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The Lotus 69 Delta

A person driving a race carDescription automatically generatedThe Lotus 69 was designed by Dave Baldwin at Lotus Components as a further development of his very successful Lotus 59. It was the last of the Lotus customer cars due to Colin Chapman closing Lotus Components at the end of 1971. This was a multi-Formula car that competed in Formula Ford, Formula 3, Formula B, Formula Atlantic, Formula 2 and courtesy of the Pete Lovely, Formula 1. 

According to factory records, there were a total of twenty eight (28) original Lotus 69 Formula Fords built by Lotus Components in 1971. Reportedly there were two (2) Lotus 69’s sold in kit form that were assembled as Formula Fords in New Zealand during the early 1970’s and there were approximately ten (10) additional Lotus 69 Formula Fords assembled in Milan, Italy by Cesare Doneda at Scuderia Delta Corse in 1973. Some reports suggest there may have been some additional cars assembled by Delta in 1972 but there has not been any evidence to support that. 

A sticker with a cartoon bird flying on itDescription automatically generatedDoneda was no stranger to Lotus 69 race cars. In 1972, Delta Corse supported a Lotus 69 F3 (ex. Guseppe Bianchi 71/69-3-F3) raced by Doneda and Bruno Pescia in the Italian F3 Cham-pionship and and a Lotus 69 FF driven by Lorenzo Sassi in the Italian FF championship and the Formula Ford Festival at Snetterton. 

According to Doneda, in an Autosprint article, he planned to assemble ten (10) new Lotus 69 Formula Fords. In another article there is mention of fifteen (15) cars. Unfortunately there are no known records so the exact number is unknown. To add to the confusion, it appears that some of the later Delta cars were fitted with bodywork closely resembling Falconer bodywork as used on some of the Eldens MK10’s. These cars were referred to as Delta MK2’s. It appears there were as many as fifteen (15) total cars assembled in 1973. Approximately ten (10) being Delta Lotus 69’s and another possible five (5) Delta MK2’s. At this time, there are eight (8) Delta Lotus 69 Formula Fords known to exist. 

A black and gold rectangular object with a silver logo Description automatically generated with medium confidenceThe cars assembled by Delta were reportedly purchased as kits from Lotus Components. Although Lotus stopped selling customer cars in 1971, they continued to sell parts to their customers for an additional two years. The frames for the Delta cars were built by Arch Motors, reportedly using the original Lotus jigs. All of the Delta frames found to date are stamped with an Arch Motors number AM 73, followed by the frame number. In addition, they also have a Delta chassis number stamped on top of the roll bar. 

There were some minor differences between the original Lotus frames and the Delta frames mostly with respect to the tubing used. The original Lotus frames used square and rectangular tubes. For some of the diagonal tubes on the Delta’s round tubes were used. There have been suggestions the frames were made differently so they could be differentiated from the originals. Most feel it was more likely an effort to save money on material costs. 

While some believe Delta purchased the frames directly from Arch Motors, this is not verifiable. Arch Motors has no record of any frames being sold to Delta or being shipped to Italy, so it is more likely the frames were made for Lotus and then sold as part of the kits to Delta. 

One of the Lotus 69 frames made in 1973 was also used as a replacement frame for a crashed original Lotus 69. Chassis 71/69/13/FF was crashed by Gehard Irsa and rebuilt in period using frame number AM 73 2. This would further support the theory that the frames were made by Arch Motors for Lotus and Lotus sold them to customers. 

There is also another minor difference between some of the Delta cars. Some have the original, more complicated lower front A arms, as used on the original Lotus 69 Formula Fords, while others have the simpler lower front A arms as used on the Lotus 69 F3, FB and F2 cars. The A arms are interchangeable and dimensionally the same, so it is most likely Lotus Components simply provided what they had available for Delta’s use. 

While it may be argued that any car not assembled at the Lotus Components factory is not a Lotus 69, a strong case can be made that the first batch of 1973 Delta cars are, in fact, the same David Baldwin Lotus 69 design with the big difference being they were assembled in Italy, with all of the same Lotus Component parts, from many of the same sources as the originals. One can make the argument they are at worst continuation models of the original 69’s. Still, Delta Lotus 69’s enjoy their own unique history. 

Joe Griffin

Delta 14

AM 73-11

Delta 10, AM73-11

A race car on a trackDescription automatically generated          Two race cars on a trackDescription automatically generated

A couple of race cars on a race trackDescription automatically generated          A red race car on a brick surfaceDescription automatically generated

Joe Griffin photos 

 69 Delta Rear View

Eddie Cheever with 69 Delta

Eddie Cheever at the Henry Morrough Drivers' School in Italy, where he worked. 

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