The Lotus 56 was a car developed for the 1968 Indianapolis 500. It had four-wheel-drive, and was powered by a Pratt & turbine jet engine, making it the only turbine entry in Formula One history.
In the 500, the three cars (one driven by Graham Hill) qualified first, second and 11th, but Hill's car lost a wheel, and the other two cars suffered identical fuel pump failures while leading late in the race. Following that race, USAC changed the rules to make turbines uncompetitive.
In 1971, Team Lotus entered a modified version of the car, known as the 56B, in three Grands Prix and three non-championship events. The car had sprouted wings, and had larger fuel tanks to run an entire Grand Prix without stopping. And while the was car extremely quick in the wet, in dry weather it was an overweight mid-field runner.
Complete Formula One Results[]
Entreats | Tires | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1971 | |||||||||||||
Gold Leaf Team Lotus | F | Dave Walker | Ret | ||||||||||
Reine Wisell | NC | ||||||||||||
World Wide Racing | Emerson Fittipaldi | 8th |