The last F1 for private drivers

For 1962, Colin Chapman built a new fork-eight car. Unlike the previous Lotus 21 intended exclusively for the factory team, the new Lotus 24 was also available to private drivers. It was the last car that private drivers could buy for Formula 1 racing.

The Lotus 24 had a space frame with a longer wheelbase, disc brakes and independent suspension. The eight-cylinder engine was mated to a ZF gearbox, first used on the Type 21. The larger engine also required a larger tank. A total of twelve Lotus 24s were built. Seven were fitted with the Coventry Climax FWMV engine and five with the BRM P56 engine. Later, Reg Parnell assembled three more cars from parts.

In several races before the start of the 1962 season, Jim Clark entered the Lotus 24 and won two of them. At Zandvoort, Trevor Taylor finished in second place, so it looked like the Lotus 24 would be able to compete with the new factory Lotus 25s and also the new BRM P57s. It was not so easy because the new type 25 was significantly lighter. Nevertheless, the drivers with the type 24 managed to commute in the front positions.

Andrew Beaumont will drive Lotus 24 in Brno. His car, serial number 944, is one of five cars of this type with a BRM engine. In the 1960s, he drove for the UDT Laystall team (1962) and the British Racing Partnership (1963), where Masten Gregory, Jim Hall or Ines Ireland sat behind the wheel. Jim Hall's best result was when he finished fifth in the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in August 1963.