Special Feature

Lotus 39

Steve Natale
Geoghegan, at the wheel of his Lotus 39, during the 1969 season where he and the car won the Japanese Grand Prix. Photo: Autopics.com.au

Throughout my racing career I drove 11 different Lotus racing cars, but without doubt the most significant was the Lotus 39, the car that I used between 1967 and 1970.

Jim Clark had used it in the 1966 Tasman Series winning the Warwick Farm round. I had been using a Lotus 32 with a 1.5-liter Ford engine, as part of the Total Team. Come the end of the series, it seemed like a logical step to move up to the 39, especially as it came with a 2.5-liter Climax. My first year with the car in ’67 was very successful with a 5th at Warwick Farm and a very satisfying 2nd at Sandown behind Jim Clark.

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