F1 Lotus-Mugen Honda Type 107C, original car

The rebuild of the 1994 Lotus Formula 1 car of Johnny Herbert.

“Having visited Team Lotus as a supplier earlier in 1994 I had seen the damaged chassis sitting twenty feet up and upon returning in 1995 with the receiver in place I negotiated the purchase of the damaged tub along with a spare, undertray ,wheels a gearbox case set and radiators. Team creditors were glad to recover some money so supplied a fully decaled engine cover, rear wing and nose. The final receiver auction later in the year at Brighton supplied a full set of dampers linkages, A frames and other spares. Ebay providing all the Tony James wiring looms, enough for several cars in fact.

Due to the damage to the tub and engine mountings, it was decided to rebuild this as a show car. Only 4 pins hold the complete rear engine gearbox and suspension to the chassis tub, they had all failed as designed in the crash. Fuel hoses had dry break connectors, the fire damage was from a refuelling port leak and the ATL fuel cell remained intact. The largest item missing was the engine, because all the Mugen Honda units were returned to Japan not for resale.

Initially The 01 tub was designed back in 1992 for the Judd GV V10 engine but then the Cosworth HB substituted. A nonworking installation engine from a Tyrrell was acquired from engine developments at Rugby, so we now had a rolling chassis with a F1 V10 engine. A Carbon Honda Inlet tray was located but not the variable inlet system that moves with engine speed.

Very little Information on the installation and layout are available other than photos. Team Lotus supplied chassis 01 history sheets with setup details, test results and development progression. Back in 1994 a full size layered drawing was made to check plumbing, wiring loom runs and clearances. This was mounted on a wall but looks to have gone missing, this would be very useful. The suspension A frames manufactured from steel extrusions then welded are coated with a crack detection paint that is not resistant to corrosion. In fact all the steel fixtures and fittings have had to be lightly over painted, the magnesium gearbox parts have been lacquered to prevent the white oxide appearing.

The Original wheels and tyres have been injected with a sealant that looks to have solved the leaking air issue we had and hold pressure for weeks. Next project is to get the brakes working, original AP Racing calipers but no pads that fit. Original Dashboard is unusual for the time in having a full liquid crystal display but all warning lights. Gear number and other information available by scrolling by the driver, again a Honda item and surprisingly heavy with its separate driver unit and cabling. The Steering wheel had a Buckle from the crash (not surprising) and shows the pushback through the system when a wheel impacts, this was gently straitened with a hydraulic press maybe this should have been left buckled rather than restored.

But at least all the buttons and paddles work.”

This blog has been co-written by Ben Green, who is the proud owner of the Lotus F1 car Pedro Lamy crashed during that Silverstone test in May 1994, just prior to that year’s Spanish Grand Prix. If you have read the book: 1994 The Untold Story of a Tragic and Controversial F1 Season, you’ll know Lamy’s crash and the subsequent fallout, was hugely significant to F1 that year. Ben’s Lotus chassis is the 107C (chassis no 1).

This is the (restored) Lotus 107C that Lamy almost was killed in during that fateful day at Silverstone in May 1994. Ben purchased the chassis from Team Lotus during 1995. Along with a heap of spares.

1994 Lotus107C

At the end of the 1993 season, Team Lotus’ finances were in a bad way. The newly released book: Team Lotus, Struggling Beyond The Post Colin Chapman Era details how and why Team Lotus got there by the early 1990’s. Their Chris Murphy designed 107B was fast but unreliable, whilst its complex active suspension and customer Cosworth HB engines had drained resources. Along came Honda with the Mugen brand and an updated 1989 ZA5 V10 engine, a no cost factory option. Furthermore, F1 rules for 1994 have changed, in comes mid-race refuelling with reduced fuel tank sizes inside cars. Active suspension is also banned so it’s back to Penske dampers and ant heave bars.

Three new type 107C chassis are built as an interim before the arrival later in the season of the new for 1994 Lotus 109, which was narrower than the 107B tub. The new Mugen V10 engine allowed a slimmer engine cover, but the tub forward of the mirrors was kept the same to keep its impact test certification. A new semi-automatic gearbox (normal clutch, paddle shift gear changes) was introduced. A signal from the steering wheel paddle would rotate the gear selection barrel to the next gear via a Moog valve and electronics to raise or lower engine revs and retrying selection until the gear is found. This was worth at least half a second per lap. The hand shift blister on the tub was kept in case the new change didn’t work. Drivers for 1994 would be Johnny Herbert and Pedro Lamy with Alex Zanardi as their test driver.

Ben’s 107C Lotus has been restored as a non-running rolling chassis, Ben has most history including setup and development sheets, the car was raced in F1 up until the 1994 British Grand Prix.

The Races

Brazil and Aida races, Herbert’s 107C (01 chassis) is slow but reliable finishing just outside the points. The Mugen Engine by 1994 standards is heavy with a high Centre of Gravity, extra cooling with heat exchangers and oil radiators adding to the weight issue. Traction out of corners is a big problem increasing downforce with wing angle making little difference but robbing the car of speed down the straights.

Imola arrived and Herbert’s car has clutch failure in final practice so chassis 01 gets promoted to race car. At the start Lamy connects with Lehto’s Benetton, the collision wrecks both cars. With debris all over the track the safety car was brought out to clear the damaged cars & wreckage. Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenbergers sad deaths are well documented & start a safety crusade within the sport. At the next event, Monaco, the FIA impose significant & immediate car changes upon teams in order to make the sport safer. However the teams were angered by the FIA’s timescales and the costs. Virtually every team’s car designer complained they were not consulted about these FIA proposals announced at Monaco 1994. They therefore felt cutting back significant on downforce, without any corresponding reduction on power output, would create more (not less) safety problems for F1.

Lamy & Lehto’s accident during the fateful 1994 Imola race. It subsequently brought out the safety car, an Opel Vectra. Did this contribute to Senna’s fatal crash?

Lamy’s Silverstone Test & Accident

To the gauge the effects of the FIA mandated car changes, hurriedly introduced at Monaco 1994, Lamy’s 01 race chassis from Monaco had the under tray cut back further than the axle line to remove all of the diffuser downforce. Whilst testing this solution, the rear wing suddenly failed when approaching a 150 mph corner. It led to one of F1’s most violent accidents. Indeed, Lamy’s car struck the barrier with enough force it vaulted OVER a 10 foot debris fence which to protect spectators. Because it was a private test, fortunately no one was in that area at the time of Lamy’s crash. But had it been a grand prix meeting, there would have been hundreds of spectators in the vicinity! In fact Lamy’s Lotus eventually ended up in a pedestrian walkway underneath the circuit.

Herbert, the first man on the scene, was horrified by all of the wreckage and initially feared the worst for his teammate. When asked about this incident afterwards the Englishman later said: “I had been following Pedro, about 100 yards behind, when his car spun. There was lots of dust and it just took off. I stopped my car and jumped out but at first I couldn’t find him. Then I could see the tub had been thrown on to the other side of the fence. I couldn’t believe it, he was half-way down the tunnel.”

“The back end of the car was on fire. Even his helmet was steaming. The marshalls soon appeared and I helped them put out the fire. I didn’t really want to go in there but I had to. I feared the worst after what’s happened recently. He was unconscious when I got to him but he gradually came to. He was breathing heavily and obviously in pain. They put his legs in splints and carried him to the helicopter to be taken to hospital. It was as horrifying as any as the recent accidents we’ve had.’” (source; https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/motor-racing-lamy-in-horrifying-crash-at-silverstone-lotus-driver-breaks-kneecaps-and-thigh-as-car-1438481.html)

As bad as the crash was, the 22-year-old Lotus-Mugen Honda driver broke both kneecaps and a thigh, it could have been much worse for Lamy. Fortunately he made a full recovery and was back in a F1 car by the end of the season. Meanwhile a fierce debate raged over whether the FIA mandated car changes hastily imposed on teams following Imola 1994, might have anything to do with this particular incident? All of which led to some interesting politics later, between Benetton team boss (Flavio Briatore) and the FIA President (Max Mosley).

The subsequent fallout & politics resulting from Lamy’s Silverstone testing accident (not pictured above) is detailed within the book: 1994 The Untold Story of a Tragic and Controversial F1 Season.

According to Ben, the actual failure causing Lamy’s crash was fatigue of 2 studs connecting the gearbox to the rear wing mounting. Ben believes this was caused by the vibration of the rear wing allowed by the removal of the rear wing links to the under tray. Wire stays are introduced along with a small gearbox bracket to solve the problem. The 01 chassis is stripped of undamaged spares and placed on the wind tunnel roof.

Formula One Grand Prix races:

The Lotus Type 107-series of Formula 1 racing car chassis was developed for the 1992 season, during Team Lotus’s resurgence under the guidance of Peter Collins and Peter Wright. The team made significant progress with its Ford HB 3.5-litre V8-engined cars that season, challenging the established Formula 1 elite of Williams, McLaren, and Benetton for the ‘best of the rest’ title.

The addition of former Leyton House (March) designer Chris Murphy enhanced Team Lotus’s technical strength. Murphy’s new Type 107 chassis design was initially planned to use a Judd V10-cylinder engine, but a deal with Vickers plc – owners of Cosworth Engineering – led to the adoption of the promising Ford HB unit.

Murphy pursued a design philosophy of simplicity and light weight. Both passive and active suspension systems were used during that year, and with drivers Mika Hakkinen and Johnny Herbert, the Norfolk-based team enjoyed a promising season.

In 1993, the updated Lotus Type 107B cars showed initial promise, still powered by Ford HB V8 engines. The driver lineup included Johnny Herbert, Alessandro Zanardi, and Pedro Lamy. However, greater expectations were placed on the team for 1994, as they planned to exclusively use Mugen-Honda V10 power units with an adaptation of the Type 107B chassis.

The early part of the 1994 season proved generally reliable for the cash-strapped Team Lotus, and Johnny Herbert secured seventh-place finishes in both Brazil and Aida Japan. However, during aerodynamic rule-change testing at Silverstone, Pedro Lamy suffered a severe accident at Abbey Curve, resulting in badly broken legs. The Lotus 107C chassis he was driving that day, chassis ’01’, was salvaged, and it now serves as the basis for the show or display car.

The historical records show that Lotus-Mugen Honda Type 107C-01 was used in pre-season testing before its racing debut, driven by Johnny Herbert to finish seventh in the Brazilian GP. However, some public race reports attribute the Herbert car to chassis T107C/3, stating that chassis ’01’ was driven by Lamy in Brazil and finished tenth.

Chassis ’01’ served as the team’s spare car for the Pacific GP in Japan but was actually raced by Lamy, finishing eighth. It was also used in testing at Imola in Italy, Snetterton in England, and Croix-en-Ternois in France, with drivers including Alex Zanardi.

During the San Marino GP at Imola, chassis ’01’ was listed as a spare but was raced by Johnny Herbert, finishing tenth after a clutch failure and oil leak on his originally assigned chassis ‘3’. Pedro Lamy then drove this car to an 11th-place finish in the Monaco GP.

Following the tragic deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola, Formula 1 introduced rule changes to reduce downforce and cornering speeds. During Lotus’s Silverstone test session, the rear wing mounting of 107C-01 failed at high speed, resulting in an accident in which the engine and gearbox broke away from the carbon-composite chassis monocoque.

After Team Lotus went into administration in 1995, chassis ’01’ remained in the Lotus factory until it was purchased by the current owner in 1997, along with related components from the team’s redundant spares stock. The car was reassembled with a Judd V10 unit (with no internal parts) and a Lotus transmission casing, transforming it into its current rolling display form. The car retains several original components, including the steering wheel, working dashboard, wiring looms, heat exchangers, springs, dampers, chassis plate, and original FIA circuit transponder.

Now presented as a 3.5-litre ‘atmo’ era Formula 1 car, this Lotus 107C display car showcases extensive documented race and test history, contemporary set-up sheets, original 35mm photographic race slides, printed race photos, and a dedicated photo history album. With its involvement in the testing accident that led to a complete remodel of Britain’s home Grand Prix circuit, this Formula 1 display car stands out as a unique piece of racing history.