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Technology in race cars (25): Lotus 63 - Connect four by four?

Created on January 18, 2023

Text:

Gerhard Schütz

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Archiv Gerhard Schütz

Archiv

Daniel Reinhard

Archiv Gerhard Schütz

Archiv

Lotus 63 (1969) - John Miles at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone

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Lotus 63 (1969) - in the special exhibition "F1 Experiments" at the Rétromobile Paris 2017

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Lotus 63 F1 (1970) - with four-wheel drive and Ford-Cosworth engine, was not convincing - Geneva Motor Show 1970

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Lotus 63 (1969) - Graham Hill during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, still without rear wing

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Lotus 63 (1969) - Graham Hill during practice for the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort

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Lotus 63 (1969) - Joakim Bonnier at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone

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Lotus 63 (1969) - John Miles during practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

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Lotus 63 (1969) - Rear with open tubular frame. The low exhaust pipes are clearly visible

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Lotus 63 (1969) - tubular frame rigidly connected to the engine, strong wishbones, but no trailing arms

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Lotus 63 (1969) - View into the front footwell with the mighty drive shaft

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Lotus 63 (1969) - The undisguised front end with drive shaft and idiosyncratic steering

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Lotus 63 (1969) - Position of the transfer case in the car

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McLaren M9A (1969) - in the special exhibition "F1 Experiments" at the Rétromobile Paris 2017

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McLaren M9A (1969) - outwardly quite unspectacular

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McLaren M9A (1969) - rear view with internal springs and brakes

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McLaren M9A (1969) - Front axle with inboard brakes

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McLaren M9A (1969) - X-ray drawing of the front end

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McLaren M9A (1969) - X-ray drawing of the front axle

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Cosworth F1 4WD (1969) - in the special exhibition "F1 Experiments" at the Rétromobile Paris 2017

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - Driver low between the side fuel tanks

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - uncovered rear end

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - asymmetrical wedge without wings

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - front view. The cockpit offset to the left is more for oval racing

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - rear view. The side tanks are reminiscent of the Lancia D50 from 1954

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - X-ray drawing of the rear end

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Cosworth 4WD (1969) - X-ray drawing of the front axle

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Matra MS84 (1969) - Jackie Stewart during practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone

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Matra MS84 (1969) - Jackie Stewart during practice for the French Grand Prix at the Circuit de Charade

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Matra MS84 (1969) - Front axle and tubular frame

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Matra MS84 (1969) - Roll bar as part of the tubular frame. Transfer case at the bottom left of the picture

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Matra MS84 (1969) - Front suspension. Almost conventional compared to the Lotus 63

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Matra MS84 (1969) - eccentric rear axle differential with half shafts of different lengths

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Matra MS84 (1969) - X-ray drawing of the front axle

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Matra MS84 (1969) - X-ray drawing of the rear end

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Summary

Two additional drive wheels were expected to provide more traction, higher usable engine power and therefore faster cars in the 1969 season. In addition to Lotus, three other manufacturers also tried out the unusual new technology. However, they quickly realized that the higher weight and tendency to understeer outweighed any hoped-for advantages. Episode 25 of the series "Technology in racing cars from 1958 to 1978" tells the story of the failure of four-wheel drive in Formula 1.

This article contains the following chapters

A good idea in principle
Lotus
Two world championships given away
McLaren, Matra and Cosworth
Balance sheet

Estimated reading time: 9min

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 Can-Am, and at the same time traces the major lines of development that still have an impact today. The series started with Lotus, one of the most important innovation drivers of these two decades. And the series will also finish with Lotus. This time, we recall the unsuccessful attempts to double the number of drive wheels. 1969 was a key year for the further development of Formula 1: it was the year in which the high downforce wings were banned after the violent Barcelona accidents . At the same time, it was the year in which the 4x4 Formula 1 cars created as Plan B for more grip failed. This meant that in future, there were only two ways to increase downforce apart from the wings and spoilers directly on the vehicle. The first was to trim the upper side of the vehicle body itself for downforce, which from 1970 - initiated by the Lotus 72 - resulted in the then widespread wedge shape. Secondly, from 1977 onwards, the underside of the car (underbody and sidepods) was redesigned close to the ground to generate downforce according to the aerodynamic Venturi principle. Today's racing cars combine these two methods to create a highly complex, three-dimensional structure that forces the air above and below the vehicle to produce as much downforce as possible with as little drag as possible.

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