This Lotus 21 raced once before being confiscated by Italian police

By then, the car was obsolete and Colin Chapman instructed the Italians to dispose of it. With hindsight, it’s incredible to think how little value was assigned ex-racing cars. Tom Wheatcroft stepped in, and Chapman agreed that he could have the car if he went to Italy to collect it. It was therefore added to the Donington Collection.

It stayed in the museum until just a few years ago when Tony Best bought it to take it racing again. Hall & Hall Racing has restored it, using the original chassis and boxing up any parts that have had to be fabricated afresh, and it has been used in historic racing since. This weekend it’s in the Glover Trophy for 1,500cc grand prix cars, and suffered problems with its ZF gearbox during qualifying. The mechanics are confident it’s fixed and ready for the race later today.

Ed’s note: sadly it never started the race.