension of the downforce-generating side wings

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Lotus 79 (1978) - View into the naked cockpit

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Lotus 79 (1978) - version with raised exhaust. Plenty of free space on both sides for the under-air flow

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Lotus 79 (1978) - View over the rear wing

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Lotus 78 (1977) - The 79 predecessor would have become world champion straight away without eight engine and gearbox failures

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Lotus 79 1978: From the square to the round

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Lotus 79 (1987) - Colin Chapman with Andretti in the 79th Lotus. Five victories have already been achieved, including two double victories, see laurel wreaths on the rear wing

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Williams FW07 (1979) - Its secret: A very stiff chassis to absorb the large aerodynamic and G-forces

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Internal brakes - one of the weak points

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Type 88: Innovative to the point of cleverness: circumventing the skirt ban with a double chassis

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Carbon chassis from Lotus

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Lotus 79 (1978) - The same carbon chassis from the inside

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Lotus 93T (1983) - rear diffuser, flat underbody from 1983

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Lotus 79 (1978) - The Lotus 79 says goodbye in 1979

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Lotus 79 (1978) - The air likes to flow through it

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Summary

With the Lotus 79, Lotus revolutionized Formula 1 for the fourth and last time. The 79 used the underbody to generate more downforce and drove the competition into the ground in the 1978 season.

This article contains the following chapters

New aerodynamics
Wedge shape
On the way to the ground effect
The Venturi principle
On the hunt for dense aprons
Chassis
Unlucky year 1977
Successful year 1978
Setbacks and decline
Epilogue

Estimated reading time: 15min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The years 1958-1978 were the two most creative decades in the history of racing technology. This series portrays the most innovative, pioneering and exotic designs of Formula 1, Indy Cars, sports cars and CanAm, and at the same time traces the major lines of development that still have an impact today. For the eighth time in this series, we meet Lotus; so every fifth article was about Lotus. This is no coincidence, as Lotus has been one of the most important drivers of innovation in these two decades. For the fourth and final time, Lotus revolutionized Formula 1 with the Type 79 , the successor to the 78, after the monocoque in 1962, the engine-integrated concept in 1967 and the wedge in 1970. And this fourth revolution was also to be the most lasting, as it has not been exhausted to this day: the ground effect, thanks to which downforce is generated with the car body close to the ground.

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