Manufacturer Lotus Cars Designer Colin Chapman Engine Coventry Climax FPF | Production 1960–1962 Class Group 4 Sports Car | |
Body style Fiberglass non-stressed | ||
The Lotus 19 or Monte Carlo is a mid-engine sports-racing car designed by Colin Chapman of Lotus and built from 1960 until 1962.
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The Lotus 19
The 19 is a mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports racer with a fiberglass body over a space frame, originally designed with 1.5 - 2.75L Coventry Climax FPF engine built for Grand Prix cars, mated to Lotus' own 5 speed sequential transaxle nicknamed 'Queer Box' which gave a lot of problems on Lotus 15, but was improved in its reliability for Lotus 18.
Chapman named the car Monte Carlo to honor Stirling Moss for his win at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix. Lotus' first F1 victory. This is said to mimic and declare competition against Cooper Monaco, which was named after a win at Monaco in 1958.
The 19B
Towards the end of 1963, John Klug founder of Pacesetter Homes Racing commissioned Lotus to build a special 19 to be Ford V8 powered. Ford's new lightweight iron block 289 c.i. engine was chosen over Oldsmobile's smaller Aluminum V8. Roy Campbell finished the car in Southern California. Dan Gurney, who had enjoyed considerable success at the wheel of the Arciero Brothers Lotus 19-Climax was the driver.
Because of its unique specification, it was known as the 19B, the only 19 with this designation. Originally delivered in red livery, the car first appeared at Nassau in December 1963. In 1964 it was the fastest sports car in the world, but the car's weak spot was its Colotti transaxle, the failure of which led to a number of retirements. By mid 1965 it was just another old car. It continued racing in Southern California and eventually dropped out of sight. Wayne Linden of Roseville, California found it in a semi trailer waiting to be turned into a "dune" buggy. He restored it to early 1964 configuration except for the Colotti and ran it in mostly Cobra club events. He sold it to Gordon and Nancy Gimble. Today the car regularly appears at vintage car events in the US.
Chassis Numbers
There are 17 Lotus 19's built however many were wrecked and some were completely rebuilt. More cars are reported today than were built.