One to Buy: ex-Elio de Angelis 1984 Lotus 95T Renault
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Following the untimely death of Colin Chapman in December 1982, Lotus recruited ex-Matra and Ligier designer Gerard Ducarouge to create a new line of F1 cars.
Ducarouge arrived at a team in disarray – having dominated the 1978 season, Lotus had won just a single race during the intervening four years and slipped well down the Constructors’ order in the process.
After the hastily prepared 94T arrived mid-way through 1983 and resulted in a noticeable uptick in results, Ducarouge’s next design, the 95T, led to an even more dramatic change of fortune.
Lotus had finished eighth in the 1983 Constructors’ standings but managed to bag third in ‘84 with what was widely regarded as the best handling car on the grid. That season, Elio de Angelis also claimed third in the Drivers’ standings behind McLaren’s Niki Lauda and Alain Prost who between them won all but four of the 16 races.
Set to go under the hammer at Artcurial’s Renault Icons sale on December 7th is the final 95T built: chassis 4.
The car made its competition debut at the Canadian Grand Prix where Elio de Angelis qualified third and finished fourth.
A week later de Angelis used chassis 4 at the Detroit Grand Prix. On this occasion the Italian started from fifth and was eventually classified second after Martin Brundle’s Tyrrell was disqualified for a technical infringement.
Chassis 4 had its last race of the year four months later when it appeared at the ‘84 season finale in Portugal. Around the fast Estoril track, de Angelis started and finished fifth which guaranteed sufficient points for him to finish third in the Drivers’ standings ahead of Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto.
Chassis 4 was acquired by Renault during the late 1990s in a deal with Classic Team Lotus that saw it exchanged for a number of engines which would enable the British operation to get a 95T and 97T up and running.
The car is being offered as a complete restoration project having been carefully preserved since its final race.
