 | |||||||||||
| Category | Formula One/Two | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Lotus Cars | ||||||||||
| Designer(s) | Colin Chapman | ||||||||||
| Predecessor | Lotus 12 | ||||||||||
| Successor | Lotus 18 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Chassis | Steel spaceframe. | ||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Double wishbone with outboard coilover spring/damper units. | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Chapman strut with integrated coilover spring/damper units. | ||||||||||
| Axle track | 1,195 mm (47.0 in) | ||||||||||
| Wheelbase | 2,235 mm (88.0 in) | ||||||||||
| Engine | Coventry Climax FPF F2: 1,475 cc (90.0 cu in) F1: 1,964 cc (119.9 cu in), 2,207 cc (134.7 cu in), 2,467 cc (150.5 cu in) Gear-driven DOHC, straight-4. Naturally aspirated, front mounted. | ||||||||||
| Transmission | Lotus (Ansdale-Mundy) 5-speed sequential manual transaxle with ZF differential. | ||||||||||
| Weight | 490 kg (1,080 lb) | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Dunlop | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | Team Lotus | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers |  Graham Hill Innes Ireland | ||||||||||
| Debut | 1958 French Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only. | |||||||||||
The Lotus 16 was the second single-seat racing car designed by Colin Chapman, and was built by his Lotus Cars manufacturing company for the Team Lotus racing squad. The Lotus 16 was constructed to compete in both the Formula One and Formula Two categories, and was the first Lotus car to be constructed for Formula One competition. Its design carried over many technological features of the first Lotus single-seater, the Lotus 12, as well as incorporating ideas which Chapman had been developing while working on the Vanwall racing cars. Indeed, such was the visual similarity between the Vanwall and Lotus 16 designs that the Lotus was often dubbed the "mini Vanwall"[1] by the contemporary motor sport press. Although the Lotus 16 only scored five Formula One World Championship points in the three seasons during which it was used, its raw pace pointed the way for its more successful successors, the Lotus 18 and 21.
- ^ Lawrence (1999) p.187