Lotus Type 95T John Player Special, 1984
Lotus Elan
Lotus Elan•
•9 views
Auction: Monterey 2013
Auction date: August 17, 2013
Lot No.: S138
$450,000 | High bid
- Exterior: Black
- Body: John Player Special
- Formula 1 Team Lotus Type T95 John Player Special
- Lotus’ third generation turbocharged F1 contender
- 1 of 4 cars built with this designation
- Driven by Nigel Mansell in the 1984 F1 season
- First career Pole Position at the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix
- Second on Pole Position at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix
- One piece Kevlar top body with carbon fiber undertray
- Renault EF1 Turbo 1492cc V-6 engine rated at 700 HP
- Engine restoration by renown engineer Dean Sellards
- Twin KKK turbochargers, Lotus/Hewland FGB transmission
- Front and rear 11 inch outboard disc brakes
- 166″ length, 84 1/2″ width, 39 1/2″ height
- 105 1/2″ wheelbase, weighs 1,188 pounds
- Double wishbone front suspension and steel rocker rear suspension to pull-rod operated inboard coil springs/dampers with front and rear anti-roll bar
- Rebuilt to accept a starter jack and electronics are setup to run off a laptop
- Nigel Mansell’s first factory car with Team Lotus
- Mansell is currently fifth in all time Formula 1 career Grand Prix wins with 31
This 1984 Lotus Type 95T John Player Special is one of four such cars built by Lotus for the 1984 Formula 1 season. Designed by Frenchman Gérard Ducarouge, the 95T helped re-establish Lotus as a Formula 1 contender. The first newly designed Lotus F1 chassis since the 1981 88, the 95T was the third generation F1 Lotus to employ Renault’s supremely powerful V-6 engine using twin KKK turbochargers and a Lotus/Hewland FGB 5-speed manual transmission. It also took full advantage of contemporary construction techniques and ground effects design, using a one-piece Kevlar upper body over a carbon fiber monocoque and ground effects undertray.
Suspension followed common contemporary F1 practice with double wishbone control arms, pull-rod operated inboard coil springs and shock absorbers and front and rear anti-roll bars. A compact and carefully packaged design, the 95T was 166 inches in overall length, 84.5 inches wide and just 39.5 inches high. Riding on a 105-inch wheelbase and weighing in at just 1,188 lbs, the 95T was capable of over 210 MPH, with 1,100 HP on tap for qualifying and approximately 700 in race trim from the 1,492 cc V-6.
Resplendent in its Gold-on-Black John Player Special livery, the 95T was the first regular Team Lotus ride for future World Champion Nigel Mansell, who answered the faith placed in him by his late mentor, Lotus founder Colin Chapman, by qualifying second at the Monaco Grand Prix, taking the pole at the Dallas GP and finishing in the top ten driver standings for the first time in his career. The 95T thus helped establish Mansell’s stature in F1; today he still rates fifth in all time Formula 1 career Grand Prix wins with 31. This historically significant Turbo-era Grand Prix Lotus is no trailer queen.
Renowned engineer Dean Sellards was retained to restore the car’s twin-turbocharged Renault V-6 engine to top tune, and the car has been upgraded to accept a starter jack and the electronics set up to run off a laptop computer, making it perfectly suitable for vintage F1 parade laps and events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
https://www.mecum.com/lots/CA13-161561/1984-lotus-type-95t-john-player-special/
