For sheer aerodynamic perfection it would be hard to beat this Lotus XI, also known as the "Yellow Peril." Perhaps in a wind tunnel contest more modern race cars might prevail but none would be as pure of form nor as elegant in shape. It must surely have been designed by the talented Frank Costin, who was responsible for many refined Lotus bodies. The Yellow Peril will be sold at a "Coys auction in Birmingham" on the 12th of January, 2008. It is estimated at £160,000 - 200,000 but with today's inflated collector car prices I'd bet the selling price will easily exceed that amount.

Unfortunately my budget barely allows for purchase of a 1:43 scale model (assuming there is one) but, as the song goes, "If I Were a Rich Man" I'd bid to own just because it was raced by F1 and Indy champion Graham Hill when he was still a production line employee at Lotus. Graham and I once co-starred on a motor racing LP back when sound effects recordings were being marketed. I was the host voice-over as Hill described, turn-by-turn, how he attacked the Mosport track in a Canadian Grand Prix. A nice man, unaffected, eager to help. The studio even sold some records as I learned, a few years ago, when a total stranger approached at a car club event with a copy in hand, requesting an autograph. Nice to be remembered.

[Source: Classic Driver]