- Built and driven by Graham Hill, future F1 World Champion!

- Significant track record with G. Hill and his subsequent owners

- Exceptional and documented history

- Rare original condition for a racing car

This car holds a special place in Lotus history. Nicknamed ‘Yellow Peril’ because of its unusual yellow colour, it was built and raced by Graham Hill. As a motorsport enthusiast but lacking in funds, he was hired as a vehicle technician by Colin Chapman as part of a friendly arrangement whereby Chapman agreed to let Hill race the car in exchange for his labour. Launched in 1956, the Lotus 11 was highly innovative, featuring a lightweight and robust tubular chassis, streamlined bodywork designed by Frank Costin, a rack-and-pinion steering system, disc brakes on the most advanced versions, as well as a choice of Ford and Coventry-Climax engines. It was a fierce contender in its class, and Hill distinguished himself with this car (then registered as XJH 902) from his very first season, taking part in the Autosport Championship series and winning the 1,200 cc class at the Brands Hatch race in April, before going on to win four out of eight races. He is likely to have driven this car to circuits (then fitted with a Ford 100E engine), which was exhibited at the British Motor Show in October 1956 before being used in a demo run at the Guild of Motoring Writers' test day in November at Goodwood, which led to articles being published in Autosport and Motor Sport. For the 1957 season, this car was purchased from Hill by Ian Walker, who fitted a Willment cylinder head to gain 20 hp, propelling him to the top of the Autosport Production Sports Car championship. Towards the end of the year, he advertised it for sale at £955 and it was bought by Don Le Clus, who exported it to Rhodesia where it raced for two years. It was then sold to Bobby Duncan, who repainted it British Racing Green before racing it for four years. During this period, its colour was changed to light blue and the car was fitted with a 1,340 cc Ford 109E engine before being equipped by its next owner (David Pinder-Brown) with the Coventry-Climax engine from a Lotus 11 Le Mans. It had two more owners until it was bought in 1995 by Jannie van Aswagen, who managed to restore it with its original 1,172 cc Ford engine and Willment cylinder head, while entrusting the restoration to Cedric Selzer, a former Lotus mechanic who acquired a share in the car. The car returned to England from South Africa for a body restoration by Fred Fairman, who determined that 75% of its original aluminium panels were still present. Ian Walker and his 1957 mechanic were able to confirm the identity of this Lotus 11 as the ‘Yellow Peril’, and further restoration works were carried out between 2002 and 2007 by Mike Brotherwood. Given that most Lotus 11 examples do not have a chassis plate, it is remarkable that this one does and also still bears its original registration number.

Purchased by its current owner through a well-known German dealer and directly from Jannie van Aswagen and Cedric Selzer, this Lotus 11 is exceptional in terms of its condition and the existence of original main parts, as well as its outstanding pedigree with a documented history. This is a rare opportunity to acquire one of the most important and most well-documented Lotus 11 examples, built and driven by future World Champion Graham Hill. It is naturally eligible for numerous historic racing events, including the prestigious Le Mans Classic, where its colour will certainly not go unnoticed.