1961 US Grand Prix winning Lotus 21

[Ember]

While I'm waiting for my bits and pieces for the BT3 to turn up I thought I'd tackle another easier build (is there such a thing?) to try to keep my enthusiasm up.

A very dear friend of mine is a massive Innes Ireland fan, so I thought I'd attempt building a tribute to Innes' only GP win. It is also a bit of a tribute to the generosity at the core of the slot car building community as the major pieces of this project have been gifts.

The shell, a David Jones body, was a gift from Ken Wehnert and the Beardog Racing chassis that I intend to use with it was found in the bottom of a care package from UK. 

So, the car. I hate internet research. I really don't know enough about these cars to be able to tell one from another and very much have to rely on the accuracy of image labeling. Never a good thing really. But, as far as I can tell, this is the car as it appeared during the race:



And another shot which may be from the same race:



I know this one is a later car, but it's a good study of Innes with his race face on:



And lastly, the starting point.



Looks like it should work. A few things that I'm going to have to tackle in this build that I know about. The fibreglass shell is a new thing for me and it looks like Chris' chassis is designed for independent front stub axles. So that's at least two things added to the learning curve. I'm hoping to get started today with some base work. I guess the first step in proceedings is soldering the chassis together. It's a horrible wet and cold day outside. Seems like the perfect afternoon to spend at the desk in the toy room watching the rain through the big window.

[Chris Wright]

Ember, solder the chassis up as in the photo below, don't use the top plate, and solder a brace between the two front tabs as in the Lotus chassis on left photo, use scrap brass as the brace. You can use a 1/16 axle on the front, close up the bore on 3/32nd wheels with cut-offs from a hollow axle, or brass tube. Holes in upright may need to be reamed a bit with a Dremel diamond tipped brad.

[Ember]

Thanks Chris. I think I get idea.

[David Lawson]

Ember

The first picture does look like Watkins Glen, they certainly had that style of Armco barrier set at a lethal height for these tiny cars. The second picture looks like the Nurburgring to me with that box hedging.

I look forward to seeing how this car develops in your capable hands.

I've had two of these Dave Jones Lotus 21 shells for several years, they are so accurate and capture the elegant shape perfectly - I really should get round to building one.

David

[Ember]

At first I wondered if the second photo was actually a later shot after a resto on the car and not really Innes at all. The image has just a completely different quality to it.

[David Lawson]

That is definitely a period shot of Ireland, the characteristic hedges that bordered most of the Nurburgring were only there up until 1970 when they widened the run off areas and installed Armco barriers.

David