Topic Tag: Lotus 30

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    • D'Art Lotus 30 My enthusiasm to build this kit was off the charts. The real Lotus 30 was a terrible car with respect to handling. This is an opportunity to hopefully make it better on a much smaller scale. The real car had chassis flex issues. This chassis does not have those same problems. I had to shorten the top of the front bearing supports because the body sits very low. You can see the 180 grit sanding marks on the inside of the chassis so the epoxy will adhere to the aluminum and motor a bit better. The chassis started out as an inline S-can. That was a huge mistake on such a low car. I should have planned it out better. I hope I never make that mistake again. I had to make a big hole in the body to fit the motor. The colour is Tamiya "Candy Lime Green". Upon assembling the body to the chassis I realized this was indeed a huge mistake. My lack of experience is getting the better of me. Time to take it apart and try something else. I was thinking that I may have already ruined the body. :negative:

      Started by: Avatar photoKen in: Scratch Built Models

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    • 4 years ago

      Arthur

    • Lotus 30 – DArt Body & Scratch Sidewinder Low Power Motor Chassis What better time to get into a Lotus 30 build than now - just in time for the upcoming CANAM Thunder! After some contemplation and a little scavenging then more contemplation it was settled. For this build I would mate the new DArt Lotus 30 body kit with full interior and fantasy livery to a scratch built chassis. I planned to use the following major components: DArt Lotus 30 Body Kit; 'low power' BWNC1 in a sidewinder configuration; Slot.It spur gear with scavenged 15T nylon pinion from some electronic device I threw away many years ago; 2 pair of BWA small 13" (11.85mm diameter) wheels all with DArt DA0211 urethane tires & DArt small inserts (customized); oil lite Parma bushings in the back, 1/8" brass tubes for the front stubs; and scavenged 'push in' guide from a Fly or other RTR scrap chassis. The trouble with making a 'low power' sidewinder model is always the gearing - so when I found the 15T nylon pinion with the correct pitch I couldn't resist. This sidewinder chassis would also be a torsion version using 3/32 piano wire as the spine sleeved by a section of 1/8" brass tube. The defining feature up front for this chassis would be the independent pins allowing the front wheels to have noticeable negative camber. I've wanted to experiment with a front end like this for a long time... if it didn't work then it would be easy enough to replace the sleeves with a straight section of tube. Several extra bits from the body kit are set aside for parts storage - like the larger inserts, clear lenses, short stacks & valve covers - they'll come in handy on another project sometime down the road I'm sure. I plan to use everything else.

      Started by: Arthur in: Scratch Built Models

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    • 15
    • 5 years ago

      Arthur

    • Lotus 30 – Why It Failed – Article "Sometimes there are good grounds for saying "it'll never work". To paraphrase the famous Richie Ginther quip, the Lotus 30 was a 40 with 10 fewer mistakes. But still too many to make it anything better than occasionally successful, even in the hands of Jim Clark.  Ever the loyal Lotus professional, Clark did what he could with the car but, like everyone else who drove the 30, he disliked it, and it sometimes got away even from him. Designed to compete in 'big-banger' racing against Lola and McLaren, the 30 sold quite well in 1964 — 21 were built — but quickly earned a reputation for evil handling. An improved Series 2 version was prepared for 1965, but only 12 of them were made. Although the 30's modified 4.7-litre 350bhp Ford Fairlane V8 was inferior to the Chevy opposition, that was the least of its problems. One person who foresaw the car's failure was Lotus's own Len Terry, but his concerns were largely ignored. "Colin Chapman gave me the scheme and asked for my comments," recalls Terry. "I studied it for two days and by the end I'd produced a critique covering two foolscap pages. Of all that I considered wrong with the car, the only thing he agreed to change was boxing in the rear chassis members. That was it. He was not prepared to change anything else. That's when I told him somebody else would have to draw the car because I didn't want my name attached to it." To read the article view the attached .pdf which can be found below these images.

      Started by: Arthur in: Historical 1:1

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    • 1
    • 5 years ago

      Avatar photoKen

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