Lotus 63

Lotus 63
	John Miles; Mario Andretti; Jo Bonnier
Debut	1969 French Grand Prix
	n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to; Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only.

The Lotus 63 was an experimental Formula One car using four-wheel drive, designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1969 season. Chapman's reasoning behind the car was that the 3 litre engines introduced in 1966 would be better served by building a car that could take full advantage of its power while retaining the Lotus 49's simplicity.

Development

Like the

four wheel drive system. This was not totally revolutionary at the time, as four wheel drive had been used on the Ferguson P99 F1 car that won at Oulton Park

as early as 1961, but with little development thereafter.

However, it was not a successful design. In fact, the

McLaren managed, while Cosworth did not even race their 4WD design.^[2] The 63 was an evolution of the 49, but featured wedge shaped rear bodywork and integrated wings, which would be used to great effect in the Lotus 72

.

Racing history

Mario Andretti racing the 63 at the 1969 German Grand Prix.

Oulton Park Gold Cup. This infuriated Chapman as he saw the 63 as another quantum leap ahead of its rivals, just as its predecessors had been.^[4]

The car was entered at the 1969 British Grand Prix as a test run. Whilst Rindt finished fourth in the older 49 behind Jackie Stewart after running short of fuel whilst leading, Miles could only bring the 63 home in 10th place, confirming the car's uncompetitiveness. After several other fruitless outings, the 63 was abandoned.

Aftermath

Parts of the chassis design were worked into the

Lotus 56B

in 1971.

Like the Lotus 88, the 4WD cars proved to be huge white elephants for Lotus, but it paved the way for better models to follow.^[5]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Points	WCC
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Ford Cosworth DFV	F		RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX	42	3rd¹
				Graham Hill				PO		PO
				John Miles					Ret	10		Ret	Ret		Ret
				Mario Andretti							Ret			Ret
				Jochen Rindt									PO
	Ecurie Bonnier			Jo Bonnier						Ret

^1 All Points Scored by the Lotus 49

Non-Championship Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Ford Cosworth DFV	F		ROC	INT	MAD	OUL
1969	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Ford Cosworth DFV	F	Jochen Rindt				2

References

^ "Lotus 63". www.StatsF1.com. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
^ "1969 Lotus 63 Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
^ "Lotus Type 63: The Four wheel drive: Four Square | Colin Chapman Archive and Resource". colinchapmanmuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
^ "8W - Who - Graham Hill". 8w.forix.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
^ Post, Guest (11 April 2018). "R.I.P. John Miles 1943 – 2018". grandprix247.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

[tech-1] "Lotus 63". www.StatsF1.com. Retrieved 9 October 2010.

[2] "1969 Lotus 63 Cosworth - Images, Specifications and Information". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

[3] "Lotus Type 63: The Four wheel drive: Four Square | Colin Chapman Archive and Resource". colinchapmanmuseum.co.uk. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

[4] "8W - Who - Graham Hill". 8w.forix.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

[5] Post, Guest (11 April 2018). "R.I.P. John Miles 1943 – 2018". grandprix247.com. Retrieved 5 September 2020.

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