Lotus 79 Haynes Workshop Manual reviewed

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Haynes’ series of F1 car manuals will be a familiar sight to regular readers by now. This is the eighth to be reviewed, which would make me well-equipped to go into business as a restorer of F1 cars if I didn’t have the mechanical aptitude of a gorilla.

While the titles all share the familiar Haynes branding they are written by a range of authors, making the content somewhat hit-and-miss. But Haynes are onto a winner right from the off by selecting the Lotus 79 – unquestionably one of the sport’s most successful and fascinating cars.

The Lotus 79 is rightly remembered as one of the team’s great successes and a car which changed the course of F1 design. However as with many of Colin Chapman’s creations it was far from flawless. Author Andrew Cotton does an excellent job of exploring where the car came up short and gives insight into why its successor proved an unmitigated failure.

What sets this book apart from other examples of the series is the inclusion of original technical drawings of parts of the car and even annotated details of its early test runs.

Topped off with the usual extensively researched chassis history and packed with top-notch photography from the time, this is one of the better examples of Haynes’ F1 manuals. But those who’ve already treated themselves to Karl Ludvigsen’s essential work on Chapman Inside the Innovator may find this doesn’t add a huge amount to the subject.

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Lotus 79 Haynes Owners’ Workshop Manual

Author: Andrew Cotton
Publisher: Haynes
Published: November 2016
Pages: 156
Price: £22.99
ISBN: 9781785210792

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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One comment on “Lotus 79 Haynes Workshop Manual reviewed”

  1. The photographs and archive material are top class, but I found the text repetative and haphazard.
    John Tipler’s “Lotus 78 and 79” is a much better read.

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