Throughout the 1960s, before advertising reared its ugly head in Formula One, cars were largely raced in their national colours: red for Italy, white/silver for Germany, green for Great Britain, blue for France and so on. In 1966, the engine rules were changed from a 1.5-litre maximum to 3-litres, and Colin Chapman worked hand-in-glove with Ford and Cosworth to create the incredible 3-litre V8 DFV engine, that would be fitted as a structural element of the new Type 49 car, the first time this had been tried for a rear-engined F1 car. The car took pole position at its first race and also won it, a unique achievement.
For 1968, Chapman again was ahead of the curve and the cars appeared in the colours of sponsor Gold Leaf cigarettes. Motor racing would never be the same again, but the Lotus 49 in its original British Racing Green remains our favourite Formula One car of all time and The 49 bag celebrates this.
