Lotus 51

The Lotus 51 was an open-wheel Formula Ford race car that the British motorsport team Lotus built in 1967. It was powered by a 1.6 litre Ford Crossflow four-cylinder engine, the type used in the Ford Cortina, which gave a respectable 110 hp and drove the rear wheels through a Renault R-8 type four-speed or a Hewland five-speed gearbox. The car was derived from the Lotus 31 Formula Three car, was agile and fast with a short wheelbase, and weighed a light 900 lb (410 kg). It became a bestseller for Colin Chapman and the Lotus team: 218 were built and sold at 955 pounds each, although some sources speak of only 150. In 1968 a one-off 51R with wider sidepods, originally meant as a concept for a successor, was built and sold for 1,095 pounds to a US collector who never raced it. In 1969 the car was replaced by the Lotus 61.