Notifications
Clear all
Forum 43
1
Posts
1
Users
8
Reactions
1,555
Views
Topic starter
01/12/2021 3:37 pm
Some of my most enjoyable viewing of sportscar racing took place in the early 1960s at Mosport Park near Toronto. Here I saw Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Olivier Gendebien and other greats drive the Lotus 19 in spectacular winning fashion. Peter Ryan, a talented driver from Canada won here in the Lotus 19 in 1961 only to die tragically in Europe racing the following year.
The Lotus 19 Monte Carlo is a mid-engine sports-racing car designed by Colin Chapman of Lotus and built from 1960 until 1962.
Engine: Coventry Climax FPF
Curb weight: 1,000 lb (454 kg)-1,240 lb (562 kg) ...
Body style: Fiberglass non-stressed
Designed by Colin Chapman and driven by a number of the biggest names in motorsport, the Lotus 19 was sports car racing’s hugely successful giant-killer in the early 1960s.
Some 17 Monte Carlos were built, named in honour of Moss’ 1960 Grand Prix win of wins for Rob Walker Racing in a Lotus18.
Here I am featuring two of the cars driven by Stirling Moss.
With its fibreglass body draped over a spaceframe chassis, it was a car that followed Chapman’s lightness mantra to a tee. Powered by a mid-engined 2.5-litre Coventry Climax four-cylinder, it diced with and frequently bested its V8-engined competition.
One Sir Stirling Moss also played a big part in the 19’s development. It was he who undertook most of the testing in 1960 and subsequently drove one to victory on its debut at Karlskoga in Sweden.
Here is the silver Karlskoga car, No.1 in silver, driven to victory be Stirling Moss, the first by this car. Model is by Spark SO259.
BRP was a UK-based racing team established in 1957 by Alfred Moss and Ken Gregory - Stirling Moss’ father and former manager respectively - to run cars for Stirling, when not under contract with other firms, along with other up-and-coming drivers. For the 1961 and 1962 seasons, BRP was renamed UDT-Laystall Racing as part of a sponsorship deal. UDT was United Dominions Trust who, amongst other holdings, owned Laystall Engineering, the principal supplier of crankshafts to the British automotive and aviation industries. Their race cars sported a distinctive green livery.
In 1961, the UDT 19s completely dominated the races in which they competed. During the early part of the season, all three cars were achieving podiums in every race, although it is often unclear which chassis number finished in which position.
A Moss win both heats of the First Pacific races at Laguna Seca in October of 1961. This is No.7 in UDT-Laystall light green.
Dan Gurney came in second in the No.96 red Lotus 19. Here is the Stirling Moss car by Spark SO257.
