Join The World's Best Iconic & Vintage Car Community >>

Lotus Powered by Ford

Period shot shows Stokes and his Lotus at speed, racing  at Riverside.

I had seen this well-used Lotus 18 sitting in a grumpy little foreign car repair shop hard along Ventura Blvd. in Studio City, California. The guy who owned the shop and the Lotus was named “Buck” something or another as I recall. I kept driving by and looking at that machine every few weeks, and one day I finally stopped to ask after the price (I didn’t have it, of course), and the history of the lime-gold-colored racecar with the gold LeGrand alloy wheels.

Doug Stokes
Doug Stokes

It had been raced on the West Coast by a very fast hairdresser named Ronnie Herrera (who actually contested two or three early Can-Am races). He was said to have been aboard when it was nearly cut in half at a regional race, I believe at Santa Barbara. Anyhow, just after I sold my Dane-Norton in July of 1967, the aunt who had raised me passed away and left me a small inheritance.

Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To This Article (& About 6,000+ More)

Access to the full article is limited to paid subscribers only. Our membership removes most ads, lets you enjoy unlimited access to all our premium content, and offers you awesome discounts on partner products. Enjoy our premium content.

Become a member today!

Already a Member?