“No-one could keep up with Clark; he put Lotus and Cosworth right on top at the beginning of what should be an exciting season.” That’s how Motor Sport magazine described Jim Clark’s dominant victory in the 1968 South African Grand Prix, held at Kyalami on New Year’s Day. Piloting the mighty Lotus 49 – a brand new chassis, stamped R4, although largely unchanged from the previous year’s revolutionary car – the Scottish sensation was untroubled all weekend, save for the very first lap, when his fellow countryman Jackie Stewart made a terrific start in the new Tyrrell-entered Matra. It was telling of not only Clark’s revered talent, but also of the Cosworth-powered Lotus’ superiority. Now, 52 years later, that car is a tribute to the great Scot and Colin Chapman’s standard-setting 49 in which he crushed the opposition that day.

Alex Easthope
Deputy Editor