Four-wheel Drive in Formula One - Lotus 56B (1971)

Lotus 56B (1971)

The wedge-shaped, gas turbine-powered Lotus 56, one of the most unusual cars ever to race in F1, was originally designed to compete in the 1968 Indianapolis 500 where it nearly won, but with USAC introducing a ban on gas turbines and four-wheel drive for the 1970 race, a new B variant of the car was built to Formula 1 spec with an eye to replacing the failed 63.

With a Pratt & Whitney engine driving the trusty Ferguson-derived transmission without the need for a clutch or gearbox, the car made its Formula 1 debut in the 1971 Race of Champions with Emerson Fittipaldi at the wheel. He qualified seventh out of 15 runners, but retired after 33 laps with a suspension failure. A similar problem forced Reine Wisell out of the Spring Trophy at Oulton Park, and with Fittipaldi back for the International Trophy, the suspension broke yet again in the first heat before the Brazilian took third in the second race, the car's best finish in an F1 event.

Dave Walker was then drafted in to drive the car in the Dutch Grand Prix, qualifying a lowly 22nd. However the race was wet, handing a massive advantage to the 4WD car, and Walker proceeded to carve his way through the field, getting right up to tenth place in only five laps before seriously blotting his copy-book by crashing out, leading Chapman to remark "that was the one race that should, and could, have been won by a four-wheel drive". Reine Wisell had another go with the car in the British Grand Prix, but more problems meant that by the finish he was some 11 laps down. The final F1 entry for a 56B came in the Italian Grand Prix, where the car featured an early prototype of the JPS livery that would go on to become a motor racing icon. Fittipaldi brought the car home in eighth place, a lap down on the closest finish in F1 history.

Curiously, Fittipaldi drove the car once more in an F5000 event, his second place at Hockenheim marking the best result for the car. By now though it was clear that the 63 and 56B cars had deflected attention from developing the Lotus 72, with Lotus not taking a single win in 1971, and the turbine car was shelved and never raced again.