Lotus 17

Designed by Len Terry,[1] it was built in response to the Lola Mk1 which was dominant against the previous Lotus model, the Eleven.

The Lotus 17 was Chapman's answer to the Lola Mk 1, which by late 1958, was beating the venerable (but by then a good few years old) Eleven with monotonous regularity.

It was designed by Len Terry based on Chapman's ideas and it incorporated a number of new features, although in fact was the last front-engined sports racing car Lotus made.

By the time the problem had been identified and rectified by the substitution of the front struts by more conventional wishbones (which was subsequently offered as a factory modification to all 17 owners),[2] it was all too late and racing had moved on.

Engine-wise, 17s ran in period with all the small capacity Coventry Climax options, 742 cc FWMA (as in the works 1959 Le Mans entries, which were going very well in class until electrical problems forced their retirement), 1,098 cc FWA (the normal small capacity racing class of the day), 1,216 cc FWE and (in North America) 1460cc.