How I Didn't Build a Lotus Indy Car from Scratch

[@Bourne246]

Goin overbudget by 20% is actually a great achievement

[@tinymotogarage]

When I see 1.35 in the subs and it's not followed by an "M" - the world makes no sense. Amazing build, engaging story, and loads of knowledge and info for viewers. Thanks for doing these and raising KZbin content quality by 3,000%. You should think about selling plans maybe? - make some money for your new build (which we assume is a new space shuttle).

[@benbeames]

You're too kind!

[@stevejones1318]

I agree. I would buy drawing plans.

[@SVTL4799]

I messaged Factory Five and told them they needed to make a Lotus Indy kit car and try to keep the price sub 10k. I thought it would really appeal to the masses and with enough builders, you could race in a class together. They didn’t seem interested 😢 Yours is awesome and I can’t wait for the next video!

[@davidtabor6157]

I'd buy one just to autocross...

[@TMWSTW-hy5ph]

I'd buy one to drive around on the roads

[@kevinokephoto]

Fantastic build... what a lucky kid.

[@markalbert9011]

Magnificent accomplishment. Congratulations on your build and this wonderful presentation. Being within 50lbs of the original 38's weight is amazing. However I suspect Colin is rolling over in his grave because you added weight in the name of safety........and numerous dead Lotus drivers are thinking "about time".

[@Any_key404]

It says a lot that you did a lot of this in a side yard and made concessions to avoid disturbing your neighbors.

[@po917k]

Thank you for showing what an amazing vehicle can be created by hand. Great work!

[@theohlinsguy4649]

The thing that I cant get over is how someone can be motivated to spend years doing this, and to do it without many tools. Any project I do I usually spend more on tools than I do on the project itself. I have a hard time getting motivated to do anything that takes more than an hour. Very impressive

[@amplituhedron5582]

These are so well narrated and filmed. Congratulations.

[@J.B.7.4]

I absolutely love this era and class of open wheel Indy, beautiful.

[@BluesBassManuk]

Fantastic Journey! What a gret story

[@jpstripeit4447]

Excellent build! I built a Ariel Atom from scratch so I can appreciate your effort..

[@skunkedworx]

"motorsport version of cos-play.." 🤣

[@bradcaldwell9158]

Thanks Ben. I know you've sacrificed to bring us this great content. It's a skillful balance of entertainment, education, and production. I've seen the real deal car several times at the IMS museum and doing a pre-race parade lap. It's an icon. Scotsman Dario Franchitti's reaction to driving this car is amazing. I hope you've seen it. Overall, congratulations on your entire achievement with this effort.

[@stevecallagher9973]

I really like how you filmed the segment in a nice stable lens shot, no gamer generation over stimulation or un neccesary shifts in the camera

[@benbeames]

Well thanks, but it’s just what happens when there’s no one to run the camera. I’m supposed to be behind the camera, not in front of it.

[@henrikebbesen1838]

Ben, I love your approach to engineering your car. 60'ies pioneering spirit. Also, you touch the heart of someone who has adored Lotus since the days of Jim Clark and the 33. But most of all: your kid is incredibly lucky to have such a dad! Whether he's going to be a petrolhead or not (of course he is) he'll have a ton of childhood memories of quite unspeakable value. Well done and God speed! Br. Henrik Ebbesen

[@benbeames]

Wow, thanks!

[@5CGQ]

Watching this is a perfect start to my day. Excellent production values, especially with respect to the audio. A fabulous car that most of us would love to emulate, and never will. 🤪 And what a nice guy! Inspired, persistent, funny and seemingly a great dad. "I know the idiot who built it ..." and "It felt like a race car, just not a very good one " Both quotes cracked me up.

[@gary5481]

A fantastic story. Thanks for sharing.

[@cdjhyoung]

Totally inspirational project. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@rolux4853]

Wow the quality is insane! You should have millions of subscribers, some of the big channels should promote your amazing and unique work!

[@vette8121]

I found this to be one of the most enjoyable videos I've recently watched. You're quite the storyteller. Thank you....tm

[@w.peterroberts9624]

Just terrific Ben. Building that Lotus was a wonderful achievement. Your son benefits immensely as well.

[@blkcoupequattro]

My machinist who has since passed away had a MK 1 Formula Junior Lotus BMC he bought directly from Lotus as a kit from Lotus of San Francisco….. Carl Lee Stirtz RIP

[@daleskidmore1685]

What a great story, Ben. I was born in the 60s and Jim Clarke was the racer I knew about. Race cars were beautiful then and still look beautiful now. I was involved with Clubman's motor sport as a marshal for some 18 years and always admired the ingenuity of the drivers. You would be right at home over here in the UK too. Love the Bentus.

[@benbeames]

I’ve got to get over there some day to see the Goodwood Revival and Festival of speed!

[@CaseyPutsch]

Well done sir. Well done.

[@funkiwikid6106]

Awesome job, and the car's great too. Thanks so much for presenting this as a builder who has to find his own way, which is reality. It's all that figuring stuff out to a budget that's the hardest part of any build. Most edit that out or ramble on with something tiny, you on the other hand have that balance really good. I've been slowly gathering bits to venture down a similar track and this video is indeed inspirational, thank you very much. Now to watch part 2

[@olsonspeed]

Great build, beautiful car, money well spent.

[@TamTran-vw7zm]

This was fun. Your self-deprecating style does you great service. Well done. Thank you for this. For all the people who would love to do something, but have never had enough money.

[@simon-xi3cv]

Perfect video, incredible car! Thank you for documenting and sharing your work and experience!

[@stevejones1318]

Thanks Ben. Great video. I'm going to look for the Len Terry book. Subscribed.

[@ernied3123]

It’s an awesome build Ben. This is my favourite era of open wheel race car and have always dreamed of building one. Also great how you explained everything. Cheers from Australia.

[@brianward6291]

This stuff is awesome man - love the quote: "I know the idiot who built this and I don't trust him"

[@redrighthand9455]

"i dont know what i dont know" one of the most intelligent things all of the intelligent people say, great video keep it up and keep having fun

[@Lester.M]

Thank you for sharing this information. You are really helping myself and a lot of others out.

[@ManNoName-c9u]

Absolutely brilliant, a beautiful motor! However I fear your son now has an affliction he'll never be rid of. But that's what parenting is all about, congratulations!

[@artguti1551]

Very Ingenious! Making the model out of Graph Paper!!!

[@QuietTom]

This is a great story. Thanks for sharing it.

[@glynotglen1098]

Amazing! I’ve always wanted to make a 49 replica and this has really inspired me to get on with it. Thank you for sharing this, it’s made my day! 😊

[@19mati67]

Awesome build!!! I'm building a Locost(Lotus 7 style) from scratch.

[@gregorykulinski2186]

It's the Journey that matters. This is definitely One.

[@Super7Driver]

Another awesome video, thanks! Makes me want to build something...

[@dion9146]

awesome video and awesome build. my hats off to you Sir.

[@hadlock]

You're a good dad. Keep up the good work

[@topo7777]

Killer video - I really enjoyed this. That is a fantastic build. It looks incredible.

[@Coyotehello]

That is just awesome, just awesome, really. Wow. I cannot wait to see the next episode. I am hoping in a future refinement you can put the piping for the radiator inside the "fuselage". This car has such nice line. I think my fav would be the 1967 Lotus 49a if I was ever inclined and capable of achieving what you have done it would on the 49a model. If I was crazy it would be the McLaren MP4/4. What you have built with the means you had is inspirational, do not under-appreciate by an iota. Inspirational.

[@tjrizvi251]

Nice Video again! Im doing something similar, but with a motorcycle engine and a proper cowl so it can be street legal.

[@benbeames]

Interesting! Would love to see a video on that!

[@tjrizvi251]

@@benbeames soon!

[@tjrizvi251]

@@benbeames oh yeah also, was your chassis table just on dirt leveled out?

[@larryross1819]

Wow, very impressive!

[@MrShaneSunshine]

I found myself smiling while watching this. I get it!

[@onepairofhands]

nice build sir

[@squierf]

Thats grate idea. The way you show story was intresting. I belive part 3 with even better.

[@bobdole57]

This is seriously my favorite thing ever

[@Slaytanica89]

love the passion

[@356classiccars4]

That feeling when You track auction for 10k and You think thats will go for 30k.. and it goes for 10.200 .. Love it :)

[@D3Sshooter]

Great job Ben and subscribed

[@tomkelley1100]

“I know the idiot that built this, and I don’t trust him” first t shirt idea

[@rogerclyde2720]

Great story, great car

[@plantfeeder6677]

That was a Matra that Jackie Stewart won with in 1969. js Now back to the video Amazing build. Thank you for the tribute to the greatest F-1 driver and builder of all time with the most iconic Indy car of all-time. Powered by Ford too. I love it. Also have driven many an autocross at Marina too. Been years since I last did and I hope the facility is still availabe to use. Only drawback is you have to shutdown when they're skyjumping. Did you ever run at Atwater when they used the old Castle AFB? One of the locals named Dennus Losher used to own the original Shadow AVS Mk.1 along with their F5000 car and their 1974 F-1 car(ex J.P. Jarier). Love the build and hope to see it in person someday.

[@benbeames]

Your right! I meant the 71 Tyrrell with the wide tanks. Oddly enough, I grew up in Merced and spent a lot of time at castle with friends whose parents were in the air force. But I didn’t know that auto crossing existed till long after castle had closed down and I had moved to the coast. I knew someone in the area had a shadow because I’ve seen pictures of it at Fresno autox’s. And the original Shadow headquarters is only 20 minutes away from me now. Anyway there’s a good chance I’ll have the car at crows landing for the GGLC event on sSeptember 28th. But if the forecast is for triple digit weather, I’ll find something else to do.

[@plantfeeder6677]

​@@benbeamesCrows is about as good as it gets around here. I remember in my autocross days running Crows, Atwater(Castle), Candlestick, Oakland, Golden Gate Fields, McClelland and Mather in Sacto, Fresno Fairgrounds. So many places and now they're almost all gone. Last ran in 2021 at the Lone Pine Time Trials as a bucket list item. Crazy fast! Loved it. Will try and make it on the 28th Lord willing. She's a beauty. So is your GT40. That's some seriously talented devotion sir.

[@ALH1415]

Phenomenal.

[@OG_Gamers_Live]

Cool as hell and any plans to lock the diff?

[@benbeames]

Good question! I'm still planning on changing gear boxes so I could do it when I do that. The price on a locking diff though is more than the used gear box so that kind of keeps the idea on the back burner.

[@OG_Gamers_Live]

@@benbeames not sure what dif you are using but maybe there's a kit or a spool to convert it like there is for GM, Ford, Dana etc

[@benbeames]

@@OG_Gamers_Live There are. They cost 2 to 3 times what a used transaxle costs and then you have to install it in the transaxle. Maybe someday but there are other upgrades that give better performance for the money at this point.

[@OG_Gamers_Live]

Wow wasn't expecting that, but I get the back burner thing in that case. Really cool build and so is the GT40. I got thru pt 2 and subscribed. Great channel for sure.

[@tjrizvi251]

So one thing about the transaxles. I'm somewhat familiar with Subaru and I know the factory five 818s use WRX/STI transaxles. I wonder why people/kit cars aren't using the transaxle out of these cars. You can get LSDs for it, they are a dime a dozen.

[@benbeames]

They're pretty common in a lot of projects I've seen. There's just been a long history of Audi and Porsche gearboxes in GT40 and similar kits. But the availability of the Subaru boxes is winning people over.

[@tjrizvi251]

@@benbeames interesting! I havent seen much of them. I better get em while their cheap. Although to be completely honest, a regular impreza/legacy transaxle would work

[@nayumicraig5248]

Great motivational video! Lorne.

[@nayumicraig5248]

In the model plane world we have a class called. Scale... Stand Way Off Scale........

[@joseph317]

Great job, is that a cleveland or Windsor and did you need a bellhousing or just a flat plate?

[@skyfreakwi]

Really someone you inspired built a car and put yours to shame? I highly doubt it. This thing is freaking fantastic! Now I gotta build one not to put you to shame but to put lights on and daily drive. Not in the winter though no windshield or roof would suck in Wisconsin!

[@timking2822]

You're an inspiration.

[@br1_deadpedal]

Wow, you are awesome!

[@cauelisboa8117]

How do I have access to this project to build mine without error?

[@TheINDIAN]

Is there any thought that you would like to beat the guy that broke Colin Chapmans record for light weight car (which done by Gordon Murray's record which is the LCC Rocket car 380 kg no monocoque chassis it was Chrome Moly tube steel ) using a similar chassis that you have made but the engine should be a KTM 1290 (with a semidry sump factory fitted as standard) and a final drive and LSD gearbox from Z cars UK . With a few ergonomics advantages, shifter and clutch controls on the wheel like morden f1 cars a simple version. Slightly reclined seat to reduce center of gravity. Radiators mounted on the sides of the car similar to morden f1 . No Carbon fibre. A monocoque chassis with chrome moly tube subframe front and rear.

[@richardcarr6493]

JAY LENO SHOULD BE SEAKING YOU OUT SOON l d like to see this on his show we know he ll love it too !! :)

[@squierf]

Amazing job. I'm just dreaming of building one myself. Have you got some screeches for your aluminium cockpit?

[@benbeames]

Was that autocorrected from sketches? If so, I have the original plans and 1/4 scale templates I believe.

[@squierf]

Yes, sorry 😅. Im really impressed with both of your projects. I usually work with motorcycles. But I love the look of classic formula cars 🏎🏎 but can afford any. Would you share with some drawings. 😊

[@benbeames]

Let dig up what I have. I’m probably going to have to fill in some blanks and/or correct somethings in them. But I was already thinking about doing some more chassis videos. If I get something workable together I’ll present it in a video and go through everything so people will know how to change it to fit their needs.

[@joell439]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@Synystr7]

This is my dream

[@hrc5855]

What is the tires

[@robinzaat554]

what engine did you use and gearbox. Do you also have the engine and gearbox type number for me? Greetings Robin

[@benbeames]

Ford 302 out of an 89 mustang mated to an Audi 016 AAZ. Though I like the Porsche Boxster G87 01 that I have in the GT40 better and plan to change the gear box in this car to that at some point.

[@robinzaat554]

Thank you

[@stevejones1318]

You used an Audi 5000 gearbox? Are they still available?

[@benbeames]

I don’t know, I got mine 7 years ago. But I think people have moved onto the Audi 01e gear box (I don’t know what it’s out of) and I moved onto Boxster gearboxes though the output flange is apparently a hard size to get cv joins for (see my gt40 videos)

[@superliegebeest544]

To me this is way better looking Thab those donkerfords, lotus7? Twoseaters. I think it's called a morgan that is simular but than good looking. But this is what it is something to race. Many moons ago involved in the restoration of a lagonda. That's a treestumb on wheels design. Deathtrap. And u need to have huge balls to go all out in that. And I guess this is a bit better u still need balls.

[@hughessay1372]

Great job! (Maybe you're not an idiot...)😀

[@jparky1972]

*sigh* First. That's what you're supposed to do. Right?

[@benbeames]

Hahahaha! It had to be done.

[@jparky1972]

@@benbeames Well. To be constructive.. Amazing information and insight into your thought process as always. Thank you for uploading these videos.

[@smilingskull7827]

I built a 1/4 scale lotus 49

[@benbeames]

Coool! What material did you use?

[@jritechnology]

Once you become a real driver and builder, you will learn that seats/chairs/stools and talking about your car/races is NOT an option. You will sit on the tire of the car henceforth, sir.