The Type 76 occupies little more than a footnote in the Lotus story. Quietly forgotten by the team back in 1974, it’s overlooked in the history books today. It is remembered as the car deemed not good enough to replace the once-great but ageing 72 over the course of that season. Yet the 76 might just be up there among the most important Formula 1 designs in the Team Lotus narrative.
But for the shortcomings of the 76 – real or otherwise – Lotus might never have stolen a march on the rest of the F1 grid in the development of ground-effect aerodynamics. It was the failure to effectively replace the 72 that motivated Lotus boss Colin Chapman to instigate a root-and-branch development programme to re-assess F1 design. The first fruit of that was the Lotus 78, a machine that turned the team back into a regular race winner in 1977. The year after came the type 79, the car that gave the team its first world titles since taking the ’73 constructors’ crown.
The Cosworth-powered Lotus 76 was pivotal in that story. Team Lotus had abandoned the car during 1974, reverting to the proven if not always quick 72 in stages over the campaign. The new car, conceived as a 72 for the modern era, was parked once and for all at the season’s end, the team heading into 1975 with the old lady and ending up with a car in so-called F-spec. Yet it would be far from correct to suggest that the 72 raced in a single configuration over the course of its swan song season.
Team Lotus threw everything bar the kitchen sink at the 72 in what would be its final season before the introduction of the stopgap 77. Lead driver Ronnie Peterson even demanded one day in testing at
