George Turner Models Lotus 19 Kit - Daytona 1962

George Turner Models Lotus 19 Kit - Daytona 1962 - Printable Version

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George Turner Models Lotus 19 Kit - Daytona 1962 - woodcote - 18th-Feb-22

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GT-391 Lotus 19 - 1962 Daytona winner, driven by Dan Gurney. Price for kit £39. Available here.

I have to say that I'm rather excited by this new kit from George Turner Models. I'm a big fan of 1960s sports prototypes and especially of the Lotus cars. George did a great job with modelling the Lotus 30 and 40, although I wasn't completely blown away by the little Lotus 23. The new Lotus 19 is the best of the lot in my eyes - the real-life original is one of my favourite cars of all time and the first livery oozes with motorsport history...

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The Lotus 19 was built in 1960 to rival Cooper’s successful Monaco sports racer. As with the Cooper, Colin Chapman’s sportscar was essentially a two-seater version of their current Grand Prix car, the Lotus 18. The Formula One car was Chapman’s first rear-engined single seater, an attempt to play catch-up with Cooper's long-standing approach to car construction. The Lotus 19's fibreglass body was rather similar to the Cooper Monaco too and Chapman rather cheekily named his car 'Monte Carlo' – the official reason was to honor Stirling Moss for his win at the 1960 Monte Carlo Grand Prix.

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The prototype was tested extensively by Moss and he drove the Lotus 19 to its first victory - a 75 mile sports car race at Karlskoga in Sweden. Twelve more Lotus 19s were built in quick succession, three of which went to the British Racing Partnership to race in Europe and the remainder went to America. In total, seventeen Lotus 19s were built between 1960 and 1963 - the final chassis being the only 19B. Here's a short video that accompanied the auction of chassis 953 - the fourth Lotus 19 to be produced...

It was across the Atlantic that the Lotus 19 would achieve most of its success, especially when fitted with larger Buick, Ford or Chevrolet engines. At home, where the favoured 2½-litre Climax FPF power unit was in strong demand for Formula One use, the cars were a much rarer sight. The second Lotus 19 - chassis 951 - was bought by the Arciero Brothers for Dan Gurney to drive. In Motor Sport magazine's supplement 'Great Racing Cars', Gurney chose the Lotus 19 from all the amazing machinery he drove during his career. It's worth quoting his recollections in full...

Quote:If you ask me to choose my favourite of all the cars I raced, I have to pick Frank Arciero’s Lotus 19. The Lotus 19 represented a great leap forward. It was not a good car from the reliability standpoint, but we drove it on tracks like Daytona, which imposed a lot of extra stress, and it never failed us.

The Lotus 19 was the proverbial giant-killer. With a little 2.5-litre Coventry-Climax four-cylinder engine with big Weber carburettors, it could take on the V8 Chevys and Buicks that were being raced at the time – and any of the more fancied Jaguars and Ferraris. It was just plain easier to drive and faster.

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Quote:It was a truly remarkable car that emanated from Colin Chapman’s mind. When I first saw it, I was shaken by how beautiful it looked. When I drove it not long after that, it was beautiful in that regard also. You’re talking about a moment in time where something like that could occur and it did. I’ve driven other Lotuses and quite a few different cars, but the Lotus 19 lived up to its billing.

Based on my own ability to predict what Chapman was going to produce, I talked Frank Arciero into buying that car before ever seeing it. The Lotus 18 Formula 1 car was Chapman’s first rear-engined F1 chassis. It was a fast car and, from what Chapman told me, the Lotus 19 was going to be even better.

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Quote:So my faith in Chapman’s creative abilities enabled me to sell Frank on buying this new rear-engined sports-racer. Being Italian and a fan of Ferraris and Maseratis, Frank was sceptical about buying a rear-engined English car, but I was able to convince him.

In my first race with Frank’s Lotus 19 at Riverside in October, 1960, I qualified on pole and drove it in a dozen races over the next two years. I won at Nassau in 1960 and ’61 and at Daytona, Mosport and Laguna Seca in ’62.

It was a great car.

The race at Daytona in 1962 - the 3-hour Daytona Continental - was a remarkable one for Gurney and Lotus. There's no better way of telling the story than this fantastic 1960s film with a modern-day introduction...

That's the car available as George's first Lotus 19 model...

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The kit includes body, chassis (with an S-Can sidewinder mount), detailing parts, driver figure, full interior and decals for the '62 Daytona car. It's a narrow car at just 51mm so the S-Can is angled to fit and allow the full interior - an in-line arrangement would have scuppered that. Running gear and wheel inserts (available from George for an extra £3.50) are required to turn the kit into a working slot car. Plus some model-building and painting skills, of course.

George has already created two great sportscar lines with the late 50s and late 60s models. I do hope the Lotus 19 and 23 are just the start of an early 60s range.

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Pictures are of the sample model built and decorated by George Turner.

RE: George Turner Models Lotus 19 Kit - Daytona 1962 - Gpa113 - 18th-Feb-22

Excellent preview Thumbup

That is a great looking model of a fabulous British sports racer.
Dan Gurney is an absolute motor sport hero of mine, and this Lotus is synonymous with both his talent, and the genius of Colin Chapman.

I love the resin shells produced by George, the chassis's I find can be rather thin and brittle. This looks spot on, and very clever to squeeze a full interior into such a small sports racer.

Another one to purchase, but must finish some of the resin kits currently on the go first Time

RE: George Turner Models Lotus 19 Kit - Daytona 1962 - Alcopa - 19th-Feb-22

Thank you --great post! Oh, dear, another must-buy....