The 197? John Player Special Racing Team

[PR19_Kit]

In the 60s and 70s Lotus were trying to be into almost every sort of motor racing, with limited success in some areas but none at all in others. In 1972 Lotus' main sponsor was Imperial Tobacco's 'John Player Special' division with their striking black and gold colour scheme, which has always been a favourite of many motorsport fans, and it seemed to me that they should have tried drag racing as well as F1, F2, F3, Sports Cars, Indaycars etc etc, thus my entry for this GB.



This pic triggered me off when Googling for Tom McEwen as I have a kit of Tom's dragster from the correct period, and originally I was only thinking of doing the dragster kit in the black and gold scheme. Seeing Tom's trailer and tow truck made me wonder 'Why not do the whole team?' 

Back in 1990 I'd bought four of the Galaxie Industries trailer kits, one of each version, and after trading three of them I still have the VERY large one left.



The box is two feet long and is STUFFED with plastic bags full of styrene bits and pieces, it even has an awning to hang on one side!




The dragster comes from this Revell dual kit of Tom McEwens's team of the period.




It occurred to me that the tow truck really should be a British vehicle, and I had an Italeri Ford Transit Mk 2 van that was just crying out to be modified into a pickup version.




However, trying to tow that MONSTER trailer could be a bit of a job for a standard Transit, so I figured that doing the same 'upgrade' that Ford did  to produce the original Supervan 2, which had most of the running gear of a Ford GT40 slid underneath a standard Transit, would do the job.




So I dug out an old Testors/IMC Ford GT40 Mk 1 from The Loft to mix and match with the Transit. The box has seen better days......




There's another kit en route to ensure that the dragster has Ford power, Lotus were 100% pro-Ford in those days.

And just in case there's enough room in the trailer, and I'm pretty sure there will be, I've got plans for a JPS Indy car to fit in there as well. It's a repro IMC Lotus 56 turbine car, but fitted with a turbo-piston engine as the Indy people had effectively banned turbines by the early 70s. (Spoilsports....)



Oh yes, there's some black and gold JPS decals en route too. 

[Hobbes]

That's quite a big build you're embarking on 

[PR19_Kit]

Yes, and over Christmas/New year too. 

But it's flexible in that I can only build bits of it perhaps. The trailer and tow truck would work on their own if need be I reckon.

[Dizzyfugu]

Uh, that's promising! 

[PR19_Kit]

Some more 'ingredients' for the JPS team have arrived, or I found them in The Loft.



The Round 2 Galaxie that'll provide the engine for the dragster.




Tools and stuff to clutter up the trailer, or to make the workspace under the awning look good.




If I can ever learn to paint figures these dudes and dudettes will be adoring the trailer and cars, maybe....




And this kit, found in The Loft, will provide the engine for the 'Lotus 71' (a piston engined 56) if I build it.

Now some of you who are in the know will say 'But the Newman-Haas Lolas had Chevy V8 engines, not Fords'. But that engine was built by Ilmor, and Mario Ilyen and Paul Morgan, who were Ilmor, came direct from Cosworth and the Ilmor Chevy engine looked JUST like a Ford turbo-DFX but with 'Chevrolet' on the valve covers instead of 'Ford'. That's easily fixed with a small file and some decals...... 

[jcf]

 
Granatelli stuffed a turboed Chrysler lump into one of his 56s.
 

Just look at those intake logs, such elegant design. 

[PR19_Kit]

Granatelli stuffed a turboed Chrysler lump into one of his 56s.
 

Trying to find the history if those 56s after they banned the turbines has been driving me nuts for some days now. It seems that Art Pollard drove one that was fitted with a turbo-Offy engine in the 1969 race, and that's the same car that was later fitted with the Chrysler engine seen in your pic.

The mud is watered by some Gerhardt built cars that were virtual copies of the Lotus 56 as well, and they too were turbo-Offy powered.



Art Pollard's turbo-Offy powered Lotus 56




Carl Williams' turbo-Offy powered Gerhardt

This sort of research isn't helped by the Indy people's habit of almost ignoring the cars and just talking about the drivers! 

That's why my model's going to be called a Lotus 71, it's the only number that Chapman didn't use. 

[PR19_Kit]

Looking at your pic JCF, that's a double overhead camshaft engine, with the intakes going straight down into the centre of the cylinder heads, which is pretty unusual. And where are the spark plugs in that design too?

It's obviously a 56 chassis as you can see the now unused original turbine front mounting brackets alongside the transfer case for the 4WD system.

A very interesting pic, where did you find it please?

[jcf]

The pic is in Turbine Grand Prix, Gerard Crombac, Automobilia 1989
The book covers the STP, Howmet and Rover programs/cars in detail along
with info on the other cars tried, Zink Special etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Turbine-Grand-Prix-Gerard-Crombac/dp/B000IEMY8Y

[PR19_Kit]

Ah, I've got that book, and very good it is too, but goodness knows where it is in this madhouse. 

Thanks for that. 

[zenrat]

Looking at your pic JCF, that's a double overhead camshaft engine, with the intakes going straight down into the centre of the cylinder heads, which is pretty unusual. And where are the spark plugs in that design too?
...

Nice straight inlet tracts.
Looking at what appear to the be plug leads i'd say the plugs (or at least one set) are adjacent to the exhaust ports.
Which would make doing a plug chop fun.

[jcf]

Looking at your pic JCF, that's a double overhead camshaft engine, with the intakes going straight down into the centre of the cylinder heads, which is pretty unusual. And where are the spark plugs in that design too?
...

Nice straight inlet tracts.
Looking at what appear to the be plug leads i'd say the plugs (or at least one set) are adjacent to the exhaust ports.
Which would make doing a plug chop fun.

The 90° entry to those runners from the turbo isn't the best practice,
as it'll create disturbed flow that'll interfere with efficiency.

[Dizzyfugu]

Oh yes, there's some black and gold JPS decals en route too. 

Probably from ACB Shop via ebay? 

[PR19_Kit]

Oh yes, there's some black and gold JPS decals en route too. 

Probably from ACB Shop via ebay? 

Exactly! Are you clairvoyant Thomas? 

I have some 1/24 ones already and some 1/18 ones en route, the 1/24 ones would look TINY on the side of the monster trailer.

[Dizzyfugu]

It just happened that I apparently had the same JPS sheet on the watch list and saw that it was sold, with a timing corresponding well with your post... 

Sometimes the world is just that small.