Lotus 38

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title: "Lotus 38" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["lotus-racing-cars", "american-championship-racing-cars", "indianapolis-500"] topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_38" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox racing car"]

Field	Value
Car_name	Lotus 38
Image	Lotus 38 at Goodwood 2010.jpg
caption	1965 Lotus 38 at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Category	USAC IndyCar
Constructor	Team Lotus
Designer	Colin Chapman
Len Terry
Predecessor	Lotus 34
Successor	Lotus 42
Team	Team Lotus
Drivers	GBR Jim Clark
USA Bobby Johns
USA Dan Gurney
USA A. J. Foyt
USA Mario Andretti
Technical ref
Chassis	Aluminium monocoque.
Front suspension	Double wishbones, inboard coil springs over dampers.
Rear suspension	Reverse lower wishbones, top link, twin radius rods, coil springs over dampers, anti-roll bar
Length	155.9 in
Width	73 in
Height	31 in
Wheelbase	95.9 in
Track	Front: 60 in
Rear: 60 in
Engine name	Ford
Capacity	4195 cc
Configuration	DOHC 90° V8,
Turbo/NA	naturally aspirated,
Engine position	mid-mounted.
Power	500 hp
Gearbox name	ZF 2DS-20
Gears	2-speed
Type	manual gearbox.
Weight	612 kg
Debut	1965 Indianapolis 500
Wins	1 (1965 Indianapolis 500)
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The Lotus 38 was the first rear-engined car to win the Indianapolis 500, in 1965, driven by Jim Clark. It was run by Lotus at Indianapolis from 1965 to 1967; a total of 8 were built, most for use by Lotus, but several were sold for use by other drivers, including A. J. Foyt and Mario Andretti.

Design

The Lotus 38 was designed by Colin Chapman and Len Terry as Lotus' 1965 entry for the Indianapolis 500. It was an evolution of the previous Lotus 29 and Lotus 34 Indy designs, but this time with a full monocoque tub chassis; it was powered by the same four-cam Ford V8 fuel injected engine as used in the 34, giving out around 500 bhp. In all of them, the engine was mid-mounted, improving the weight distribution and giving it good handling. The 38 was significantly larger than Formula One cars of the time, but was dwarfed by the massive American roadsters.

The 38 was specially designed with an "offset" suspension, with the car body situated asymmetrically between the wheels, offset to the left using suspension arms of unequal length. Although in theory this was better suited for the ovals (which have only left turns), for example by evening out tyre wear between the two sides, in practice the handling was sufficiently idiosyncratic that the concept never caught on widely.

Race results

|filename =Lotus-Ford 38 (1965).ogg |title =Lotus 38 being demonstrated by Jackie Stewart in 2010 |type =sound |style =float:right;clear:none At the 1965 Indianapolis 500, Clark qualified second with a 4 lap average speed of 160.729 mph with a new one lap record of 160.973 mph. Although Clark and A.J. Foyt had both broken the 160 mph barrier in practice earlier in the month, Clark was the first to do so in official qualifying. Ironically, Foyt grabbed the pole with an average of 161.233 mph in a slightly modified Lotus 34 while also turning in a new one lap record of 161.958 mph.

Clark led from the start and although Foyt passed him on the second lap, the Lotus 38 roared past on lap 3 and from then on the only time Clark lost the lead was on lap 65 when he had his first pit stop. Foyt led until his stop on lap 74 and from then on Clark was never headed. The Scotsman led all but 10 laps and won with only four other cars on the lead lap, with the rest of the finishers all at least 2 laps behind. With Parnelli Jones finishing second (also in a modified 34), it was payback for Clark and Lotus losing the race in 1963 when many, including team owner/founder Colin Chapman and journalist/author Brock Yates, felt that Jones' oil spewing front engined roadster should have been black flagged.

Lotus returned with the 38 in 1966, though they conceded victory to Graham Hill in a Lola, after some confusion with the scoring due to an erroneous lap chart, and again in 1967 when Clark retired early with a blown engine.

After a fair amount of resistance from American teams who generally believed that rear-engine cars were for "drivers who like to be pushed around", the Lotus 38 had proved that mid-engined cars could make the grade at The Brickyard, and the days of the front-engined roadsters were effectively over (in fact, only 4 of the 33 starters in 1965 were front engine cars). Clark won the 1965 Indianapolis 500 with a then race record average speed of 150.686 mph, the first time the Indianapolis 500 had been run at a speed of over 150 mph. The previous record had been set by Foyt in 1964 at an average of 147.350 mph. Foyt's win in 1964 in a front engine Watson-Offy roadster was the last time a front engined car would win the Indy 500.

Design elements in the 38 were eventually worked into the design of the legendary Lotus 49, and Foyt's early Coyotes (as well as a number of other contemporary Indy cars) were Lotus 38 clones.

References

"1965 Lotus 38 Ford Specifications".
"Lotus 38 - 1965 Indianapolis 500 Winner".
(7 December 2015). "Great racing cars: 1965-67 Lotus 38".

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