DOWN THE WORKSHOP WITH
FORMULA 2 LOTUS 69
Current owner: Roger Bevan
Bevan saw it race back in 1971 “My wife Maureen and I have been following Formula 2 since we first went to Thruxton in 1967. We went to Crystal Palace up until it closed and we were there for the F2 meeting in May 1971 as impoverished spectators when Emerson Fittipaldi won in the Lotus 69 that I now own. I had no aspirations to race back then as it was far too difficult.”
Fittipaldi raced it for two seasons “The F2 Lotus 69 was a 1971 car, chassis number 5. It was the same car that Fittipaldi used again in 1972 when it was known as the Moonraker car. It was always Emerson’s car and was part of his salary package from Lotus. I think there were about a dozen built and it was run out of Italy, even in 1971. The Lotus factory didn’t run F2 cars in 1971. It won nine F2 races in two seasons. He took it to Brazil twice for the Torneio series at the end of the season and won several races there.”
Engines were an issue in period “I met the mechanic from 1971 at Monza last year. This old boy turned up with a huge head of white hair and introduced himself as Emerson’s mechanic. He said all they did that year was change engines. In 1971 it ran a Cosworth FVA engine and in 1972, when they went to two-litre engines, he had all manner of BD engines.”
It then raced in Formula Libre “After 1972 it went to John Blades for Formula Libre and it won a lot of races. Andy Barton and Dave Muter both raced the car and then it went to America with Jim Bennett and then John Delane. From there, Frank Sytner bought it in 2007 and had it rebuilt by Simon Hadfield for the 1600cc Historic F2 class to take on Martin Stretton.”
It is very original “I bought it from Sytner for 2009 and it now has a BDA engine. I’ve raced it ever since and had terrific fun with it. It is a lovely, lovely car. We’ve got it in exact 1971 Bardahl livery. The important thing about it is that it is so original, including the monocoque tub, and even the damper cases are original. I’ll race it for as long as I can!”