Mario Andretti’s Lotus Elite for sale

A champion’s drive

Classic cars with some celebrity sparkle tend to draw a bit more attention when they go under the hammer – and this 1976 Lotus Elite could be one such car.

It will cross the block with H&H Classics at its sale at Buxton’s Pavilion Gardens in Derbyshire on Wednesday 30 November, where it has a £10-12,000 estimate.

There’s no doubt it needs some TLC, but this could be a very special project for a classic car enthusiast. Let’s find out more.

A gift from the boss

This UK-registered, left-hand-drive Lotus Elite was given to American racing driver Mario Andretti by Colin Chapman, the Lotus Formula One team boss.

After all, he wanted his superstar drivers to be seen behind the wheel of Lotus cars both on and off the race track.

Title hopeful

This plaque proudly displays the marque’s success at the top level of world motorsport.

Andretti made his F1 debut at the 1968 United States Grand Prix, held at Watkins Glen in New York state, driving a Lotus 49 – and he put it on pole, ahead of Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill.

Sadly for Andretti, clutch failure meant he didn’t see the chequered flag.

Flirting with F1

Andretti’s sparkling debut didn’t lead to a full-time F1 career at first, though, having already established himself as a formidable racer in his adopted American homeland.

In fact, the following year, 1969, he won the Indianapolis 500 – his only victory at the blue-riband race, despite a great many attempts – and competed in F1 sporadically.

On song

In 1976, Andretti became a full-time Lotus Grand Prix driver – and he won for the team that year, at the season finale in Japan.

This wasn’t his first F1 victory, though, which had been in South Africa for Ferrari in 1971.

Back on top

This was the first win in five years for Lotus and the next year, 1977, its F1 contender was the pioneering Lotus 78 ground-effect car, that Andretti worked to develop and in which he claimed four race wins.

In 1978, six victories helped Andretti claim the F1 drivers’ crown.

This was the sixth and final title for a Team Lotus driver, and the seventh and final F1 constructors’ championship for the equipe.

Flying the flag

Here we have chassis number 76030100C. This Lotus was given to Andretti during the 1976 F1 season, finished in red with a cream-leather trimmed cabin.

The Elite was one of the last Lotus road cars developed with significant input from marque founder Chapman.

Fresh lines

The wedgy, Oliver Winterbottom-designed shape wore a glassfibre body.

Power came from a 2.0-litre, double-overhead cam, four-cylinder engine, the Elite being the first Lotus to be powered by this aluminium-block, four-valve unit.

A break from the norm

Of course, the Lotus Elite is known for its distinctive, shooting-brake design, with a glass rear hatch that opens to give access to the luggage compartment.

You can see the chrome external hinges from this angle.

Ready for a revival

We can only assume this car is left-hand drive because it made it easier for Andretti if he used it to drive to races in Europe.

What we do know, however, is that today this classic Lotus is in need of some care and attention.

The real deal

H&H Classics is selling this Lotus on 30 November, but doesn’t have a huge amount of history to accompany it.

However, any prospective bidder can be reassured that its provenance has been confirmed by Andy Graham of Group Lotus.

The time is now

It comes to auction following a long time in dry storage.

When it was bought by its last registered keeper, on 1 September 1984, its odometer read 87,178km – that’s a little more than 54,000 miles.

It’s been a while

However, if you’re thinking of bidding, this classic Lotus last passed an MoT back in October 2013.

Nine years on it will require recomissioning before it is returned to the road.

Power seat

However, there’s a certain thrill to be had knowing that if you’re the winning bidder on 30 November, you could sit where an F1 and Indy 500 champion has sat.

The cream-leather upholstery with red piping is very of its time, even if in this example it requires some reviving.

Roll up your sleeves

Vendor H&H Classics says it is ‘thought to represent an ideal candidate for straightforward winter recommissioning’.

And it sounds like it has benefited from serious investment in the past, including a replacement chassis.

Get stuck in

More recently, this Elite has been serviced and received a new battery.

However, H&H Classics says, ‘the vendor feels, “the car would now benefit from being taken to the next level, with some attention to the brakes and a new clutch”’.

A breath of fresh air

And in case you’re wondering why it says ‘503’ on the side of this classic car, it’s its trim level.

There were four different equipment levels for the Lotus Elite: 501, 502, 503 and 504. Air-conditioning and power steering were extras fitted to 503-specced examples like this.

Coming to the end

The auction house doesn’t say how long Andretti owned this Elite.

After winning the crown with Lotus in 1978, Andretti never won again in F1, although he remained with Lotus in 1979 and 1980.

The final flag

He raced with Alfa Romeo in ’81, and entered Grands Prix driving for Williams and Ferrari.

Andretti’s final F1 race was the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix in Las Vegas, where he qualified his Ferrari seventh, but suspension failure forced him to retire.

Over and out

The auction house does not state how long Andretti owned this car.

One assumes that when racing for Alfa Romeo from 1981, driving a Lotus road car was no longer a priority.

Ready for its next chapter

At the point of consignment, this Elite’s odometer read just under 87,200km, sitting at the centre of the kph speedometer.

There’s nothing to suggest that the paintwork or interior have been changed since it rolled out the factory.

Big money wheels

When new, this generation of Elite was the most expensive four-cylinder car in the world.

The ideal car for the glamour of the Formula One paddock, then.

Basking in the glow

This car might have lost its lustre, but hopefully that of its famous first owner will mean it is saved and brought back to best.

In his five-decade racing career, Italian-born Mario Andretti was a force to be reckoned with. He claimed victories in single-seaters, sprint cars, stock cars and sports cars.

He was a four-time Indy Car National Championship winner, a triple victor at Sebring, and won the Pikes Peak Hillclimb and Daytona 500, as well as his aforementioned F1 title and Indy 500 win.

Waiting for the hammer to fall

This 1976 Lotus Elite will go under the hammer with H&H Classics on 30 November 2022, where it has a £10-12,000 pre-sale estimate, described by the auction house as ‘sensibly guided’.

We’ll be interested to see what it achieves and hope it can be brought back to its former glory.

Get full details of this auction here.