Developed from the Lotus Mk 9 sports car,
the Mk was
dropped from this car onwards, the Lotus Eleven had a light spaceframe chassis and new body design. Cars built in 1956 had
swing front axels, later changed to double wishbones, de Dion rear axels and disc brakes all round. Two engines were available;
the 1098cc Coventry Climax FWA, and the 1460cc FWB, which produced just over 140bhp. Most elevens had the 1100cc engine, which
was inclined to improve induction in the competition oriented Le Mans Model shown above. |
Developed from the Lotus 11 sports car, the Lotus fifteen had a light spaceframe chassis weighing 65lbs (29.5kgs) and new body designed by Frank Costin. Front suspension was a double wishbone arrangement developed from the Lotus 11 Formula two car, and the rear was a Colin Chapman designed strut layout. The engine, the Coventry Climax FPF was inclined at 60 degrees to give a low bonnet line. There is a bulge in the bonnet of this car which was a feature on the Team Lotus cars in 1959. On the day this photo was taken Michael Broke the lap record for the 1947-1958 cars with a Speed of 74.5mph/120kph |
