21 replies to this topic

[Jean-Michel Piot]

Bought an old Lotus 33 from Phil Smith in Le Mans (place of the 24 hours race...) at a French swap meeting. It had a rather rotten body (but I bought at a fair price) so I mixed the slot chassis with the body of a static kit of the same car (still by Monogram) ...

Et voilà ... (and there you are)





A real pleasure to drive and what a nice little car compared to the Scalextric toys of the same period...

[TSR]

JM, very nice! But knock-offs on five-bolt wheels??? How gauche!

Nice job on the Coventry-Climax FWMV two-valve injectors.

Keep 'em coming! Will we see you in Turin next month?

[Jean-Michel Piot]

JM, very nice! But knock-offs on five-bolt wheels??? How gauche!

Some of the Lotus 33 had...



Here is a nice picture taken by Maurice Rowe. He notably sells this picture at the annual Lotus Show at Donington Park (UK, Middlands).

By the way, the little boy behind the steering weel is of course Damon Hill...

Now, for sure I still have to paint the center black. Though...

Now, as for Turin, well, you know I'm not used to those meetings. But maybe one day I will try Bordeaux...

As for you, will you be at "Le Mans" this year for the Circuits Routiers swap meet?

[TSR]

Yes JM,

But is is only true of the four-valve cars with the "low" exhaust system, not the Monogram car... well, I am as usual being WAAAAY too picky!

By the way, the only surviving Type 33 is that of my friend Robs Lamplough in the UK.

Keep'em coming!

[Jean-Michel Piot]

OK, I will modify it! Many thanks.

About your comments... behave the way you want, it would be a shame if one cannot criticize... Moreover it's for a good reason so...

[TSR]

JM, that is because I am jealous of your talent...

[Jean-Michel Piot]

Flattery will get you nowhere ...

[TSR]

This picture by Maurice Rowe is interesting because it was taken long after this Lotus had ended its racing days. Indeed the fact that it wears Firestone tires instead of the 1965 Lotus-contracted Dunlops, and the fact that Graham Hill is obviously the driver here with his son playing in the car shows that this picture could only have been taken at the earliest in the winter of 1966-67.

Indeed, Lotus was still under contract with Dunlop in the first year of the 3-liter formula in 1966, and Graham Hill was a BRM driver in 1965, the last year of the 1.5-liter formula rom which this 32-valve Coventry-Climax engine in the T3 was. So it is a little mystery that I would like to resolve. Where and when was this picture taken and why?

Below is a pic of Jimmy and Graham on the starting line in 1965, with Graham in the BRM and Jimmy in the "33":



Another of Jimmy winning in the T43 3-liter BRM H16-powered Lotus in 1966, still on Dunlops.

[Jean-Michel Piot]

At the back of the picture, Maurice Rowe has written this:

"Inter. Trophy May 1967
Silverstone
Graham Hill & Damon".

[TSR]

So I was correct about the date. Question is, why using a 1.5-liter Climax in a race that more than likely figured 3-liter cars? A little mystery that I will resolve today.

[Jean-Michel Piot]

OK, now without the knock-offs ...

[Shane De Meillon]

Hi,

The Lotus 33 won the 1965 French Grand Prix with knock-offs and the high exhaust pipes so your car wasn't actually wrong.

The Lotus 33 in your photo of Graham Hill has a BRM V8 engine.He finished second at Monaco with that car in 1967.

Lotus were contracted to Firestone from 1966.

[TSR]

The Firestone contract was negotiated by Chapman at Indy in 1965. Dunlop had failed in 1964 at the Speedway so Chapman and Clark were not confident for the new 3-liter formula that would have Lotus using first the BRM H16 engine, later the Cosworth DFV. That plus the cash supplied by the big F fighting tooth and nail with Goodyear was the clincher.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

The model Jean did is still better looking than any of the ones I remember seeing built in the day!

How did you mod the chassis?

As for the Lotus 33/BRM, Shane, wasn't that a 2 litre car?

I haven't run my Monogram at 1/32 retro meets for some time. I am on my last good body, and they DO fail. John Bacon did a glass knockoff perhaps 15 years ago that I used, and then IT shattered in a race! Snif.

When the Monograms came out I bought a bunch, two to build up more or less stock and several for converting for other things. Ironically, two of them, the one used under a Du-Bro Lancia Ferrari body and the one under a Sharknose have been the easist to keep running because of the ease of keeping them in bodies.

A few years later when another pro-racing friend and I got around to doing a 1/32 club, he did struggle with racing one of these. The dominent mid-'60s cars were the Atlas in our club, and he wanted so to make the Ferrari 156 to be competitive. One version he did was mount a Monogram can-drive 16D that fit by cutting away the sides of the body and using putty and paint to blend the motor can into the body.

Fate

[Shane De Meillon]

Hi,

You are quite right, the BRM engine was a 2 litre as was the Coventry Climax engine used by Lotus in 1966 and 1967.

[Jean-Michel Piot]

The model Jean did is still better looking than any of the ones I remember seeing built in the day!

How did you mod the chassis?

Though my name is "Jean-Michel" (or John-Michael if you prefer... that's the way some of my American colleagues from the group I work in call me).

The Monogram chassis is stock. I simply had to build the front suspension in aluminium because the genuine part was missing.

[TSR]

The problem with both the Monogram Ferrari and the Lotus is that they are simply WAY too high to look realistic, because of the 13UO motor's bulk. To be OK the bodies would have to lose nearly 1/4" in height.

Somehow Atlas/Marusan (same difference) did a much better job with their Brabham and Ferrari models. Their lower profile motor really helped of course.

[Prof. Fate]

Hi,

John-Michael... er... I am sorry, I have no idea how French naming conventions work.

Well, the Atlas motor with the magnetraction made it unbeatable in our club. It was one of those things, in '68, where I understood what was going on and just didn't mention it to the group! Despite my driving, the car went undefeated in F1 for several years. Killed the class.

A tall story. In '71 a local track was having a "Indy 500" for both 1/32 and 1/24 scale on a 100' track. A sort of oval with a donut at one end. What I knew was that the guy had repaird the braid over the years by using staples to tack the stuff down. By that time, there was a solid row of staples all around the corners on every lane. So, I built up a couple indy turbines with an atlas and a Pittman 196B. The second car was for a pro I had been building for for serious money races. He had no idea how machines worked, but was a great driver. He had raced in the '60s out of the Checkpoint track in DC. Anyway, everyone else entered 16Ds, round robin race, and we won by 75 miles! The cars just slicked through the corners like they were glued.

Grin.

J-M... if you go in and set the guide firmly in the slot and then solder up the "drop arm" hinge, it will greatly improve the performance of the car. Further, if you just tack-solder the motor brass housing to the bracket, it will improve the handling yet again. All of mine have needed about 6 grams of weight between the endbell and the front axle.

Ultimately, you go into the motor and replace the magnets with modern! Grin.

Fate

[TSR]

Well, the Atlas motor with the magnetraction made it unbeatable in our club.

Magnets work superbly on copper tape.

[Jairus]

(bad boy!)

[Ecurie Martini]

Magnets work superbly on copper tape.

Well... actually... any conductor through which a current is flowing has an associated magnetic field - might be quite small - just depends on how much current is flowing and how close you can get.

EM

(registered purveyor of inconsequential trivia)

[Tim]

Per an ancient copy of Sports Car Graphic, October1965, the starting line picture is of the Grand Prix of Holland at Zandvoort. The first eight of the starting line up is listed as being G. Hill - BRM, J. Clark - Lotus Climax, R. Ginther - Honda, J. Surtees - Ferrari, D. Gurney - Brabham Climax, J. Stewart - BRM, D. Hulme - Brabham and M. Spence - Lotus Climax. Clark won. The article also features a picture of Clark's rear tire with special note that used "Indy type" wheels with knock-off hubs.
Tim