1983 Lotus 92

The Lotus 92 is a Formula One car designed by Team Lotus founder Colin Chapman along with Martin Ogilvie and was used by Lotus in the first part of the 1983 season.

The car’s claim to fame is that, with help from Cranfield Aerospace and University, it is the very first car in the world to use active suspension technology.

The system used a high pressure pump driven by the engine and ahead of its time electronics to control hydraulic actuators on each corner of the car.

The system was troublesome in period and the pump was a considerable draw on the engine’s power output so was eventually removed. However it was pioneering and without this car the technology, now found in many road cars, would not be as effective as it is today.

Chassis 5 (our car) is the only Lotus 92 in existence and was driven by Nigel Mansell and also in one race (the 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix) by Elio De Angelis.Engine problems on the warmup lap for De Angelis’ Renault Turbo Engined Lotus 93T, forced him into the spare 92. This eventually led to his disqualification for changing from a Renault engined car to a Ford Cosworth engined one.

The cars best result in period was a 6th place for Mansell at the Detroit Grand Prix.

The Lotus 92 was the last non Turbo car designed and raced by Lotus until the Turbo engines were banned from the 1989 season. It was also the last car to carry the Cosworth DFV engine and the last car to be designed by Colin Chapman.