Lotus 56

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Racing car model

Lotus 56
Lotus 56B

Dave Walker in the 56B at Zandvoort

Indianapolis 500

The Lotus 56 used a modified version of the ST6 gas turbine used on the STP-Paxton Turbocar ("Silent Sam") that almost won in 1967. But the car itself was an entirely new and more advanced design which introduced a distinctive aerodynamic wedge-shaped body rather than a cigar-shape. USAC, the governing body of the Indy 500, had implemented new rules aimed at handicapping turbine powered racing cars by drastically reducing the air intake size. The Lotus 56 made up for reduced power with a sophisticated suspension design, retaining the four-wheel drive concept of the Silent Sam, but with lighter weight, and advanced aerodynamics.

Development of the 56 took place during a difficult time for Team Lotus. Team leader Jim Clark, who had briefly tested the car, was killed in a Formula 2 race in Germany. His replacement and former teammate, Mike Spence, was killed at Indianapolis while testing the car. Three cars were entered for the race, to be driven by Graham Hill, Joe Leonard, and Art Pollard, with Leonard claiming pole position. Unlike the year before, when the STP-Paxton Turbocar easily outperformed the other cars in the race, in the race the turbine cars were relatively evenly matched with the other top contenders, much of which must be attributed to aerodynamics and chassis design and not to the turbine engine. Hill's car lost a wheel, Pollard's car suffered a fuel pump drive shaft failure, while Leonard was leading with just a handful of laps to go when his fuel pump shaft also failed. Shortly thereafter, the USAC imposed additional restrictions on turbine cars that essentially removed them from competition. For the second year in a row STP turbine cars had brought innovation to the Indy 500 and had failed to win while leading within a few laps of the end of the race. USAC subsequently banned turbine cars and four-wheel drive completely, but it was unusual enough that Mattel produced a model of the "Lotus Turbine" as one of the popular mass-produced die cast Hot Wheels cars.

In 1969, Art Pollard brought an Offenhauser-powered Lotus 56 to Indy. He qualified on the fourth row but retired with mechanical failure after only 6 laps.

Formula One

Colin Chapman had developed the 56 as a potential F1 contender, part of his plan to have a single design to compete at both the Indy 500 and in Formula 1. The F1 car had wings front and rear and additional fuel tanks. Designated as the 56B, Emerson Fittipaldi first drove it in the non-championship 1971 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. During wet practice the 56B was far and away the fastest car on the track, but the race was held in dry weather and the car was lost in midfield. At the International Trophy at Silverstone the car only lasted three laps of the first heat before suspension failure forced Fittipaldi's retirement. Dave Walker then ran the car in the Dutch Grand Prix, and had progressed from 22nd to 10th in five laps of the very wet track, before sliding off the road and into retirement. Fittipaldi used the car again in that year's 1971 Italian Grand Prix and managed to bring the fragile design home 8th.

Legacy

The Lotus 56, while never winning a race, demonstrated the importance of aerodynamics in racing cars, along with Jim Hall's Chaparrals, and effectively set the mould for open-wheeled racing cars for the next ten years. Chapman's Lotus 72 employed the same wedge nose shape and went on to win three world championships in Formula 1.

Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	WCC	Pts.
1971	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	Pratt & Whitney ST6 gas turbine	F		RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	0	NC
				Dave Walker				Ret
				Reine Wisell						NC
	World Wide Racing			Emerson Fittipaldi									8

Formula One non-championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Tyres	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
1971	Gold Leaf Team Lotus	F		ARG	ROC	QUE	SPR	INT	RIN	OUL	VIC
			Emerson Fittipaldi		Ret			Ret
			Reine Wisell				Ret
			Dave Walker						PO

References

"Pratt & Whitney". statsf1.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
"1968 Lotus Type 56 Specifications". conceptcarz.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
"Lotus 56B Pratt & Whitney". f1technical.net. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
"Lotus 56 Pratt & Whitney". ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.

Drivers
Notable drivers	Mario Andretti Elio de Angelis Jim Clark Martin Donnelly Emerson Fittipaldi Mika Häkkinen Johnny Herbert Graham Hill Jacky Ickx Nigel Mansell Satoru Nakajima Gunnar Nilsson Ronnie Peterson Nelson Piquet Carlos Reutemann Jochen Rindt Ayrton Senna John Surtees Derek Warwick Alex Zanardi
World Champions	Mario Andretti Jim Clark Emerson Fittipaldi Graham Hill Jochen Rindt

Cars
Formula One cars	12 16 18 21 24 25 33 43 49 56B 63 72 76 77 78 79 80 81 86 87 88 91 92 93T 94T 95T 97T 98T 99T 100T 101 102 107 109 112
Formula Two cars	12 16 18 32 35 41 44 48 59 69
Formula Three cars	22 31 35 41 55 59 69
Formula Junior cars	18 20 22 27
Formula Ford cars	51 59 61 69
Formula 5000 cars	68 70
Tasman Series cars	32 39 67
Indianapolis 500 cars	29 34 38 42 56 64 96T
Sports racing cars	15 17 19 23 30 40 47 53

Formula One titles
Drivers' titles	1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1978
Constructors' titles	1963 1965 1968 1970 1972 1973 1978

Lotus Cars timeline

Type	1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s										2010s										2020s
	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
Sports racer					VIII	IX	Eleven		15	17	19		23		30	40		47		62
			Mark VI					Seven																																											340R							2-Eleven									3-Eleven
Roadster													Elan																											Elan M100							Elise
Coupé									Elite							Elan																																			Exige																						Emira
																		Europa									Esprit																														Europa S				Evora													Evija
Grand tourer																		Elan +2							Elite
																									Eclat									Excel
Saloon														Cortina				Cortina																							Carlton																																		Emeya
SUV																																																																										Eletre
Electric

Racing cars	Mark I Mark II Mark III Mark IV Mark V 12 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 27 29 31 32 33 34 38 39 41 42 43 44 48 49 56 59 61 63 64 66 69 70 72 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 81 86 87 88 91 92 93T 94T 95T 96T 97T 98T 99T 100T 101 102 107 109 112 114 115 119 T125 T127 T128 F1 T128 LMP T129 E20 E21 E22 E23 Hybrid
Related cars	Caterham Seven Ford Cortina Lotus Talbot Sunbeam Lotus DeLorean Hennessey Venom GT Westfield Sport Isuzu Piazza Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 Opel Lotus Omega/Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Kia Elan Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 Tesla Roadster Proton EMAS Lotus-Radford Type 62-2
Concept cars	APX Elan Concept Elite Concept Elise Concept CityCar Eterne Emotion Esprit M70 Esprit Concept Ethos Etna M250 M90
Future cars	Type 134 Type 135
Key figures	Colin Chapman Tony Rudd Romano Artioli Dany Bahar Len Terry
Group Lotus	Official website Lotus Cars Lotus Engineering Team Lotus Lotus F1

v t e « previous Cars that competed in the 1971 Formula One season next »
Bellasi F1 Brabham BT26A Brabham BT33 Brabham BT34 BRM P153 BRM P160 Ferrari 312B Ferrari 312B2 Lotus 56B Lotus 69 Lotus 72C/72D March 701 March 711 Matra MS120B McLaren M7C McLaren M14A McLaren M19A Surtees TS7 Surtees TS9 Tyrrell 001 Tyrrell 002 Tyrrell 003

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