The 19 is a mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports racer with a fiberglass body over a space frame, originally designed with 1.5 - 2.75L Coventry Climax FPF engine built for Grand Prix cars, mated to Lotus' own five-speed sequential transaxle nicknamed 'Queerbox' which gave a lot of problems on the Lotus 15, but was improved in its reliability for the Lotus 18.

Chapman named the car Monte Carlo to honor Stirling Moss for his win at the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix.

Towards the end of 1963, John Klug, founder of Pacesetter Homes Racing, commissioned Lotus to build a special 19 to be Ford V8 powered.

Dan Gurney, who had enjoyed considerable success at the wheel of the Arciero Brothers Lotus 19-Climax as the driver.

Wayne Linden of Roseville, California, found it in a semi trailer waiting to be turned into a dune buggy.