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Wikipedia: Lotus 29
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History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Lotus 29 page on 18 September 2018, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Lotus 29 was a British racing car built by Team Lotus for the 1963 Indianapolis 500. It was their first attempt at the event and the two cars which were entered finished second and seventh in the hands of Jim Clark and Dan Gurney. Although they were not the first rear-engined cars built for the category, they were first to prove that the configuration was definitely a potential race-winner, and that the days of the big and heavy front-engined roadsters were numbered.
Dan Gurney had tested Mickey Thompson's rear-engined Champ Car for the 1962 Indianapolis 500 and, convinced that the layout was a potential race-winner, approached Colin Chapman of Lotus with the idea of building a similar car for the 1963 Indianapolis 500. Chapman attended the 1962 race and Gurney then arranged a meeting with Ford to source a suitable engine. Later that year, Chapman had Jim Clark and Lotus mechanics Jim Endruweit and Dick Scammell sent to Indianapolis after the 1962 United States Grand Prix to do some testing with the race-winning Lotus 25. Results proved positive, and construction was started on a new car, the type 29. Based on the 25, it was a very similar car which differed principally in featuring a 4195 cc (255ci) Ford V8 with Weber carburettors producing 376 bhp (281 kW) through a Colotti T.37 gearbox. It was slightly larger all round than the 25 and was fitted with offset suspension and Dunlop (front) and Halibrand (rear) knock-off wheels to facilitate rapid pit stops. Three cars were built in all; the first being essentially a development prototype, after which two cars were built for Clark and Gurney.
| Type & Item # | Name | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Model Kit - AMT T154 | Dan Gurney Indy 500 Lotus | 1:25 scale, Lotus 29, 1963 Indianapolis 500 |