Description

Lotus Mark VIII

Lotus MK VIII – First Formula 1 Victory – John Coombs 1954

The Lotus MK VIII is one of those perhaps unknown cars, which marked the history of motorsports, and which deserve to be remembered. Without the Mark VIII, Lotus would not have been the great brand or the great team that we all know. I highly recommend reading the HISTORIC FILE.

Since the first day at Modelant we have wanted to make an English car, and really I started modeling the Lotus VIII on a rainy day in November 2014, after our reference M-02. But against my heart I had to abandon it until a few months ago, because I was not able to come up with a mechanism that would fit into our budget and that would fit in a car with closed rear wheel arches and a useful space of less than 40 mm width. Now, thanks to 3D technology, I have been able to create a chassis that fits perfectly and meshes the mechanics with finesse. Now – ten years later – we can offer a worthy tribute to the genius of Colin Chapman.

Our replica

For the second decoration of the VIII, we offer you the first Lotus winner of a Formula 1 race. Driven by John Coombs in the II Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Race in 1954. It was a non-championship race, which brought together Formula 1 vehicles , Formula 2 and Sport under Formula 1 rules. As it is not a Formula 1 car, the victory would not be reflected as official.

The Lotus reced unpainted, with its aluminum body exposed. This practice, repeated on several occasions by Colin Chapman, made Team Lotus famous for reducing the weight of the vehicle up to 20 kg with the simple gesture of removing the paint. Sometimes sanded on the circuit itself to speed up the regulations.