Type 97T Black

Type 97T Black, the black of the Lotus 97T

The black that Number Five assigned to the 97T type. With this car black is not a background for lettering but the whole look: the body was black and the only thing that divided it was thin gold lining.

The real subject

The Lotus 97T raced in the 1985 season with a turbocharged Renault six-cylinder and with two drivers, both of whom won with it. Elio de Angelis succeeded at San Marino and Ayrton Senna at Estoril in heavy rain, and that was his very first winning race in Formula 1. A black car with gold lines had belonged to the Lotus brand since the 1970s, and the 97T is one of its last and best remembered forms.

What the shade goes on a model for

• the whole body of the 97T, where black is not a matter of details alone
• the ground under gold lining added with a decal or a fine brush
• black areas of other cars of the same brand from the same era
• a deep black wherever a surface is meant to look like painted bodywork

A painting tip

Black on a large surface has nowhere to hide an irregularity, as every trace of sanding and every transition at a panel line shows on it more than under any other shade. It therefore pays to take the surface all the way before painting rather than after.

Who it is for

For builders of formula cars of the 1980s and for collectors who put their palette together by individual cars. Black defines this particular car, so on a model of the 97T it has the main role rather than a supporting one.