In the late sixties Lotus had lost its grip on the Formula 3 market after a short-lived fightback with the Lotus 41 of 1966, and had seen Brabham take over its Formula 2 market despite the beautiful Lotus 48 in 1967 and 1968. The company was now determined to regain a foothold in both formulas. Dave Baldwin designed a completely new Lotus - The 59 and 59B for the 1969 seasons. The construction was a complex square tube frame with an aluminum bottom. Typical of the construction were the rear brakes directly in the airstream (similar to the Lotus 49 F1). The front brakes were nearly completely covered by the front rims.

This particular Lotus 59B, chassis #21 is one of three to ever be built and the only one still existing in 1969 specification, the car had great success in the 1969 F2 season, with Jochen Rindt scoring a win in Thruxton and Ronnie Peterson securing a fifth place finish in his second F2 start for Roy Winkelmann racing. #21 comes completely restored with a Cosworth 1600 FVA engine and a numbers matching Hewland FT200 gearbox with both the high rear wing setup shown on the car and a low wing setup included in the sale. Both used during the 1969 F2 Season.

After the 1969 season #21 was purchased by Johnny Blades, with the intention of racing the car in the Formula Atlantic series, three years later it is sold again, this time to the Dutchman Ton Strous, who downgrades it to F3 specification in order to race at lower costs. In 1991 the car is sold to collector and Lotus specialist Richard Spelberg. He had the car completely restored and converted back to original Lotus 59B spec with the help of a Mr. Peter Denty in the UK. The restoration takes five years and is very well documented.

Fast forward to 2022 - Britec prepares #21 for the 2022 historic F2 season. The car is completely stripped, with the chassis parts x-rayed and the brakes, engine, and gearbox taken apart, it is dyno tested, and fully prepared. A new fire extinguisher system, new fuel pumps, and new wiring is installed. The car comes restored in the original Thruxton livery of 1969 and is ready, with new FIA papers (2023-2033) to be shown and raced at various race meetings all over the world.

A full list of executed work, as well as history, pictures and videos can be sent in case of interest. Three sets of wheels, low and high wing set ups, and A Large History File from Mr. Richard Spielberg, containing various documentation is included in the sale of the car.

Chronology:

Early April 1969: Delivered to Roy Winkelmann Racing.
1969/04/07: Thruxton F2 Race - Jochen Rindt wins with ROY WINKELMANN RACING #1 (Autosport April 1969 Thruxton Racereport confirms Rindt raced chassis #21)
1969/04/27: Eifelrennen Nurburgring Race - Max Mosley, driving for LEN STREET ENGINEERING, #21 still in its ROY WINKELMANN RACING livery crashes and damages the car. Afterwards the car is repaired at the Lotus factory. #DNS
1969/09/14: Grand Prix d'Albi - Ronnie Petterson finishes fifth - ROY WINKELMANN RACING #5
End of 1969: Chassis #21 sold to Johnny Blades.
1972: Chassis #21 receives new Lotus parts and a Cosworth 1600 BDA engine to stay competitive for the Formula Atlantic series.
1973: Blades sells the car to Dutchman Ton Strous, who downgrades it to F3 specification to race at lower costs after destroying the engine.
1991: The car was sold to collector and Lotus specialist Richard Spelberg. He had the car completely restored and converted back to Lotus 59B spec by Peter Denty in the UK. There is a nice photo collection of the restoration in the cars files. Spelberg collected all details of the car's history, including photos, articles, invoices, and more.
1996: Restoration is finished after five years, restored to original 1969 Roy Winkelmann livery with high wing specification.
2022: Britec prepares chassis #21 for the season. Car is completely stripped, chassis parts x-rayed, brakes, engine, and gearbox taken apart, dyno tested, and fully prepared. A new fire extinguisher system, 2 sets of new rims, new FIA papers, new fuel pumps, and new wiring installed. The car is restored to the original Thruxton livery of 1969 ready to be shown at various race meetings in Europe.
2022/09/08: The car attends the Bernina Granturismo hillclimb.
2023: The car attends Goodwood revival & the Jochen Rindt Trophy at Thruxton.