Jeff
<<Some are reliable, some are not. I believe Merlins, Crossles, and
Caldwells fit into the
reliable camp. Lotus' do not. At least some Lolas (the "5th spring"
models) are on the
unreliable side.>>
Can't let this go unanswered!
There's absolutely no difference in the Ford engine and Hewland gearbox in
the Lotus to the identical ones in the Marlin, Crossle or Caldwell. On
what do therefore do you base your assumption?
The only DNF I've had in four years racing a Lotus 61MX was when the tail
pipe of the exhaust fell off. I since replaced it with an original part -
inexpensively sourced from Peter Denty in the UK and had no further
trouble.
The Lola T340 and the T342 were the 'fifth' spring cars and I don't think
have ever raced in this country so I can't comment. However, if you read
Nickless' book he'll tell you that the T440 was a dog and to be avoided at
all costs. However the car that I bought from the factory in 1976 won the
Australian FF Championship in the hands of Steven Brook in 1980.
Similarly our 1970 Lotus 61 was considered by some to be slow by 1971 - yet
it still wins outright in pre-77 vintage racing in Australia.
So what's the bottom line:
Factory teams put the best drivers into their cars and they won races.
That's how FF reputations were built. It also makes it very difficult to
judge how competitive a car can be 20 or 30 years later.
Some cars work better on some circuits than on others. For example, I
suspect that the relatively narrow track on the Lola T540 (56") would work
better on an oval or a faster circuit. But until you go and try you never
know.
I suspect though .... if you've got a Zink there's not a lot that get's too
close! How good is it?
regards
Jeremy
Age & Treachery Racing Australia
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/atroz
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