26 replies to this topic

[Doug Nye]

Just a few shots from a few days ago, showing a car for which I have a particular soft spot. Bonhams work in preparation for announcing the auction house's dedicated Sale in conjunction with Formula 1 at this coming season end's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

This is Lotus 79 chassis '4' - the car in which Mario Andretti won the 1978 Dutch GP and then clinched his Drivers' World Championship title in the following Italian GP at Monza. Not only is the ground-effects Type 79 a landmark car in GP racing design, but since Phil Hill's 1961 Italian GP 'Sharknose' Ferrari was subsequently scrapped, this is the only surviving F1 car ever to carry an American driver to his Championship-clinching point score.

1 - Mario leading Ronnie - 1978 Dutch GP, Zandvoort - a superb 1-2 success for the Lotus 79 duo.



2 - In a provincial British studio this month...



3 - Ditto



4 - Chassis plate



5 - 'Black Beauty' indeed...



6 - Ditto



7 - Ditto



8 - As distinctive a landmark design feature as the Cooper's engine position - the ground-effect 79s' underflooor venturi form



9 - For any enthusiast, studio photography's prolonged intense focus upon the artefact can border upon a magical experience...



10 - ...and in period, Mario and Colin Chapman with his earlier-chassis Type 79, 1978 British GP, Brands Hatch.



All Photos strictly Copyright: The GP Library

DCN

[paulsenna1]

A truly iconic F1 car.

 

Did the car carry the chassis no. 79/4 in period or was it JPS22 or some such?

[LittleChris]

Pic 9, how small was the 79 compared to the bloke in the same photo !! I understand people who think 50's front engined cars were the epitome of beauty Grand Prix machinerywise but as a child of the space age the 79 to me was the most beautiful racing car ever though only in JPS livery. For some reason the 1979 version just didn't look right

[Jack-the-Lad]

I was fortunate to attend the 1978 Belgian G.P., which I believe was the 79’s debut race.

[Tim Murray]

The 79’s debut race had been the very wet International Trophy at Silverstone in March but, Andretti having badly damaged the first one after aquaplaning off the track and hitting Regazzoni’s abandoned Shadow, the 79 didn’t race again until Belgium in May, although Mario used it in practice at Monaco.

[Charlieman]

Pic 9, how small was the 79 compared to the bloke in the same photo !! 

It was the largest car on the grid in 1978. 

[Alan Lewis]

I received the Tamiya model kit as a present not long afterwards.

A thing of beauty - even when put together by a complete artistic incompetent like me.

[Doug Nye]

Interestingly, the chief mechanic of a very prominent current F1 team was with us during the photo-shoot.  His first reaction upon seeing the car close up was "But it's Formula 3 size".  He further commented that many of the fixings, nuts and bolts on the car were also all - with a tone of wonderment - "Formula 3 size".

 

It all did the job - until found out in '79 by stiffer Ligier and Williams designs.  The chassis' relative lack of structural rigidity is hinted at by its hollow-backed look amidships through that low-sided cockpit area, seen particularly in pic 3 above.

 

And yes if I recall correctly '79-4' was in 1978 plated 'JPS22', then in 1979 it had an 'ML' number applied - Martini-Lotus, when as Chris posted above, it just didn't look right in green with the vari-colour blue, red and black Martini stripes.  Throughout, to the rebellious racing press it was always '79/4'...  And it remains today a truly lovely car.

 

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 20 February 2023 - 08:35.

[Nemo1965]

Interestingly, the chief mechanic of a very prominent current F1 team was with us during the photo-shoot.  His first reaction upon seeing the car close up was "But it's Formula 3 size".  He further commented that many of the fixings, nuts and bolts on the car were also all - with a tone of wonderment - "Formula 3 size".

 

It all did the job - until found out in '79 by stiffer Ligier and Williams designs.  The chassis' relative lack of structural rigidity is hinted at by its hollow-backed look amidships through that low-sided cockpit area, seen particularly in pic 3 above.

 

And yes if I recall correctly '79-4' was in 1978 plated 'JPS22', then in 1979 it had an 'ML' number applied - Martini-Lotus, when as Chris posted above, it just didn't look right in green with the vari-colour blue, red and black Martini stripes.  Throughout, to the rebellious racing press it was always '79/4'...  And it remains today a truly lovely car.

 

DCN

 

That picture with the dude in front... I guess if I (or any other ridiclously tall anorak) would stand next to it, the car would look even smaller. Although: I remember a Toyota-advertisement (or something), with two people next to it. A small woman and a big lad. The car looked the smallest with the small lass next to it. 

[Charles E Taylor]

Numbers?

 

 

In 1978, the car that Mario Andretti used from the Dutch GP until the end of the season was a rebuild of the third type 79, used by Mario from the Spanish GP onward – This was needed after Mario’s accident in the Austrian GP, where the chassis suffered significant damage

.

 

The only major component used for the rebuild was a new chassis. Almost all of the other components from the damaged car, including the repaired bodywork were transferred onto this new chassis.

 

Among other changes, the newer chassis had no flanged holes in the dashboard bulkhead, unlike the first three that were built.

 

 

Another new 79 chassis was constructed at the end of 1978, this had all new components fitted, effectively a new car entirely.

 

 

 

 

Have fun with this, things are not always what they seem to be. Please be careful when making conclusions.

 

 

 

 

Charlie

 

[funformula]

Pic 1 is showing one of the few occasions Ronnie Peterson wasn´t using his yellow visor shield

[rl1856]

Would it have been possible, in period, to have significantly stiffened the 79 chassis ?

[Charlieman]

All F1 cars of the time exceeded minimum weight, some significantly. The Lotus 78 and 79, with a lot of bodywork to carry, had to save weight. In the case of the 78, this was partially achieved by honeycomb panels. The 79 chassis was known to be flexible but needed to be stiffer owing to the extra downforce. Adding cockpit reinforcement was judged by Chapman to be too heavy. 

[jonpollak]

Thanks for these great shots Doug.

 

I was lucky enough to see Mario in this car at the 1978 Long Beach GP

 

 

Jp

[10kDA]

Would it have been possible, in period, to have significantly stiffened the 79 chassis ?

They could have overlaid sheets of aluminum onto existing panels of the monocoque, such as for example Lola did on T324 or T326, I forget which, Super Vees, across the top from the front of the tub to aft of the top leading links. Just an example, and not suggesting this would have been the appropriate location for extra sheeting on the Lotus 79. Torsion and shear would be taken up by the rivets. But the 79s were winning, Mario and Ronnie were accustomed to driving around a car's shortcomings, and the 80 was in development, so addressing the flex may have been viewed as having too small a payoff.

[Dennis Hockenbury]

While perhaps not as petite as a Lotus 25, the 79's were indeed a small car. I looked at one at length years ago and was amazed at the small size. I have since seen many others of the same era and they were all of a similar scale.

Edited by Dennis Hockenbury, 20 February 2023 - 16:31.

[Jack-the-Lad]

So elegant compared to today’s grotesqueries…….

[as65p]

At 13 I was already in love with the 78's shape and colour scheme, but the 79 in JPS colours is pure perfection.

[airbox]

Looking at the photos I was struck by the cutaway on the bodywork just behind the wing mirror and the overall mirror assembly looks closer to the wrap around fairing on the Lotus 78.

 

Has the car been returned to an early spec version? 

[dolomite]

The wheels are the wrong pattern, and it seems to have much bigger radiator exit ducts and large rear brake ducts that were not there in 78 (pedant mode off)

[Emery0323]

I just realized that this chassis, 79-4, is the one owned by Duncan Dayton,  who is also owner of  the Highcroft Racing team (ALMS/IMSA).

He has shown it publicly at a major historic events in the US, like Monterey, Lime Rock,etc., and has been a good steward of its history.

I hope the next owner continues to show it going forward.  I would hate for it disappear into a private collection and never be seen by the public again.

https://www.roadandt...-winning-lotus/

Edited by Emery0323, 20 February 2023 - 20:24.

[LittleChris]

Thanks for these great shots Doug.

 

I was lucky enough to see Mario in this car at the 1978 Long Beach GP

 

 

Jp

 

Looks like a Lotus 78 rather than a 79 Jon 

[Mallory Dan]

Definitely a 78 in that Long Beach pic, the 79 didn't make its GP debut for another month or so

[AJCee]

For me too it is a thing of great beauty. The International Trophy was also my (spectating in person) debut and although we only saw the 79 briefly, it left an impression (just as it did on Rega’s abandoned Shadow).
Thank you Doug, they are lovely photos.

[Mallory Dan]

The 79 is the best looking GP car ever I reckon, in the JPS livery. Mind you the 72 is a very close second. Growing up with 70s cars, compared to what came before and since, I reckon I was spoilt. Its no wonder I was hooked on racing then. And have had little or no interest the past 20 odd years....

[2F-001]

The cockpit surround and mirror arrangement ('Lotus 78 style' and presumably a carry-over) seen in the studio shots appear to be as per the 79's Silverstone debut (I was there but, sadly, took no pictures) and for Zolder. That set up (or one very similar) then reappears on Andretti's in Canada (and possibly elsewhere - Austria maybe? if photo captioning can be believed).

 

I can see pictures showing at least three quite different mirror arrangements in use on the works 79s during 1978.

 

Pictures of Rebaque's car show that early set up (as per the Silverstone debut) too, but I believe that was the original 79/1 (or most of it) so that would make some sense, if that's correct.

[B Squared]

Mario at Watkins in 1978, this is on Saturday when he secured pole position. Race morning warmup saw a change of fortune and the win so many of us came to see was not to be. Thanks for the photos Doug.

B² photo