“In 1967 early spring and David Prophet has a Lotus 30 for sale. David, himself a race car driver, also dealt with race cars and this car was something special. The special was that it was not a good car? The Lotus 30 was one of Colin Chapman’s less successful cars, and the results came. Although Jim Clark won at Spa [4] Ed. Note: Clark never raced a Lotus 30 at Spa. with the car, he was very critical and argued that it had so many flaws that it simply was not worth betting on.
“On the ferry to England sits a man who competed for Hyllinge Motorsällskap in a doghouse and who now intends to go for something bigger and more violent.
“The man called Göte Ingvar Johansson dealt with used cars in Arlöv, near Malmö, and the destination is London, where he will look at David Prophets’ Lotus 30. On the trip is his mechanic Sonny Lundgren, who remembers they test drove the car on a back street in London which he thought was not particularly satisfying.
“Obviously he was right and knowing the car today he would have test driven it on any of the tracks in the vicinity of London. The car got a new owner, and the trip back to Sweden was certainly an exciting journey, and one can imagine that gentlemen Ingvar and Sonny had a lot to talk about. What was known about the car? I do not think much more than it was raced by Simon de Latour and did not have any major successes.
“Back home in Skane, the car was fitted with a roof (the regulations prescribed a ceiling and the luggage space). Many will recall, among other things Pickos McLaren who got a pair of mailboxes screwed behind on which who the entry was with and paid for by the sponsor. That car is currently owned by Kaj Wallin and you can read about elsewhere on the Auto Sport Heritage site.
“Per Hageman, automotive expert at RHK (Racerhistoriska Klubben / Racer Historic Club) remembers that it was at the premiere of Knutstorp in 1967. The car went bad and Per does not think that it was the goal.
“The season continued with the same bad results and during the 1968 season the car was sold to Jan Hillman in Krika utanför Klippan. Jan ran sporadically until 1973 when he sold it to his mechanic Jan Rosberg. Jan Rosberg, who worked in the spare parts warehouse at Saab dealer in Klippan, drove the car sparingly until 1978 or 79 when Lasse Widenborg bought it on the tip of the undersigned. I was elected as president for Lotus Car Club of Sweden in 1978 and met Jan Rosberg first time in 1978 at Knutstorp when the club rented the track for a day. Jan Hillman remembers that he sold the car and truck to Jan Rosberg for 5000: – but when I talk to him so he says. Jan had some ideas about how he would do with the car and, among other things, would remove the roof of the car would be returned in their original condition and he had some other things he wanted to do. Jan Rosberg was not as technically proficient and I think says Jan Hillman, he got tired after a while.
“Lasse Widenborg at this time purchased and renovated many cars – he was an expert on American V8s and had a special eye for just this kind of racing cars. Lasse took down the car in pieces and started a renovation in many years and very few people knew where the car was. I do not know if Lasse got tired or if he found other items that were more appealing, and the car was sold to Leif Norberg in Jönköping who is one of our greatest experts on that particular Lotus. For many years the car was in Leif’s workshop but during quiet periods he worked on the car with a new body and chassis from Peter Denty in England. Unfortunately, Leif passed away some time ago and the car has a new owner in Magnus Ahlqvist, who is one of our absolute best car builders and renovators.
“Efforts to finish the car is in full swing and Auto Sport Heritage (http://www.bilsportarvet.se) has promised to follow the renovation to the finished car. Lotus 30 is a Sport-Racer with a Ford V8 of 4,727 cc and 350 hp. Lotus 40, which became the successor to the 30-ball had a 5.8 liter Ford at 410 hp and was built in only 3 copies when Jim Clark said it was as bad as its predecessor with the difference that it had ten more wrong! The Lotus 30 that Magnus owns is the chassis number 16.
“The images of the report are from Jan Hillman’s private album that I borrowed and scanned by and from Magnus Ahlqvist.
“Janne Tromark”
Jan collected several additional photos of this car. Those photos can be seen in this gallery.
Additional photos of this car when it raced at Knutstorp in 1967 can be seen here. Photos courtesy of Magne Sjöström, with thanks to Heine Lindeström.
Reference:
http://www.bilsportarvet.se/cms/fran-hundkoja-till-lotus-30/