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©2015-2018 Automodello Set includes 1967 Lotus 49 as driven by Jim Clark, and, 1967 Ford 3-Litre Twin Cam engine which powered the Lotus 49. Limited Set Edition: 50 sets celebrating next year's 50th anniversary of this dual historic debut and win.
1967 Lotus 49 Jim Clark
"Just Like Clark's - Automodello Produces a Captivating 1:12 Scale Tribute to the '67 Lotus 49" AutoWeek November 23, 2015 - Scale: 1:12
- Manufacturer: Automodello
- Exterior Color: British Racing Green with Yellow
- Marque: Lotus
- Year: 1967
- Features: Includes display cover
- Limited Edition: Set includes one Lotus 49 and one Ford 3-Litre - up to 50
- Official Release Date: July 1st 2016
A
singular talent with an engaging personality, Jim Clark was a beloved
figure on the track and off, and remains one of the most highly regarded
drivers in F1 history. Clark won 25 Grands Prix in just 72 starts—a
winning percentage that trails only Fangio and Ascari for the greatest
in history. He also won two world championships—the first two of Lotus’s
illustrious history —in 1963 and again in 1965. For the 1967 season
Clark campaigned the innovative Lotus 49 starting with the third race of
the season, the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. He won in the car’s
debut, and went on to win three more times in 1967, as well as the first
race of the 1968 season before losing his life in a Formula 2 accident
during the first of a two heat race. Team mate Graham Hill went on to
take the ’68 title in his Lotus 49. The Lotus 49 was innovative
for a number of reasons. Lotus head engineer and team founder Colin
Chapman had pioneered the revolutionary semi-monocoque chassis design in
the Lotus 25, and the technology had quickly become the standard across
all of F1. With the Lotus 49, which was a full monocoque, he introduced
yet another design concept which would become de rigueur with all
winning teams, and it hinged upon—quite literally—the engine. Formula 1
had switched to the larger 3.0L engine formula for the 1966 season,
prompting longtime Team Lotus engine supplier Coventry Climax (a
specialist in the tiny 1.5L formula which had ruled from 1961 through
1965) to withdraw from the sport. This left Team Lotus scrambling for an
engine supplier, and its ’66 performance suffered. For the 1967 season
Ford-Cosworth was looking for a team to help it develop its new “Double
Four Valve” 3.0L V8, and Lotus jumped at the opportunity, becoming the
official development team for the Cosworth DFV—an engine that would
dominate F1 for the next 20 years. Chapman designed an all-new chassis
around the DFV, and he used the engine’s block as a stressed component
rather than dropping it in a traditional frame. This was the first ever
use of an engine as a fully stressed member in Formula 1, and it made
the car significantly stronger and lighter than traditional designs. The
benefits were immediately apparent; in addition to Clark’s four wins,
the Lotus 49 took the pole position for every race in which it appeared
in 1967—an astounding nine in a row! The Lotus 49 was truly a new
beginning for Team Lotus, and for F1 technology. It also represents a
new beginning for Automodello, as Automodello steps into the large scale
arena for the first time. Diecasm as Automodello's corporate parent is
proud to be able to deliver this groundbreaking machine to you as one of
just 499 fortunate Formula 1 fans, in highly detailed, meticulously
researched and replicated 1:12 scale. The entire Automodello team strove
to get the details perfect and are proud that Classic Team Lotus—the
custodians of the original car—has given its endorsement. This is the
perfect way to celebrate the engineering genius of Colin Chapman and the
Lotus team, but most especially the skill and panache of one of Formula
1’s all-time greatest—Jim Clark. Jimmy’s driving career was cut
tragically short by his death at age 32, which makes his extraordinary
accomplishments in Formula 1—every lap of which was at the wheel of a
Lotus—all the more astonishing.
1967 Ford 3-Litre Twin Cam DFV as debuted in 1967 Lotus 49
- Scale: 1:12
- Manufacturer: Automodello
- Marque: Ford and as used in the 1967 Lotus 49
- Year: 1967
- Features: Includes display cover
- Limited Edition: Set includes one Lotus 49 and one Ford 3-Litre - up to 50
- Official Release Date: July 1st 2016
As
engineering breakthroughs usually do, the development of the most
successful engine in Formula 1 history began with a problem. In 1965,
the FIA—Formula 1’s governing body—announced that it would be reworking
the engine formula for the 1966 season, doubling the maximum engine
displacement from 1500cc (the limit that had been in place since the
start of the 1961 season) to 3000cc. This would effectively double
horsepower, but it would also add weight, complexity, and cost. Team
Lotus founder Colin Chapman had famously been a steadfast crusader
for—and beneficiary of—light, efficient, highly engineered and
minimalist racing machines. As such, Lotus thrived under the 1.5L rules,
powered by Climax motors that perfectly suited the nimble Lotus. Lotus
finished no lower than 3rd in the Constructors and Drivers Championships
during the 1.5L era, and won each twice outright—in 1963 and again in
1965. But Team Lotus struggled mightily under the 1966 rules, and
longtime engine supplier Coventry Climax’s announcement that they would
be leaving F1 added insult to injury. Chapman sought help from a pair of
former Team Lotus engineers Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin, who had
paired to form the race engineering firm Cosworth and with whom Lotus
had collaborated on the Lotus Cortina and Formula 3 projects. Duckworth
was confident he could design a competitive 3.0L F1 powerplant by
joining two Four Valve 4-cylinder engines—like those Cosworth ran in
lower formulae—into a V8. All they needed now was financing. After
initially being rebuffed by Ford in America, Chapman approached friend
and Ford Britain PR man Walter Hayes, who had collaborated on the
Cortina project. He agreed to underwrite the Cosworth V8 program, which
was dubbed the ‘Double Four Valve’ or DFV.
As Cosworth developed
the DFV, Chapman built an all-new and revolutionary car—the Lotus 49—to
hold it, which utilized the DFV as a fully stressed component of the
chassis. The DFV made its debut in the third race of the 1967 season,
and was a sensation—rocketing to a win in its inaugural appearance at
the Dutch Grand Prix at the hands of Jim Clark. Clark would win 3 more
races that season, after some initial reliability gremlins were sorted
out. By 1968 it was nearly unstoppable, easily carrying Team Lotus
driver Graham Hill to the Driver’s Championship (after Jim Clark’s
untimely death early in the season). That was the first of four titles
for a DFV-powered Lotus, and the first of 12 overall—including an
astounding 7 in a row from ’68-’74. It also secured 10 Constructor’s
titles during the same span—both records that will likely stand
indefinitely. DFVs also won Le Mans twice, and numerous titles in other
formulas, making it one of most successful powerplants of all time.
The
replica you hold in your hands is the Cosworth DFV as it debuted in the
Lotus 49 in 1967—the start of its amazing career. We know you will
thrill at the exquisite technical detail and the accuracy with which it
depicts this historic engine. It is one of just 499 models, hand
serialized and mounted on its attractive display base. Congratulations
on becoming one of the discerning few fortunate enough to collect this
engineering marvel!Diecasm Payment Plan: This set is eligible for Diecasm's exclusive Automodello 1:12 payment plan. Please see details here.
AutoweekNovember 2015
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