I was first introduced to Lotus cars shortly after Jimmy Clark won the Indianapolis “500” in 1965. Being heavily into the slot car hobby at the time, I had a number of cars, many of which I still have today… Somewhere. But what I really lusted after, was the 1/24th scale Lotus 38, the #82 car that Clark drove to victory, and the first mid-engine car to ever win the “500”.
Since the beginning of the automotive age, race cars at Indianapolis had the engines up front, and chassis development was slow. The first mid-engine car to race at Indianapolis was the Miller-Gulf Special in 1939. It qualified a credible 6th, but dropped out after only 47 laps. Then in 1961, Champion Grand Prix Constructor Cooper Cars built the T54 for Jack Braham to drive in the 500. He qualified a modest 13th, but drove a steady race to finish 9th, hampered from a better finish by excessive wearing Dunlop tires and balky knock-offs and hubs.
Most dismissed the little English car as a curiosity, but visionaries such as Dan Gurney saw much more. Dan had raced against the Coopers as a Grand Prix driver, and was highly impressed with the advanced thinking that Colin Chapman instilled in his Lotus cars. Dan proceeded to bring Chapman and Ford Motor Company together to bring a technical coup’ to Indianapolis and of course, win the race.
For 1963, Lotus created a new chassis, the Type 29, designed to accept a special aluminum pushrod V8, derived from the Ford Fairlane. Jim Clark qualified 5th and finished 2nd to Parnelli Jones’ oil spewing roadster, while Dan Gurney finished 7th in the second team car. Both drivers suffered setbacks due to inexperience and slow pit work.
The following year, Ford introduced their quad cam V8, and Lotus brought the Type 34, a modified 29, which Jim Clark put on the pole, and lead a total of 47 laps until a chunking Dunlop tire damaged the left rear suspension which then collapsed. Fearful of a similar result, Dan’s team car was retired.
But as they say, the third try is the charm. After the mistakes of the previous two years, nothing was being left to chance for success. For 1965, Len Terry designed an all new, fully monocoque chassis, the Type 38, for the updated Ford quad cam engine. The troublesome Dunlops were abandoned in favor of the tried and true Firestone tires. To speed up refueling during pit stops, Terry designed a new venturi shaped outlet for the gravity fed fuel storage tank, which delivered 50 gallons in under 20 seconds. And to frost the cake, the fast and famous Wood brothers from NASCAR were called in to handle the pit stops.
On qualifying day, Jim Clark who first to break the 160 MPH barrier, and turned in qualifying four lap average of 160.729 MPH. He was later beaten to pole position by AJ Foyt, now driving a Type 34 Lotus, at 161.233 MPH. Even roadster stalwart Parnelli Jones, who made no secret of his dislike of the mid-engine “funny cars”, qualified his Lotus 34 5th at 158.625 MPH. In fact, 27 of the 33 starters for the race were mid-engine designs. The second Team Lotus car, now driven by Bobby Johns, qualified at 155.481 MPH, but relegated to 22nd spot, due to qualifying on the second weekend of time trials. Dan Gurney, the previous Team Lotus driver, was also driving a new Lotus 38, but this time running his own team under Yamaha sponsorship. He qualified third alongside Jim Clark on the front row, at 158.898 MPH.
On Memorial Day, the Indianapolis 500 started off with a bang with Jim Clark storming off into the lead. Foyt passed Clark to lead lap two, but was re-passed by Clark who held the lead until his first pit stop on lap 65. As expected, the Wood brothers worked quickly and efficiently, as did the secret fuel valve, getting Jim Clark refueled and underway in 17 seconds.
Clark regained the lead once Foyt made his pit stop on Lap 75, and never relinquished it. He continued to dominate the race, extending his lead to two minutes when made his second pit stop, which took 24 seconds... A bit slower than the first because of less fuel, hence less pressure, in the storage tank.
After 200 laps, Jim Clark took the checkered flag for an overwhelming victory, breaking the record for the fastest aver-age speed of the race: 150. 686 MPH. His margin was over two minutes ahead of second place finisher, Parnelli Jones. In third place was a rookie driver by the name of Mario Andretti. The second Lotus driver, Bobby Johns, finished a fine 7th place in the team’s sister car, while poor Dan Gurney suffered one of the few engine failures of the Ford contingent, finishing 26th.
Jim Clark’s victory at Indianapolis was a first in many respects: First ever for a mid-engine car; First ever for a British built chassis; first to break the 150 MPH race average barrier, first Foreigner to win the since 1916; first win for a non-Offenhauser engine since 1947; and first win ever for a Ford engine. Convincing as it was though, Jim Clark’s win did not completely close the door on the front-engine roadsters. That had to wait until 1968, when Jim Hurtubise’s Pepsico/Frito-Lay Special dropped out of the race after only nine laps. 1965 also proved to be a new high water mark for Lotus, as Jim Clark won his second World Drivers Championship, as well as winning the Indianapolis 500.
You might ask whether I ever got that Lotus 38 slot car? Well, no. Back in those days, the price of that car was a heady $40, and just beyond the reach of a kid of my means. Ultimately though, I DID buy a real Lotus, made by the very same company that made Jimmy Clark’s Indianapolis winner. Now how cool is that?
To learn more about the Lotus story at Indianapolis, I highly suggest reading Andrew Ferguson’s excellent book “Team Lotus-The Indianapolis Years”. You can also see a condensed You Tube video of the 1965 Indianapolis 500 by going to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs0xK13BQig. And finally, the May/June issue of Vintage Motorsport magazine has articles featuring the 1961 Cooper T54, and Bobby Johns’ “My Favorite Race”, the 1965 Indianapolis 500.
