It’s a skimpy little thing, slim, short, low. Look at the photo of it arriving for its illegal excursion: the trailer that it’s perched on isn’t even full length. It seems nicely sized for DSJ, who wasn’t full length either. Yet it’s a historic design, the Lotus 12: Colin Chapman’s first single-seater, built for the new Formula 2 but shortly to be the rising Lotus outfit’s stop-gap debut entry into grands prix. Through the 1957 season the regular occupant of this one, chassis 353, is Graham Hill who has already contested F2 races in it, his first single-seater drives; in the coming year he’ll pilot it in the marque’s first Formula 1 event, a debut that confirms Chapman’s rising ambitions.
A works racer’s life being short it will soon be sold to privateers, then shipped to Australia. A fallow period follows; Lotus people know its significance but a restoration stalls for 27 years, until one man comes along who appreciates what it is. He’ll treat it to a full and loving restoration, doggedly compile its history and publish a comprehensive monograph about it.
Eventually the time will come when it has to move on, so it’s shipped back to the UK to show at a high-profile race meeting. Which is where we are today. After being on display at Goodwood Members’ Meeting, chassis 353 will
