1956 Lotus Eleven Sports Racer

Tommy Sopwith, son of Sir Thomas Sopwith who set up the Sopwith Aviation Company in 1912, initially at Brooklands, purchased this Lotus 11 from Colin Chapman's fledgling North London factory. Although an accomplished driver at the highest level he also hired other such as Graham Hill, Archie Scott Brown and Harry Schell, all three of whom drove this car. His team was Equipe Endeavour, out of his Brighton car dealership. In 1961 he went powerboat racing!

About 270 Lotus 11s were built between 1956 and 1958. The top model was the 'LeMans' and usually came with a 1,100cc FWA Climax 4-cylinder engine. This car has FIA papers and has been raced extensively throughout Europe, the United States and Canada by Nick Grewal.