Mario Andretti’s F1 Title Winning Lotus up for Auction

After Bonhams announced the auction of Schumacher’s first F1 car, the auction firm has announced another banger: Mario Andretti‘s 1978 John Player Special Lotus-Cosworth Type 79, the very car Andretti won the 1978 Formula 1 title in.  This gem, however, will be up for auction later this year during Bonhams’ inaugural sale at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this coming November.

This historic machine – chassis 79/4 – was the actual car in which Andretti memorably crushed all opposition to win the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and then claim his 1978 Formula 1 Drivers’ world title in the subsequent Italian Grand Prix at Monza. It has an estimate of $6,500,000-9,500,000.

Known as ‘Black Beauty’ after its streamlined good looks and distinctive black-and-gold ‘JPS’ sponsor livery, https://windingroad.com/?s=lotusTeam Lotus’ Type 79 was introduced to the Formula 1 arena for the 1978 season.

The car quickly caused a stir, with 20 starts in 11 Grand Prix races, notching up six wins and five podium places, as well as 10 pole position starts and five fastest race laps, of which two were set by Andretti. The Type 79 helped Lotus take the most wins in a single season since the 1955 victories of the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows, with Andretti and his teammate ‘Super-Swede’ Ronnie Peterson delivering four 1-2 finishes, earning the moniker the ‘Mario and Ronnie train’.

Read more about the auction here.