The Lotus 12 was an unsuccessful Formula Two

Formula Two

Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...

 and Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 racing car.

Colin Chapman

Colin Chapman

Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman CBE was an influential British designer, inventor, and builder in the automotive industry, and founder of Lotus Cars....

's first foray into single-seater racing, the 12 appeared in 1957. It featured a number of important innovations Chapman would use on later models. To better use the power of the Coventry Climax

Coventry Climax

Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...

 engine, it was designed, as usual, for low weight and low drag, relying on a space frame

Space frame

A space frame or space structure is a truss-like, lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with few interior supports...

. It placed the driver as low as possible, eliminating the transmission

Transmission (mechanics)

A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...

 tunnel by way of a "conceptually brilliant" five-speed indirect gearbox designed by Richard Ansdale and Harry Mundy

Harry Mundy

Harry Mundy was a British car engine designer and motoring magazine editor.He was educated at King Henry VIII School in Coventry and went on to serve his apprenticeship with Alvis. He left them in 1936 to join English Racing Automobiles in Bourne, Lincolnshire as a draughtsman...

, which suffered from a (long-undiagnosed) problem of slinging oil away from its gears. It also introduced a rear suspension with what came to be called "Chapman strut

Chapman strut

The Chapman strut is a design of independent rear suspension used for light cars, particularly sports and racing cars. It takes its name from, and is best known for its use by, Colin Chapman of Lotus....

s", essentially a MacPherson strut

MacPherson strut

The MacPherson strut is a type of car suspension system which uses the axis of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in modern vehicles and named after Earle S. MacPherson, who developed the design.-History:...

 with universal joint

Universal joint

A universal joint, universal coupling, U joint, Cardan joint, Hardy-Spicer joint, or Hooke's joint is a joint or coupling in a rigid rod that allows the rod to 'bend' in any direction, and is commonly used in shafts that transmit rotary motion...

s as suspension pieces.Setright, p.1225-6. This was well suited to a monocoque

Monocoque

Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...

 body, and may have inspired Chapman, always obsessed with reducing weight, to try it.
This was the first Lotus to be fitted with the iconic wobbly-web wheel

Wobbly-web wheel

The wobbly-web wheel is a form of metal disk wheel where the disk is 'wobbled' into spokes. This provides a stiffer, lightweight wheel.Wobbly-web wheels are best known through their iconic use on Lotus racing cars of the late 1950s and 1960s.- Theory :...

s. Reflecting Chapman's emphasis on engineering, these were magnesium

Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...

, a kind of crimped cylinder, resulting in minimum material and maximum strength, without the weaknesses induced by slots in conventional rims.

Despite its engineering advances, the 12 was not a success in F1. In F2, the car won the class in the mixed F1/F2 1958 BRDC International Trophy, driven by Cliff Allison

Cliff Allison

Henry Clifford Allison was a racing driver who participated in Formula One during seasons to for the Lotus, Scuderia Centro Sud, Ferrari and UDT Laystall teams....

, but in spite of a small number of podiums, was usually drowned in a sea of Coopers

Cooper Car Company

The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...

.

Sources

• Setright, L.J.K. "Lotus: The golden mean", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 11, p. 1221-34.