Lotus 96T
The Lotus type 96T was
The project was the brainchild of former
Winkelmann then relocated himself in the United States and built up a large and diverse business empire. Following the creation of the
Winkelmann then approached Team Lotus and their new designer Gérard Ducarouge to obtain a bespoke chassis with the plan of competing and conquering CART within three years. Ducarouge enlisted Mike Coughlan to help design the chassis.
The 96T was Ducarouge’s response to these requirements. Its tub, lines and suspension were similar to the Lotus 95T that was racing in the 1984 Formula One Championships, but with one significant design alteration. Ducarouge had foreseen that at a track like Indianapolis, the car stood the very real possibility of hitting a concrete retaining wall at over 200 mph (322 km/h), therefore the chassis was modified.
Since 1981 all Formula one Lotuses had been constructed of a carbon/Kevlar (Chapman Tartan) sandwich with the void between the two filled with Nomex paper foil. The Type 96T departed from this by having the void filled with a lightweight aluminium-foil honeycomb. This modification was significant as it built in extra strength at no cost to weight and was to lay the foundations for all future Lotus Formula 1 chassis.
Despite the project's promising beginnings it was to be the American
The one and only prototype now resides with