Lotus Cars at Barber

[xcarguy]

On the return to Arkansas, after massive amounts of Thanksgiving overeating, the family and I stopped off at Barber Motorsports Park. Admittedly, my main interest was to check out the track, but because a couple of hot laps in the Toyota Sienna was a ‘no go’, we opted for the museum which is incredible to say the least. If you haven’t been there and ever get the chance, go. As most on this forum know, the Barber museum has a very nice Lotus section for your drooling pleasure. I found it very interesting to see, up close and personal, just how much some of the Lotus cars/race cars have changed throughout the years and thought I’d attempt to share here, in some sort of chronological order, a few good/bad photos. The cars presented here are:

 

1948 Mark I

1950 Mark II Replica

1952 Mark IV

1954 Mark VI

1954 Mark VIII

1955 Mark IX

1956 Eleven (two examples)

1958 Type 16 F2

1959 Type 17 (my wife’s favorite . . . wants me to build one)

1960 Type 18 F1

1960 Type 18 Jr.

1962 Type 23

1963 Seven S2 (Tom, you'll love the big slicks, though not as big as yellow 7's. I'm partial to the front wing).

1963 Type 29 Indy

1965 Type 30

1969 Type 63 F1

1969 Type 64 Indy

1971 Type 69 F2

1980 Type 81 F1

1984 Type 95T F1

1989 Type 101 F1

1991 Type 102B F1

1992 Type 102D F1

2010 T125 EXOS

 

And for a dash of ‘then and now’ contrast, a photo of the 1948 Mark I with some F1 eye candy in the background.

 

Enjoy . . . . :cheers:

Edited December 1, 2014 by xcarguy

[xcarguy]

Lotus photos 2

[xcarguy]

Lotus photos 3

[xcarguy]

Lotus photos 4

[xcarguy]

Lotus photos 5

[xcarguy]

. . . . . :cheers:

[powderbrake]

Thans for the pics.

I will have to put the museum on my bucket list.

[yellowss7]

Type 30 for me please!:drool::drool::drool: Tom

[scannon]

LOTUS = Lots Of Truly Unbelievably Spectacular cars!

 

Thanks for sharing.

[The Stig]

Thanks for sharing. Dream garage methinks...

[Gherkin]

Great chronology laid out there, thanks!

 

I work for PIAA and it's nice to see the 1989 Type 101 on display still showing the sponsorship love...

[NVP66S]

What is on the placques by the cars? I toured the Unser museum near Albuquerque, and the information was about the races and the drivers. I'm more interested in the cars.

[craig chima]

The Lotus 7 is the ex-Tom Robertson 1977 D Production Runoffs Winner. Still as of this date the only Lotus 7 to ever win a Runoffs championship. My ex car (Lotus 7) with one of my current 1500 motors actually sat on the FP pole at the Runoffs at Laguna Seca last month but had an incident during the race and finished 6th. A 7 might have a chance again when the Runoffs come back to Mid Ohio in 2016, but definitely not next year at Daytona.

[xcarguy]

What is on the placques by the cars? I toured the Unser museum near Albuquerque, and the information was about the races and the drivers. I'm more interested in the cars.

 

The plaques outline each car’s specs (number produced, weight, engine, HP, suspension, top end speed, etc.) and a brief history of the car. Sorry, didn’t get photos.

[Kitcat]

The shot of the white 1958-ish Elite sitting behind the Mark I (Lotus's Model T?) shows what amazing progress the company made in 10 years. The Elite is my favorite all time Lotus, then the 7. I have never seen a surviving Lotus Elite where the hood (bonnet) wasn't warped badly or ill-fitting. And of course using un-reinforced fiberglass to support suspension points wasn't destined to last long. Still, the few surviving examples can command 6 figures.

 

Didn't know the 7 only had one SCCA Run-offs victory. I would have guessed it had many.

[sparecr]

Back in 2009 when I was "President" of USA7's we combined the 2nd USA7's biannual meeting with LOG 29 (Lotus Owners Gathering 29) at Barber's. Had a great turnout of 7's and was an enjoyable weekend for all. It has been years since I have been in the 7's game (Locost, then Stalker #19, then a Cat (sold 5 years ago). Been sometime since I have visited the forum (probably should, I think I am officially still Secretary of this group) thanks for the reminder.

 

That being said I am the Lotus restorer at the Barber Museum, the Tom Robertson 7 was one of my projects and without help from Tom and a list member here the car could have never been completed to the standard it is today. Anytime any of you are through shoot me an email jviviani@barbermuseum.org I can at least say hi and tell you what might be going on. (Next May we are conducting a HMSA Historic Race, featuring Lotus, along with a sports car orientated swap meet if you need a good excuse to visit.)

 

John

[xcarguy]

. . . . . That being said I am the Lotus restorer at the Barber Museum . . . .

 

John

 

John,

 

Wish I had known. Dang the luck. :banghead:

[DaveStruve]

Back in 2009 when I was "President" of USA7's we combined the 2nd USA7's biannual meeting with LOG 29 (Lotus Owners Gathering 29) at Barber's. Had a great turnout of 7's and was an enjoyable weekend for all. It has been years since I have been in the 7's game (Locost, then Stalker #19, then a Cat (sold 5 years ago). Been sometime since I have visited the forum (probably should, I think I am officially still Secretary of this group) thanks for the reminder.

 

That being said I am the Lotus restorer at the Barber Museum, the Tom Robertson 7 was one of my projects and without help from Tom and a list member here the car could have never been completed to the standard it is today. Anytime any of you are through shoot me an email jviviani@barbermuseum.org I can at least say hi and tell you what might be going on. (Next May we are conducting a HMSA Historic Race, featuring Lotus, along with a sports car orientated swap meet if you need a good excuse to visit.)

 

John

 

Hey John,

 

Do you know if they have any of the blueprints for the cars in the library? I asked a docent when I was last there, but they thought most of the info was on the bikes.

[NVP66S]

Well, dang. I used my Lotus Elan +2 as a daily driver when I lived in Alabama and I didn't even realize that museum was there.

[yellowss7]

Hey John, good to here you are still there! We had a great time when we were there. If my memory serves me right, you drove that #19 lotus 11 around the track for a few parade laps during lunch.

 

Barber was the first time I ever tracked my yellow caterham. I'd love to do the track again sometimes, just don't know if my butt could take the 18 hour tow again. Maybe we can get you to host one of our 7s gatherings. :cheers:

 

Tom