Lotus 59

Lotus 59
James Hunt's Lotus 59 Formula 3 car from 1970
Overview
Manufacturer	Lotus Components Ltd.
Production	1969-1970
Designer	Dave Baldwin
Body and chassis
Class	Formula Two, Formula B, Formula Three, Formula Ford
Body style	Open wheel
Powertrain
Engine	F2: 1598 cc Cosworth FVA FB: 1594 cc Cosworth Mk.XIII F3: 997 cc Cosworth MAE FF: 1599 cc Ford Crossflow
Transmission	59B: Hewland FT200 59: Hewland Mk.6
Dimensions
Wheelbase	92.5 inches
Kerb weight	390 KG
Chronology
Predecessor	Lotus 41
Successor	Lotus 69

The Lotus 59 is a racing car built by Lotus Components Ltd. for the 1969 and 1970 seasons of Formula 2, Formula 3, Formula Ford and Formula B.

Following the failure (at least in sales) of the Lotus 41, Lotus 59 was designed from the ground up by Dave Baldwin using rectangle steel tubing in a complex spaceframe configuration. This configuration was in response to the customer complaints on difficult and expensive repair on aluminium alloy monocoque Lotus 35 and the welded steel tubing and sheet steel combination on Lotus 41 of John Joyce design. The frame tubes were used as water passage to/from the radiator on the F3/FF versions, but were not used on the F2/FB version, using long water pipes mounted outside of the body instead. Oil cooler was mounted on the rear-most bulkhead above the transmission.

Lotus 59 originally came in two versions; 59 for Formula 3 and Formula Ford, 59B for Formula 2 and Formula B, all sharing the same 92.5" wheelbase, which was 2.5" longer than the previous 41/41X. Suspension was very conventional with double wishbone and outboard spring/damper unit up front, with top link and lower reversed wishbone combined with upper and lower radius arms and outboard spring/damper unit in the rear. Brakes were outboard in the front and rear.

However, the front anti-dive geometry which was introduded on the Lotus 31, and the rear anti-squat geometry with unparallel radius arms (that counters the rear camber and toe-in reductions under braking) which was introduced with the 41C, were fully developed on the 41X (which had multiple suspension arm attachment points), and the setup found to be the best is incorporated into the 59 frame. While the 59 used Triumph Herald front uprights, the 59B used the Formula Two version Lotus 41X uprights and brakes shared with Lotus 47A. Hubs and wheels were knock-off type with spin-on central lock nut, except for the Formula Ford version, which had the Ford production 4 lugnut configuration as per the formula.

The 59 appeared for the first time on 27 December 1968 at the Brands Hatch Boxing Day meeting. After some initial problems on spring rates and on the oil circuit were solved, the design proved successful. Its strong point was the superb road holding which enabled the driver to put the power down more effectively than the competition exiting the corners on less-than-perfect road surface.