The First Lotus F1 Car

Posted on May 8, 2024 by classiccarweekly

1957 Lotus-Climax 12

Offered by Bonhams | Monaco | May 2024

Lotus’s track-focused cars built prior to this were mostly of the sports racing/prototype variety. The 12 was unveiled at the 1956 London Motor Show but wouldn’t hit the track until 1957. That first year it contested three F2 races, one each at Silverstone, Goodwood, and Oulton Park. Drivers Henry Taylor and Graham Hill split driving duties.

After a few more F2 outings in 1958, the car was ready to step up to F1. It was Lotus’s – and Graham Hill’s – first Formula One appearance when the car appeared at the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix. The competition history for this chassis, 353, includes:

1958 Monaco Grand Prix – 9th, DNF (with Graham Hill)
1958 Dutch Grand Prix – 14th, DNF (with Hill)
1958 Belgian Grand Prix – 13th, DNF (with Hill)

Then it was back to F2 for some events in 1958 and 1959. And don’t think the 12 was an F1 dud. Hill’s teammate in ’58 was Cliff Allison, and Allison finished 6th, 6th, and 4th, respectively, in the same outings Hill had.

Power in the car is from a Coventry Climax inline-four. The car was purchased by its current owner in 1991 and was later restored. Quite the specimen of F1 and Lotus history, the car could fetch between $310,000-$420,000. You can read more about it here.

Tatra 12

Posted on August 27, 2020 by classiccarweekly

1930 Tatra 12 Convertible

Offered by Dorotheum | Vosendorf, Austria | August 29, 2020

The Tatra name first appeared in 1919 as the marque for cars built by an industrial company that built railroad cars and carriages. They had already produced some cars under the NW marque, but the new-and-improved post-WWI Tatras would lead to some impressive pre-and-post-war cars.

The 12 was introduced in 1926 as an evolution of the earlier 11. One big difference was that the 12 had four-wheel brakes. It’s powered by a 1.1-liter flat-twin making 14 horsepower. It was not a sporty machine. But that was not the intent. At this point, the company wanted to move cars people could afford.

This example has been in the same care since 1959 and is largely original aside from a repaint. Only 7,525 examples of the Tatra 12 were produced by the time it was replaced by the Tatra 57 in 1933. This one should sell for between $14,000-$21,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

Update: Sold $20,436.

GAZ-12

Posted on January 5, 2015 by classiccarweekly

1956 GAZ 12

Offered by Coys | Maastricht, Netherlands | January 10, 2015

Photo – Coys

Here’s another obscure Soviet sedan. This one was built by GAZ, one of the more well-known old, Russian automotive factories. The car is sometimes called the ZIM-12, which is the name under which it was originally built, but when the namesake for ZIM fell out of favor, the Russians changed the name of the car.

It is powered by a 3.5-liter straight-six making 95 horsepower. The styling is eerily reminiscent of a 1948 Cadillac and 1947 Buick. I guess GM would’ve been really popular in Russia back in the day had they the opportunity to market their cars.

What’s interesting about the GAZ-12 is that it is the only executive, full-size car available for purchase by regular citizens – but it was priced exorbitantly, leaving it out of reach for most. But they still managed to sell 21,527 between 1950 and 1960. This one looks pretty nice and is expected to bring between $25,000-$35,000. Click here for more info and here for more from Coys.

Update: Sold $107,890.