The Lotus 21 was a 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 designed by 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....

. It was a mid-engined design using a tubular spaceframe structure skinned with fibreglass panels, of a more advanced build than seen in the Lotus 18

Lotus 18

The Lotus 18 was a race car designed by Colin Chapman for use by Lotus in Formula Junior, Formula Two, and Formula One. It was the first mid-engined car built by Lotus and was a marked improvement over Chapman's early and only moderately successful front-engined formula cars, the 12 and 16. It was...

. Powered by 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...

 FPF 4 cylinder engine it used disc brakes all round.

Used by the works Lotus

Team Lotus

Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...

 team and the privateer Rob Walker Racing Team

Rob Walker Racing Team

Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded by Johnnie Walker heir Rob Walker in 1953, the team became F1's most successful privateer in history, being the first and last entrant to win a Formula One Grand Prix, without ever building their own...

 in 1961, the 21 was the first works Lotus to win a Formula One Grand Prix, in the hands of Innes Ireland

Innes Ireland

Robert McGregor Innes Ireland , was a British military officer, engineer, and motor racing driver. He was a larger-than-life character who, according to a rival team boss, "lived without sense, without an analyst and provoked astonishment and affection from everyone."Ireland was born on 12 June...

 at the 1961 United States Grand Prix

1961 United States Grand Prix

The 1961 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 8, 1961 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York....

. (Previous victories were taken by Rob Walker's team). Customer teams continued to use it up to 1965. It was soon rendered obsolete by the Lotus 24

Lotus 24

The Lotus 24 was a Formula One racing car designed by Team Lotus for the 1962 Formula One season. Having devised the monocoque Lotus 25 for use by the works team, Colin Chapman decided to build a 'conventional' back-up spaceframe design which he would also sell to privateers...

 and the 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...

 Lotus 25

Lotus 25

The Lotus 25 was a racing car designed by Colin Chapman for the 1962 Formula One season. It was a revolutionary design, the first fully stressed monocoque chassis to appear in F1...

 introduced for the 1962 Formula One season

1962 Formula One season

The 1962 Formula One season was the 13th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1962 World Championship of Drivers and the 1962 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently over a nine race series that commenced on May 20 and ended on December 29...

.

Footnotes