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Lotus F1 1977 MKII

The Lotus 77 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge and Martin Ogilvie for the 1976 Formula One season. The car was a stop-gap means to an end for Lotus, who were fighting back after the failure of the Lotus 76 and the obsolescence of the Lotus 72 in 1975.

The Lotus 77 featured a slimmer, lighter monocoque design over the 72, but was similarly powered by the Cosworth DFV. It featured improved aerodynamics and repositioned radiators to aid better cooling. The front brakes were initially inboard, in line with its predecessors, but were moved outboard in a more conventional design part-way through the season. The suspension was designed around a series of rocker arms instead of the usual set up of wishbones. The idea behind the new system was to set the suspension up for a specific track, taking into account ride height and road surface, and the 77 was dubbed 'The Adjustacar' as a result. It worked in a fashion, but inexperience with such an infinitely adjustable car meant that optimum settings were often not achieved. It was quickly deemed that this suspension arrangement wasn't suitable and Len Terry was brought early in the season in to design a more orthodox system with rocker arms and outboard brakes. Later in the season Lotus hired Tony Southgate from Shadow to act as chief engineer. He moved the oil radiator to the nose to improve weight distribution and also added a cockpit-adjustable rear anti-roll bar and a lighter compressed-air starter. All drivers reported the steering and ride were occasionally vague and unresponsive and that the car lacked straight-line speed. Andretti did not care for the car, proclaiming it to be a 'dog'. This motivated Lotus to accelerate research and create the Lotus 78. Andretti skipped the Monaco Grand Prix to race in the Indianapolis 500.


Variations:
Original = Order.12,Shed,Junkyard,Auction,Salon

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