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Registry – Lotus 30/L/1

According to the article “Will 1965 be the Year? The Development History of the Biggest Lotus”, Motor, 10 Jun. 1965, this Series 1 Lotus 30 was delivered to Ian Walker Racing. This car was ex-Works on 13 Apr 1964, body color of “BRG”, Lotus Ford V8 Serial Number unspecified, and ZF 5DS20 Serial Number unspecified.

Known Owners
30/L/1 (Prototype)
 1964 – Ian Walker Racing (UK) (Prototype)

1964 Apr 18 – Aintree 200, #82, Driver: Jim Clark, Entrant: Ian Walker Team Lotus, 2nd Place. [1]http://www.racingsportscars.com/chassis/30__L__1.html First appearance of a Lotus 30 on track.

1964 May 2 – Silverstone International, #55, Driver: Jim Clark / Tony Hegbourne, Entrant: Ian Walker Team Lotus, DNA.

1964 May 17 – Mallory Park, #43, Driver: Jim Clark, Entrant: Ian Walker, 1st place.

1964 Jul 11 – GP Brands Hatch, #3, Driver: Tony Hegbourne, Entrant: Ian Walker Team Lotus, DNS / Car Destroyed – Crashed during practice at the Dingle Dell section of Brands Hatch, by Tony Hegbourne in practice. The body was said to have “exploded into literally thousands of pieces”. [2]Nye, Doug, Beautiful Miscalculation, Old Motor, Oct. 1981, p. 40.

The remains of this car was rebuilt into 30/L/17.

Ian Walker started his Lotus association by racing very successfully one of the prototypes Elites. In England, the official (factory) Lotus 30 car was entered in races by Ian Walker Racing. This quasi-works prototype car was raced in the Team Lotus colors of British Racing Green. A photograph of his car from its April 18th, 1964 Aintree 200 debut shows a piece of tape placed across the back of the 30 with “Together We Chose a Lotus Thirty” hand-written on it. It was making fun of a contemporary Morris Minor advertisement.

The car was finished off being assembled in the paddock at Aintree, as the Lotus factory had too many other projects going on at the time. Clark started from the back of the pack, as it was not ready for qualifying and Clark had practiced in John Coundley’s Lotus 19. Clark set off at a great pace, and despite suffering from braking and gearchange problems, Clark fought his way up to second place behind Bruce McLaren’s Zerex Special, and in front of Jack Sears’ Willment AC Cobra.

Clark continued to have all sorts of problems in this car – especially with brakes, handling and cooling. At the May 2nd sports car race Silverstone, Clark retired. He was able to score a victory at the Mallory Park Guards Trophy on May 16. Jimmy’s win at Mallory Park was the Lotus 30’s only major win in 1964, and against what had been described as meagre opposition.

Tony Hegbourne crashed the prototype during practice for The Daily Mail Guards Trophy, British Grand Prix meeting at Brands Hatch. The 20 gauge car chassis broke in two as the car reached the bottom of the dip at Dingle Dell, destroying this car. Tony amazingly walked away from the accident with only minor rib injuries, while the car completely disintegrated.

The remains of car 30/L/1 was rebuilt into chassis 30/L/17.

Last Updated on September 23, 2015 by

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