Thanks to Bonhams|Cars

A club legend, the 1957-58 Lotus-Climax Type 12 chassis ‘353’ will head to auction at Bonhams|Cars Monaco Sale, ‘Les Grandes Marques à Monaco’, on May 10 2024.

The car was Lotus’ first Formula 1 contender and was driven by Graham Hill at both his and the Lotus Formula 1 team’s Formula 1 debut in the 1958 BRDC International Trophy race at Silverstone, as well as by Hill in the Monaco Grand Prix, which he would go on to win five times.

The Lotus Type 12 was designed by Colin Chapman in late 1956 – the first of the legendary designer’s single seaters. Seven of the cars were built initially for Formula 2 competition in 1957, with five going on to become works entries. In 1958 the team fit an uprated 1960cc Coventry Climax engine to 353 with the goal of entering Formula 1, which had a maximum engine size of 2.5-litres at the time, and being competitive on tighter twisty circuits. Hill placed seventh in the Formula 1 class at their debut at Silverstone.

The car would then move to John Fisher’s hands and continue being campaigned in 1959, including by Italian Maria Theresa de Filippis, before being acquired by Frank Gardner and heading to Australia. It was maintained in remarkably original order for much of its life, and then restored by its current owner, who wrote the literal book on the model and in particular the story of chassis no. 353, Lotus 12 Chassis No. 353: The History (2006).

Chassis ‘353’ will head to auction at Bonhams|Cars Monaco Sale on May 10 2024.

May 3, 1958. BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone – Graham Hill making both his own and Team Lotus’s Formula 1 racing debut in Type 12 chassis ‘353’. GPL photo.