New Lucas Components

Joseph Lucas Ltd. announce the following new equipment of interest to competition drivers :—
Formula One Racing Equipment : The Formula One Electronic Ignition System has a sparking rate of up to 5,000 sparks per second triggered from pole pieces fitted to the fly-wheel. In the course of an average Grand Prix, the petrol injection equipment has to deliver some 5,000,000 carefully metered shots of fuel and the mixture has to be ignited 5,000,000 times with complete accuracy and reliability. It will be of interest to note that Lucas petrol injection equipment is currently fitted to Climax, B.R.M. and Ferrari Formula One engines.

Formula Two Racing Equipment : Lucas OPUS Ignition is designed for use with Formula Two engines and has had considerable success in this category, being fitted to Jim Clark’s 1965 Formula Two-winning Lotus. As there is no contact breaker, this system is an advance over conventional ignition in that maintenance is reduced to an absolute minimum and this is an important consideration in its proposed adoption for family cars. OPUS Ignition has a sparking rate of up to 600 sparks per second with an operating range from virtually zero engine speed up to 18,000 rev./min. on 4-cylinder engines or 12,000 rev./min. on 6-cylinder engines.

Rally Equipment : The 1965 European Rally Championship, which was won by Timo Makinen and Paul Easter in a Mini-Cooper S, saw Lucas IIAC Alternators fitted to the entire B.M.C. Mini-Cooper works team for the first time. The decision to use alternators was taken because, in addition to the normal electrical equipment, all the Mini-Coopers, including the winning Mini-Cooper S had no less than seven Lucas lamps all fitted with quartz/iodine bulbs, and for the first time heated windscreens. The total lighting load alone was more than 1/2 kilowatt, or enough to light every room in a 5-bedroomed house with a 100-watt bulb. With the remainder of the electrical equipment, including the heated windscreens, the total electrical load approached 3/4 kilowatt. For current supply for this very heavy loading, B.M.C. relied on the Lucas IIAC Alternator and its 4TR Transistorised Regulator.