VOTE: Semi-Final #1 Best Looking 1970s F1 Car

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Which of these two Formula One cars is better looking?

  • Total voters
    72
  • Poll closed .
Liquid

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1973-1975 Lotus 72E vs 1978-1979 Lotus 79

1973-1975 Lotus 72

Engine: 3.0L Ford-Cosworth V8
Noted Drivers: Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson, Jacky Ickx

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1978-1979 Lotus 79

Engine: 3.0L Ford-Cosworth V8
Noted Drivers: Mario Andretti, Ronnie Peterson

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I take back what I said about the 72E being ugly. There is something odd about it though; the platypus front end, the anvil airbox and the at-arm's-length rear wing.

The livery is strong with these two. I think that's a huge, huge part in how popular they are. Neither of these cars look as good in their less well-remembered liveries.

Still unsure how to vote on this one. The 72E is fantastically wacky whereas the 79 has a lovely pinched nose with those concave lines running along the sides of the cockpit.
 
I can see why some might see the 72E as a bit gawky, but it was of the era when there was still a good degree of innovation in F1 design. The 79 is of a time when cars were all starting to look much more alike one another.

I think i prefer the Martini/Essex livery on the 79. Although the pure Essex one is the best IMO.

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Both designs were highly advanced and innovative; in its era the 72 delivering hip radiators and wedge shape, the 79 in its later era pioneering skirted venturi-tunnel sidepods with massive downforce. The 72 had a long career and the 79 a short one.

The essential ideas of the 72 were advanced into a better overall car, the M23 McLaren, and the essential ideas of the 79 were quickly adopted into a better overall car, the FW07 Williams.

With the 72 and the 79 having very similar liveries, it's a mater of taste which shape is more pleasing. I enjoyed watching both in their heyday. The thing I like least about the 72 is the dangerous and unnecessary inboard front brakes, tipped off with those prominent ventilated towers on top of the nose.

I dislike the Essex livery because of its association with the criminal element Chapman seemed to gravitate to.
 
Liquid
I take back what I said about the 72E being ugly.
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It is ugly. Ugly as hell when you think about it. But in the end it's so ugly that it turns into a beauty because everything in it simply works together.
 
Greycap
It is ugly. Ugly as hell when you think about it. But in the end it's so ugly that it turns into a beauty because everything in it simply works together.
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That spoiler lip across the top of the nose indicates problems with the aero workings. And the drivers positively hated those inboard front brakes.
 
The 79 is so boxy from the side so I voted for the 72, even though it looks more like a dragster than an F1 car.
 
Lotus 72 and its variants, for certain. Just one sharp-looking design with the right mixture of delicate elements along with non-brutal wedges which comprises the elegant angles of the original plan.

I think the Lotus 79 is a nice clean design, but with the exception of the FW08, it was the harbinger of really ugly and uncreative designs across the grid.
 
The 79 has the best looking front out of all 70s F1 cars. The rest of the car looks mostly good too although I personally think that the section between driver and the rear wheels is tad too long in terms of looking good.
 
Other drivers of the 72E:
Guy Tunmer, also Tom Sheckter and Paddy Driver (Team Gunston)
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And for the Lotus 79, there are also other colors:
When JPS Lotus became Lotus Martini:
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Team Rebaque
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eran0004
The 79 is so boxy from the side so I voted for the 72, even though it looks more like a dragster than an F1 car.
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Those boxy sidepods put the 79 into another universe of performance compared to its rivals. Technology clearly drove the looks. This skirted tunnel venturi design paradigm wasn't allowed for too much longer, so take a good look.
 
Dotini
Those boxy sidepods put the 79 into another universe of performance compared to its rivals. Technology clearly drove the looks. This skirted tunnel venturi design paradigm wasn't allowed for too much longer, so take a good look.
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Sure, but this is a beauty contest and the 79 is just too boxy.
 
Dotini
I dislike the Essex livery because of its association with the criminal element Chapman seemed to gravitate to.
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Roger the Horse
???
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I don't know what the connection with Essex is but I do know that Colin Chapman was involved in the DeLorean scandal and the 'disappearance' of several million pounds worth of taxpayers' money. He died in 1982/83 before the trial of Lotus' accountant F. Bushell happened but it was said that had he been alive, Colin Chapman would have been in the dock as well and sentenced to about 10 years in prison.
 
Liquid
I don't know what the connection with Essex is but I do know that Colin Chapman was involved in the DeLorean scandal and the 'disappearance' of several million pounds worth of taxpayers' money. He died in 1982/83 before the trial of Lotus' accountant F. Bushell happened but it was said that had he been alive, Colin Chapman would have been in the dock as well and sentenced to about 10 years in prison.
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Yup, he's often referred to as a flawed genius and that's one of the reasons why.

Fortunately B. Ecclestone's connection with the Great Train Robbery was never proven... although one of the trophies was smithed for Ecclestone by one of the robbers.
 
Liquid
I don't know what the connection with Essex is but I do know that Colin Chapman was involved in the DeLorean scandal and the 'disappearance' of several million pounds worth of taxpayers' money. He died in 1982/83 before the trial of Lotus' accountant F. Bushell happened but it was said that had he been alive, Colin Chapman would have been in the dock as well and sentenced to about 10 years in prison.
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I'm aware of all the DeLorean stuff. Still not sure what that has to do with the Essex livery. Time period?
 
Roger the Horse
I'm aware of all the DeLorean stuff. Still not sure what that has to do with the Essex livery. Time period?
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David Thieme (Essex Oil), his arrest at the Swiss airport in re missing funds, and disappearance from the racing world as swiftly as he and Essex had arrived.
 
TenEightyOne
Fortunately B. Ecclestone's connection with the Great Train Robbery was never proven... although one of the trophies was smithed for Ecclestone by one of the robbers.
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Ridiculous. Everyone knows Bernie made his fortune by flogging used motorcycles from a London telephone booth.
 
Dotini
David Thieme (Essex Oil), his arrest at the Swiss airport in re missing funds, and disappearance from the racing world as swiftly as he and Essex had arrived.
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Essex Oil: Vauxhall, New Jersey

I honestly thought that Essex was something to do with Essex, the county, in south east England. Perhaps to do with a company there seeing as it's only two counties away from Norfolk. Never knew there was an Essex oil company, let alone that it was American.

Us youngsters, for all our books and Google, still show our ignorance once in a while. :dopey:
 
Why did you thake the picture of the 73' with that weird rearwing, and not the 74' with the ''Normal''?
 
TobbeGTE
Why did you thake the picture of the 73' with that weird rearwing, and not the 74' with the ''Normal''?
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I am consciously trying to find high resolution, good quality images which accentuate certain angles of the cars. More importantly, I try to use period images as much as possible; that's the car when it raced, that's the car in its original livery. Many ex-Formula One cars in storage or in heritage fleets these days have different sponsors and decals.

Those two were the best images I could find of the front and side of the Lotus 72 which met the high quality, period criteria.
 
Liquid
I am consciously trying to find high resolution, good quality images which accentuate certain angles of the cars. More importantly, I try to use period images as much as possible; that's the car when it raced, that's the car in its original livery. Many ex-Formula One cars in storage or in heritage fleets these days have different sponsors and decals.

Those two were the best images I could find of the front and side of the Lotus 72 which met the high quality, period criteria.
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No critic mate, but I don't think everyone here had seen these beauties before.
They look very different with other wings etc.
I have seen them both off and on track in real life, and there are some big changes over the development years.
 
TobbeGTE
Why did you thake the picture of the 73' with that weird rearwing, and not the 74' with the ''Normal''?
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The length/distance of the rear wing was changed between the 1973 and 1974 season; the extreme end of that wing could no longer be more than one meter from the rear axle centerline.

Liquid
Us youngsters, for all our books and Google, still show our ignorance once in a while. :dopey:
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See, I remember stuff like the rear wing dimensions from 42 years ago, but ask me what the permitted delta time between the safety car and the lead car, how much the front wing is allowed to flex under braking during said turbulence of following the medical car to catch up to the rest of the pack under such conditions, and what frequency the pit radios must be set to during the required tire compound and pressure allowances, then I'm all confused as to that discussion without playing internet-catchup...Does Kauhsen still race?
 
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And in the Lotus derby it's the ground effect 79 which advances through to the final! Thanks for voting. 👍
 

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