Lotus 72

1970 onwards (all marks)
Owners’ Workshop Manual

What better way to forget the recent troubles for the Lotus name in Formula 1 than to pour over every detail of the Lotus 72? It’s one of Colin Chapman’s most famous designs, and one that claimed two Drivers’ World Championships, three Constructors’ and 20 Grand Prix wins.

Any classic car owner will know the Haynes Workshop Manuals. But where your copy of MGB: 1962 thru 1980 will be smudged with axle grease, this version on the 72 will likely be kept firmly away from the workshop.

Yes, it tells you all you need to know about maintaining the historic single-seater and the Cosworth DFV that powered it to so many victories. But let’s face it, not many of us will find ourselves spanner-checking such a machine.

The book is packed with information from an overview of Lotus in F1, opinions from the mechanics and drivers, a detailed anatomy of the car and even a section on buying one – “with only nine Lotus 72s in existence, and two of those in a very badly damaged incomplete state, acquiring one is going to be difficult”.

Still, for the rest of us there’s always this book. EF

Published by Haynes, ISBN 978 0 85733 127 4, £21.99