Lotus 87

The Lotus 87 was a Formula One racing car used by Team Lotus in the second part of the 1981 Formula One season and in the first race of the 1982 season.

The car, driven by Italian Elio de Angelis and future world champion Nigel Mansell, was another step in Lotus' development of ground effect cars. Its predecessor, the Lotus 81 had proven to suffer from a chassis that was not rigid enough, compared to the dominant Williams FW07. Lotus therefore introduced a new chassis, built out of carbon fibre and reinforced by kevlar sheets, since the team felt carbon fibre alone would not be sufficient to provide the chassis with the stability needed. As the John Barnard-designed McLaren MP4/1 would prove, this was a miscalculation. The chassis was originally planned for the ambitious twin-chassis Lotus 88, but after the car was outlawed, it was hastily rebuilt to become the more conservative 87. The car was not competitive enough to fight for victories, even though the drivers did manage to get some points. When the new turbo charged engines of Renault and Ferrari became more reliable, the car proved to be yet still too heavy and was replaced by a lighter 87B specification for the opening round of 1982.^[2] It was subsequently replaced altogether by the Lotus 91, which proved more competitive, recording a podium in its first outing in Brazil.

Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	WCC
1981	Team Essex Lotus John Player Team Lotus	87	Cosworth DFV V8 NA	M G		USW	BRA	ARG	SMR	BEL	MON	ESP	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	CPL		22*	7th
					Nigel Mansell						Ret	6	7	DNQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	4
					Elio de Angelis						Ret	5	6	DSQ	7	7	5	4	6	Ret
1982	John Player Team Lotus	87B	Cosworth DFV V8 NA	G		RSA	BRA	USW	SMR	BEL	MON	DET	CAN	NED	GBR	FRA	GER	AUT	SUI	ITA	CPL	30**	5th
					Nigel Mansell	Ret
					Elio de Angelis	8

* Of these, 13 points were scored with the 87. During the season Lotus switched from Michelin to Goodyear tyres.
** No points scored with the 87B.

References

↑ "Lotus 87". StatsF1.com. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
1 2 "Lotus 87 Cosworth". Ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 9 May 2015.

Team Lotus

Founder: Colin Chapman

Noted personnel: Frank Dernie; Gérard Ducarouge; Maurice Philippe; Peter Warr; Peter Wright; Len Terry

World Champions: Mario Andretti; Jim Clark; Emerson Fittipaldi; Graham Hill; Jochen Rindt

Other notable drivers: Elio de Angelis; Martin Donnelly; Mika Häkkinen; Johnny Herbert; Jacky Ickx; Nigel Mansell; Satoru Nakajima; Gunnar Nilsson; Ronnie Peterson; Nelson Piquet; Carlos Reutemann; Ayrton Senna; John Surtees; Derek Warwick; Alex Zanardi

Drivers' titles: 1963; 1965; 1968; 1970; 1972; 1978

Constructors' titles: 1963; 1965; 1968; 1970; 1972; 1973; 1978

Formula One cars: 12; 16; 18; 21; 24; 25; 33; 43; 49; 56B; 63; 72; 76; 77; 78; 79; 80; 81; 86; 87; 88; 91; 92; 93T; 94T; 95T; 97T; 98T; 99T; 100T; 101; 102; 107; 109; 112

Formula Two cars: 12; 16; 18; 32; 35; 41; 44; 48; 59; 69

Formula Three cars: 22; 31; 35; 41; 55; 59; 69

Formula Junior cars: 18; 20; 22; 27

Formula Ford cars: 51; 59; 61; 69

Formula 5000 cars: 68; 70

Tasman Series cars: 32; 39; 67

Indianapolis 500 cars: 29; 34; 38; 42; 56; 64; 96T

Sports racing cars: 15; 17; 19; 23; 30; 40; 47; 53

Lotus production car timeline, 1950–present
Type	1950s										1960s										1970s										1980s										1990s										2000s										2010s
Type	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4	5	6
Sports racer					Mark VIII	Mark IX	Eleven		15	17	19		23		30	40		47		62
Sports racer			Mark VI					Seven																																											340R							2-Eleven									3-Eleven
Roadster													Elan																											Elan M100							Elise					Elise
Coupé									Elite							Elan																																			Exige				Exige								Exige
Coupé																									Eclat									Excel																										Evora
Grand tourer																		Elan +2							Elite
Grand tourer																		Europa									Esprit																														Europa S
Saloon														Ford Cortina Lotus				Ford Cortina Lotus																							Carlton/Omega
Race cars	Mark I Mark II Mark III Mark IV Mark V 12 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 27 29 31 32 33 34 38 39 41 42 43 44 48 49 56 59 61 63 64 69 70 72 73 74 76 77 78 79 80 81 86 87 88 91 92 93T 94T 95T 96T 97T 98T 99T 100T 101 102 107 109 112 114 115 119 T125 T127 T128 F1 T128 LMP E20 E21 E22 E23 Hybrid
Related cars	Caterham Seven Ford Cortina Lotus Talbot Sunbeam Lotus DeLorean DMC-12 Hennessey Venom GT Isuzu Piazza Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 Opel Lotus Omega/Vauxhall Lotus Carlton Kia Elan Opel Speedster/Vauxhall VX220 Tesla Roadster Proton EMAS
Concept cars	M90 APX Ethos
Key figures	Colin Chapman Tony Rudd Romano Artioli Dany Bahar
Group Lotus	Official website Lotus Cars Lotus Engineering Team Lotus Lotus F1

Cars that competed in the 1981 Formula One season
Williams FW07B/FW07C Brabham BT49C Renault RE20B Renault RE30 Ligier JS17 Ferrari 126CK McLaren M29C/M29F McLaren MP4 (MP4/1) Lotus 81 Lotus 87 Lotus 88/88B Tyrrell 010 Tyrrell 011 Alfa Romeo 179B/179C/179D Arrows A3 Ensign N180B Theodore TY01 ATS D4 ATS HGS Fittipaldi F8C Osella FA1B/FA1C March 811 Toleman TG181

Cars that competed in the 1982 Formula One season
Ferrari 126C2 McLaren MP4B Renault RE30B Williams FW07C Williams FW08 Lotus 87B Lotus 91 Tyrrell 011 Brabham BT49D Brabham BT50 Ligier JS17/JS17B Ligier JS19 Alfa Romeo 179D Alfa Romeo 182/182B Arrows A4 Arrows A5 ATS D5 Osella FA1C Osella FA1D Fittipaldi F8D Fittipaldi F9 March 821 Theodore TY01 Theodore TY02 Toleman TG181B/TG181C Toleman TG183 Ensign N180B Ensign N181

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