Meet Peter Arundell

By Jon Rosner

 

Peter Arundell, for whom the third trophy race was named, had been a Lotus team driver during the late 1950's and early 1960's and had been an early team mate to Jimmy Clark. I had the chance to ask him about his favorite memory.

 

Graham Gauld left; Peter Arundell right

 

"My favorite memory has to be the story of Richard Von Frankenburg of Porsche from 1962.

 

It all started when on the South Circuit of the Nurburgring, we were flat out all the way, and I'm two-thirds of the way up to the top at the 8,000 rpm max. Von Frankenburg's got this heavy car with a big lump (motor) in it. So I said to Mike Spence that I would like you to get in behind him and see what he's got. Mike said, yea, he's got a big lump in it. I had an 1100 CC (motor). Some german had heard us talking, and the next thing I learn, I read it in the press,10 lines for this, that Lotus was accused of cheating, and it was obviously pointed at me.

 

Frankeburg then wrote in the press that he wanted to go back to any circuit, of our choice and do the same record, repeat the same race time over thirty laps to prove that we had an 1100 CC (motor) instead of the 1500 CC.

 

I blew the bottom end out of my good engine on the first day of training. And then the next day the top end let go ! So we had to cobble an engine together. Top end of one engine, bottom of another, so I decided that Monza was the place to go back to.

 

I phoned up Colin (Chapman)and asked him if he got the Daily Express, Colin read every paper and of course he saw what Von Frankeburg had said. Colin said to ignore it, it will blow over. I told him that I would like to put up 500 pounds as a wager (bet).

 

I explained to him about the Monza situation and how we now have another 5 hp and no 95 degrees of hot July weather since we would do the run in December. So obviously I convinced him. And he said I'll put up another 500 pounds to make it 1,000 pounds, and go, we split the gain or loss,

 

We'll do it.

 

Peter Arundell's Lotus 21

 

So we did, and we were about 1 1/2 minutes faster over 30 laps. They stripped the engine and Von Frankeburg ate humble pie."