Jimmy's Lotus 38 returning home - to Dearborn, that is...

Not in Hethel but in Dearborn, in the Henry Ford museum. Management has changed, and they suddenly love cars again.

Friday morning came, and we had to scoot to Pebble Beach as guests of the Ford Motor Company for the unveiling of the freshly-freshened 1965 Lotus 38, chassis 01, the very car driven to the Indy 500 win by Jimmy Clark. It was about time that that poor car, ignored for years by an unsympathetic management, received some attention. Fortunately, Christian Overland, a TRUE enthusiast, is now VP of the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn. Christian was very interested to hear any stories about the car and every detail about it.



It was cold and drizzly, but we were quite honored to be a part of the very small circle of guests for this celebration, and besides as general freeloaders, we appreciated that they did not charge us for breakfast at the Lodge, as it was supplied by the nice folks at FoMoCo, John Clinard in charge. Can't dream of a more gracious and knowledgeable host.
Once uncovered, the car is seen to be in truly splendid condition. Thanks to Clive Chapman and his guys at Classic Team Lotus, they did not overdo it, and no part that was not then is now chromed or polished. This was followed by two brief speeches by Bobby Unser and Dan Gurney, who are both men of few words; thanks for that as it was really damp and we all wanted to get inside for some decent tea.





Christian, Bobby, Dan, and Edsel Ford (wearing cheap sneakers) are presenting a painting of the car by Andrew Kitson. To whom remained unclear because my hearing is getting worse.



The car was then shown on Sunday on the Concours lawn but surprisingly, got little attention from the folks walking by, to my utter dismay.



The lonely machine was basically ignored by the well-to-do, quite a disappointment.



At least, visiting Alice Hanks, widow of the late Sam Hanks, winner of the 1957 Indy 500, knew what she was looking at. Alice is a beautiful lady in every sense of the word. She was kind to pose with Yours Truly on front of "Old Nail", our own contribution to the show.



With the engine locked, we were automatically disqualified but who cares, we had a great time.

Edited by T54, 18 August 2010 - 21:36.

That 'painting' is by our very own Andrew Kitson!!

Shows how much I know about automotive art...
I will correct the post illico and presto!

Done.

Edited by T54, 18 August 2010 - 21:37.

The lonely machine was basically ignored by the well-to-do, quite a disappointment.

What a contrast to its two appearances in the U.K. before its return to the U.S.A.

What a contrast to its two appearances in the U.K. before its return to the U.S.A.

Comes as no surprise, Alan. After all, it well and truly rained on their parade at the time!

At least, you will be pleased to know that a few 'Muricans still appreciate the car for what it is and what it did in the hands of a great man.
For the ones here that are offended by our respect for old metal, please consider that the old metal was hand formed by gentlemen, craftsmen and designers, and that metal is the product of their labor. Humans die of old age, but metal does last longer and deserves respect if not reverence.
We revere it enough to have made our own in collaboration with a family of Italian enthusiasts.

This was followed by two brief speeches by Bobby Unser and Dan Gurney, who are both men of few words; thanks for that as it was really damp and we all wanted to get inside for some decent tea.

Dan, yes, but Bobby? A man of few words? Is he ill?

Tom

Georgious... Simply georgious!
Last time I saw the car was at the Ford Museum many years ago.
Sad state then..
Great to see it now.

ZOOOM

Looking at this picture of Jimmy in the 38 with the NASCAR Wood Bros crew I notice the car only has one rear view mirror does anybody know what happened to the other one ?

As it was the practice, they removed the mirror for qualifying to lower drag.

Dan, yes, but Bobby? A man of few words? Is he ill?

No, just cold.

Edited by T54, 19 August 2010 - 01:30.

As it was the practice, they removed the mirror for qualifying to lower drag.

Thanks T54 :-)

Looking at this picture of Jimmy in the 38 with the NASCAR Wood Bros crew I notice the car only has one rear view mirror does anybody know what happened to the other one ?

That is the Team Lotus crew

Can you name them for us, Peter? I see Bob Sparshott right in the middle.............

Can you name them for us, Peter? I see Bob Sparshott right in the middle.............

L to R. Dave Lazenby, Graham Clode, Peter Jackson (Specialised Mouldings, who was pressganged into the Team !), Unknown,

Bob Sparshott, Alan Moffatt, Jim Smith, Mike Underwood (kneeling)

That is the Team Lotus crew

Yes mostly made up from the 1963 Daytona 500 winning (with Tiny Lund at the wheel) Wood Bros NASCAR Crew, I can't put all the names to all the faces but I believe Glen and Leonard Wood are on the right and also included in this photo are Ray Lee and Delano Wood, Kenny Martin, Ralph Edwards and Jim Reed.

Lovely story about how John Cowley from the Ford Motor Company asked the boys from the remote foothills of Virginia with no open wheel experience to help out Jim Clark and the Lotus team here

Edited by arttidesco, 19 August 2010 - 10:13.

L to R. Dave Lazenby, Graham Clode, Peter Jackson (Specialised Mouldings, who was pressganged into the Team !), Unknown,

Bob Sparshott, Alan Moffatt, Jim Smith, Mike Underwood (kneeling)

Allan Moffat mentions in his book that he went and worked for Chapman for no wages.

L to R. Dave Lazenby, Graham Clode, Peter Jackson (Specialised Mouldings, who was pressganged into the Team !), Unknown,

Bob Sparshott, Alan Moffatt, Jim Smith, Mike Underwood (kneeling)

Does this mean the Wood Brothers did not crew for team Lotus at Indy in 1965 ?

Edit here is another pic from pit lane.

Edited by arttidesco, 19 August 2010 - 11:02.

L to R. ..., Alan Moffatt, ...

That's Allan Moffat, if you will allow me a moment of pedantry. I am sufficiently intrigued by this photo that I want to ask a few more questions, but I will go elsewhere and not hijack this thread.

From Team Lotus The Indianapolis Years by Andrew Ferguson pages 101,102:

Bobby Johns had initiated their recruitment; known as the Wood Brothers, the group had been formed in 1956 and was composed of five brothers and two cousins from Stuart, Virginia. They now held top place in the world of pit crewmen, and were to perform outstandingly well in the race, going through the 'out and back' part of their allotted task in just under 4 seconds. They flew in a couple of days before the race and quickly impressed Colin with their professional appearance and efficiency, but their presence was not viewed too favourably by our own mechanics, who still felt under the shadow of the unfair criticism they had incurred in a previous race.

Thanks Brian

Seems the brothers felt made welcome enough in the article I posted earlier. Seems odd that they are not included in either of the photo's I posted, maybe they were busy preparing for the race elsewhere.

Edited by arttidesco, 19 August 2010 - 13:01.

This maybe the last appearance of 38/1 in the UK ? ...FOS



I was chatting to Johnny Rutherford ( Indy winner 1974/76/80) at FOS 2009 and he kindly gave a signed map of Indy in the 1930s.... in addition he also gave me a brochure from the Indy museum in which in the European Car section there is no mention of Lotus !

Here my daughter holds the map at our charity auction in May...it made £400 for the terminally ill children. Richard Noble OBE the auctioneer



Here the Andrew Kitson painting .....the original was auctioned on the same night and made £4000. Thank you Andrew..a great supporter of our fundraising for Little Havens Childrens Hospice.

Edited by hipperson, 19 August 2010 - 20:36.

It is fantastic to see this great racecar in proper condition. T54 and I saw it in the Henry Ford museum in Dearborn, Michigan about 12 years ago and it was in appalling condition. This is truly an epochal design that won the Indy 500 during a fascinating period, when winning this great race was a career achievement for drivers, designers and mechanics.

I guess Sally Swart (Stokes) didn't see the Lotus 38 at Pebble Beach? Here she is in the Lotus 49 on Saturday at Laguna Seca.



I saw her again on Sunday and she showed me a photo of her with Dario Franchitti (who drove Carl Moore's Maserati Birdcage in the Gurney demo laps on Saturday).

Vince H.

I did not see Sally at the Concours, but they were of course at the track, and as I was chatting with the folks at Stand 21 (Pierre-Henri Raphanel was telling us about his latest exploits), Ed Swart stopped by to say hello.
I took this shot at the track before rushing to Pebble to settle our Cooper on the lawn. Unbelievably the traffic went all my way and with the help of my trusty Valentine One, I made it to the Collins field in 20 minutes flat, which ought to be a new record... without ending in His Majesty's jails.



Left to right, Russell Elrod, John Melvin (who investigates racing accidents), Yves Morizot (Stand 21's owner and prez), Pierre-Henri and Christopher Morizot.

Franchitti drove the 1965 Lotus of Indy winner Jim Clark. The No. 82 car was restored last year in Indianapolis and driven, essentially, by only one other person before Franchitti--fellow Scotsman Jackie Stewart, who demonstrated the Lotus at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Well I never!

That's got to be some sort of record, two mistakes in a 33 word sentence!

At least, you will be pleased to know that a few 'Muricans still appreciate the car for what it is and what it did in the hands of a great man.
For the ones here that are offended by our respect for old metal, please consider that the old metal was hand formed by gentlemen, craftsmen and designers, and that metal is the product car electronics of their labor. Humans die of old age, but metal does last longer and deserves respect if not reverence.
We revere it enough to have made our own in collaboration with a family of Italian enthusiasts.

It truly is a thing of beauty!

What a good little film – and how nice to see a current driver so fired up about one of his heroes from the past. Dario seems to be a nice guy, and offers some welcome insight on driving the 38. Thanks for that, B Squared!

Agreed; a lovely little film and, as Philip says, great to see a current driver so respectful of the Indy and Jim Clark history. Good, too, to see him driving with open-face helmet and goggles, and 'JC' driving gloves - nice touch.

Nice car, nice film, nice bloke.

It seems that Dario is one of the good guys. I have never got over a very Italian looking chap with that improbable boad Scottish accent!
He has a very nice looking wife too!

The lonely machine was basically ignored by the well-to-do, quite a disappointment.

This is a result of raising prices for Concours so much that it becomes an event and not a car show.

There are car guys, car guys with money, and guys with money.

When you eliminate the car guys without money, you're left with a whole lot of people with money who know nothing about cars and a scant few who do.