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The Machines / Lotus / 1950s
Lotus 11150 LM
Turning laps at the track that nearly ended its career for good is sweet victory for Richard and his amazing Lotus 11 150 LM.
Words and photography Nathan Duff Owner Richard
From an early age, Richard was infatuated by British sports cars. He spent countless weekends admiring the sleek machines cut through the air at the deft hands of racers at Lowood in his home state of Queensland, but that didn’t satisfy his burgeoning desire.
While working as an apprentice panel beater, he would regularly ride his pushbike across Brisbane during his lunch break to Blair Sheppard’s showroom just to gaze upon the latest MGs, Austin Healys and Triumphs on display.
“My first car was a 1959 Austin Healey Sprite MK2,” he recalls. “I had my mind set on something like that. I would never have been happy with a Holden or a Zephyr.”
Attending race meets in the early days of Lowood was, however, the spark that ignited Richard’s interest in competition sports cars. “I spent four or five years of my life out there watching those things run around,” he says. “You had the likes of Ann Thomson’s Lotus 15 and the Lotus Elan of Bill Gates, which were incredible machines.” (No, not THAT Bill Gates, but the Bill Gates who would actually discover the Bee Gees.)
Those old Lowood days would actually be the first time that he would come into contact with the Lotus 11 before becoming its owner, custodian and restorer some 30 years later. Lowood was the premier racing venue in Queensland during the late 1950s and early ’60s, and consisted of an old WW2 airstrip that combined runways and taxiways into a racetrack. The Australian GP was held there in 1960, and the Lotus 11 LM150, piloted by then-owner Charlie Whatmore, was one of the cars competing.
Eventually, grass grew through the tarmac and the site became unusable. Lowood has since been redeveloped into a residential area, but there are still some faint remnants of the old taxiways if you know where to look. A stone monument with the starting grid from the 1960 GP stands there today.
The now-older Richard still loved panel beating, but needed to be able to support his growing family. “Completely by accident I moved into property, then went back to school to undertake property valuation studies,” he explains. “After graduating in 1989 I worked for a number of government agencies. Even though I have done other things with my life, I’ve always been a panel beater.”
During those years in property valuation he would visit repo yards and bring home bargains to do up and sell off. A succession of Minis and Cortinas passed through his garage, as well as a rare Nissan A200 GTB — a car that he still regrets selling.
Richard had a bit more time on his hands when the 1990s rolled around, and he started to hunt around for a new project to occupy himself. Amazingly, it was by complete accident that he came across the Lotus 11, some 30 years after last seeing it at Lowood.
“No-one quite knew what it was,” Richard explains. “It was with a guy call Terry Healey, who used to own Old Timer Garage in Fortitude Valley.” The memory came straight back to Richard of the old Lowood days, and he quickly made the arrangements to purchase the Lotus 11 as his next project.
“Even though I have done other things with my life – I’ve always been a panel beater.”
Richard
Built in March 1957 at the Lotus factory in Hornsey, England, the car was commissioned by John Coombs, a racer who already owned a series one Lotus 11, and who wanted to try and beat the Porsches at Le Mans. Coombs and Lotus’s legendary frontman Colin Chapman got together and came up with the Lotus 11 150 LM.
The specifications of the new car included a 1.5-litre Coventry Climax FPF motor, SU/D?6 dual-throat carbs, a close-ratio MG gearbox, long range fuel tanks and dry-sump lubrication and uprated drive shafts, while the series two DeDion rear axle and four-wheel disc brakes were retained.
There are only two genuine LM 150 cars in existence; this is chassis 305, and the other car still belongs to Team Lotus.
“It’s not sophisticated, but the more you drive it – the more you realise what it’s all about.”
Richard
The Lotus only stayed in England for about 12 months. Apart from a brief steer by Roy Salvadori in 1957, Ron Flockhart — known for winning the 1956 Le Mans in a Jaguar D Type — was the wheelman for most of that time. The Lotus raced at Goodwood, Silverstone, Mallory Park and other circuits throughout Europe... but for unknown reasons, it never actually made it to Le Mans.
The Lotus arrived in Australia in 1958, after a deal was struck between Coombs and Whatmore. The Lotus certainly lived an active life in Australia; it started with Lowood in 1958, Bathurst at an Easter event later that year, and then went onto race at Albert Park in the 1959 Australian GP.
Unfortunately, the steering rack parted company with the chassis at Lakeside’s Hungry corner in 1962. The Lotus left the track, ran across the infield and ended up against the dam wall. Within a month Whatmore had transferred the go-fast bits across to a new standard-spec Lotus 11 series two chassis and was off racing again.
It was from there that Lotus 305 was bandied around various owners over the years, and things were done to it that would make any purist weep. It was eventually found in a garage in Maryborough in 1996, with fibreglass parts Frankensteined on it and a Toyota Corolla engine installed.
“There wasn’t much left of the original car, but it was a start,” says Richard.
Firstly, the body chassis was returned to its original specifications, before Richard set out to source the correct mechanical components for the restoration, as many things had been changed, robbed or lost over the years.
Coming across the late Adrian Schagen and late Graham Howard in Sydney was Richard’s first piece of luck. Adrian and Graham had rebuilt a couple of Lotus 11s, they were aware of Richard’s LM150 and they were very supportive of the restoration.
“They actually had a lot of spares for my Lotus that originally come off the car,” marvels Richard. “Fuel tanks inlet manifolds, front dual braking systems, rear braking system, engine mounts and rear drive system. They made all of these parts available to me, which turned out to be just over 100 bits and pieces.” They were only minor parts, but they were important in the overall scheme of things.
The chassis unit was ready to go, but he needed a motor to set up all the engine mounts and the correct position for the gearbox. However, finding a decent engine block stalled the process somewhat, as mounting positions had been changed over the years.
It took seven years, in fact, to find a suitable block for the Lotus. A collector of historic and classic cars in New Zealand, Bill Clarke, made available to him a fully reconditioned Coventry Climax FPF twin cam block. It was enough for him to be able to set up the engine mounts and gearbox, and to start sourcing the remainder of the internal pieces.
Enter Ray Gibbs, who was best known for making oil pumps for these motors. The wishlist was long — a head, crank, rods and all the rest that goes with it.
“Yeah, I got all that,” Ray says casually. It turns out it was left over from the Sir Jack Brabham days, and Ray had been his mechanic for a time.
“Brabham would bring all of these components over to Australia in the Tasman days, but he never took any of it back with him,” explained Gibbs.
The pistons were sourced from Tony Mantle, also known as ‘Mr Coventry Climax’. Tony had had a set of pistons to suit the motor that had been sitting on his shelf in the UK for the past 25 years, and he had no idea what he was going to do with them.
“He said I could have them for 100 quid,” laughs Richard.
That was the last piece needed to go ahead with the engine rebuild and move forward with restoring this classic racer to its former glory. The restoration took twelve years, and finding wayward parts wasn’t the only battle. Gaining eligibility to enable the car to take part in Historic Motorsport events was a long and complicated process; however, Richard’s persistence paid off.
In recognition of this car’s international and national motorsport history, Lotus Eleven LM 150 chassis 305 has been afforded international accreditation by way of an FIA Historic Technical Passport and an Australian CAMS Group L logbook.
“You build these things up in your mind,” he says, “like it’s going to be some sort of sublime experience.”
Richard
The Lotus was finished just in time to be presented at the 50th anniversary of Lakeside in 2012; in another amazing twist, it turns out that the car had competed in the very first sports car race ever held at the small Queensland track.
“And in fact, it won it,” says Richard.
Confident that the car would run, but never having driven it further than up and down the driveway at home, there was a sense of trepidation in Richard before the car’s debut. But the Lotus returned to the very track that had put an end to its career as a racer, completing lap after flawless lap as part of the exhibition.
“You build these things up in your mind like it’s going to be some sort of sublime experience. As much as I love the car, it’s noisy and a bit rattly... kind of like doing laps inside a 44-gallon drum,” he laughs.
“Mind you, it doesn’t get pushed the way it used to in the past; it’s driven reasonably sedately. It’s not sophisticated, but the more you drive it, the more you realise what it’s all about.”
These days, with only minor maintenance needed to keep the Lotus going for its occasional track days at Lakeside, Richard is back restoring another Mini Cooper just for fun.
“All I’ve done all my life is rebuild old motorcars,” says Richard.
I get the feeling that the Lotus is the one he is most proud of.
