Lotus 11

[Rupertlt1]

Lotus Eleven, Reg # 5 PPH, B.E.M.C. Small Torque, Ontario, July 1959:

Appearing on English courses this season
is a BRG Lotus II bearing BEMC's badge.
The driver is Murray Shill of Toronto, a
BEMC member fulfilling a dream in which
many of us would like to be the principal
character.
The story starts last October when Mur-
ray left for Lotus-land to seek a job and a
good used Lotus. He found both. The job
is at the MG plant where over a three-year
period he will work his way through the
plant while attending engineering school.
The Lotus, purchased with the hard-won
savings of a few years is the ex Innes Ire-
land car of 1957 and 1958.
Shortly before he got the Lotus, Murray
had a taste of high speed motoring when
he attended Cooper's Driving School and
did 11 laps (at £1 a lap) of Brands Hatch in
an F II Cooper. He says that the car hand-
les beautifully although it is a bit hairy for
a novice on this tight, hilly circuit.
So far this year Murray has competed in
four events, two each at Snetterton and
Goodwood. He has been plagued with wet
weather and gearbox trouble but things
have not been entirely discouraging. The
best show so far has been a 4th in the under
1500cc race at the 34th BARC Members
Meet at Goodwood on April 25.
The gearbox trouble led to considerable
modifications of the body-work at the 35th
BARC Members Meet at Goodwood. In
practice the car lost 2nd gear going through
the chicane as a result wiped out most
of the wattle fencing and a row of posts on
the outside of the curve. Everything has
been repaired now though (except the hole
in Murray's finances) and he is looking
forward to many more events this summer.
An incidental note is that Murray drives
his car to all events so that if any of you
who visit England this summer see a Lotus
licence number 5PPH go screaming past,
be sure to wave.

34th MEMBERS’ MEETING
GOODWOOD-25th April, 1959
Event 5, Five-lap Scratch Race B
(For non-supercharged cars up to 1500 c.c.)
1st – A.B. Rees (Lotus-Climax) 9 min 45.6 sec., 73.77 m.p.h.,
2nd – T. Maggs (Lotus-Climax) 9 min 46.4 sec,
3rd – L.J. Jacobsz (Lotus-Climax) 10 min 1.4 sec,
4th – M.R. Shill (Lotus-Climax) 10 min 12.4 sec,
Fastest lap - T. Maggs (Lotus-Climax) 1 min 54.2., 75.66 m.p.h.

Can anybody identify this car? Other Lotus 11s? Aka Lotus Eleven, Lotus XI?
There may be more than one ex-Innes Ireland car?

RGDS RLT

[Rupertlt1]

Here is Innes Ireland in 5 BPH in 1957:

https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/hk920nz3045

RGDS RLT

[Rupertlt1]

Car with DEC 494 on the nose turns up at Hour Glass Field, California in 1957:

#63, painted BRG, full-width screen, but no streamlined head fairing.

See: http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/PM...%20CarsSB.html

Event identified by Bob Engberg as Hour Glass Field on 5 May 1957:

http://www.racingsportscars.com/entr...57-05-04b.html

Strangely a DEC 494 is also competing in England continuously until 1959:

https://revslib.stanford.edu/?omit_k...utf8=%E2%9C%93

RGDS RLT